Since the start of civilization most leaders, as well as ordinary men have hypothesized different alternatives for the populace of their society to follow thereby achieving the perfect organization. Government refers to the act of governing, particularly the control and organization of public policy within a political unit. In the recent times, one of the greatest political movements and hypothesizes of governing humanity is Marxism, invented by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Allan 13). This philosophy hastened the governing system, which has come to be identified as Communism. Although it is a bit different from communism, apparently, it is very closely connected and commonly known as such. Together with communism, Marxism is strongly associated with socialism.
The most commonly theory of Marxism stipulates that all of history lies in a class struggle between the lower and upper classes. In this case, a class refers to the relations of its affiliates to the production means (Allan 23). The bourgeois, along with the proletariat happen to be the two classes of persons within the society with the proletariat being the peasants, the hard working low group with nearly nothing to show for their hard work while the bourgeois happen to be the upper class, who Marx and Engels believe reap the profits of the proletariats labor. Marx and his theories contend that the bourgeoisie are capable of taking any means necessary in oppressing the proletariat thereby remaining in control. According to Max, new progressive classes ascend, which are connected to new sorts of production and exertion with the ancient New sorts of society ascend fitting to the new sorts of production as the new classes gain power. This principle is referred to as historical materialism (Allan 19). This is very true considering that there are very specific class margins and in civilization in view of the fact that with the dawn of time, the hard working class has had very little to show off for their hard work. The struggle of gaining what one deserves, then having it taken from them through a higher authority, has been rampant for an extremely long time. This has led to one grouping or race of individuals always gaining dominance over the other and thus creating class struggle (Derrick 64).
Marx and Engels were of the opinion that the only way of ending the class struggle was for the occurrence of an uprising whereby the proletariats will have the opportunity of overthrowing the bourgeoisie, as well as the capitalist kind of government while at the same time, installing a socialist rule. Consequently, this socialist rule will end up evolving into a communist rule thereby creating a society in which all individuals are completely equivalent on all levels. In this case, every individual will be treated according to his or her ability, as well as according to his or her need; this was the drive behind the promotion of Marx theories (Allan 23). This implies that every individual within a society will be able to work hard in the area he or she is good at, having equality with his neighbor regardless of the different jobs they undertake and every individual in said society will be capable of contributing and receiving back from their contribution, as well as other's contribution precisely what they necessitate in surviving with no individual being above the other (Derrick 44). This kind of order is capable of eliminating classes and thus eliminating class struggles. If every individual follows this principle, this society will eliminate the necessity for classes and Marx’s wish regarding the elimination of class struggles will eventually be achieved.
Marx supposes that in order to achieve success in the uprising along with rebellion of the proletariats, the process has to be not only swift, but also violent; this will result in the majority of the current ruling class perishing since the former controlling class will not resign without a fight while their demise will be the only way of winning the revolution (Allan 33). Additionally, Marx believes that prior to occurrence of complete equality, there has to be supremacy of the proletariats (Derrick 34). The autocracy of the previous lower class will only last for a short while, and this is extremely necessary for the sake of order. Nonetheless, in the end, after there is economic equity for all individuals within the society, the reign of the proletariat will slowly disintegrate and become no more considering that there will be the existence of only one equal class hence the elimination of the necessity of a state for regulating things (Allan 44). For this to take place the proletarians must have a sensation of class-consciousness; this will comprise of a consciousness of the classes, their prominence, as well as the detriment they cause to the well being of the society.
Karl Marx, together with Friedrich Engels contributed tremendously to the various types of government that are familiar in the modern times. Today, some countries go on functioning under a communist government with China being an example of such a country. Although Marx and Engels are already dead, their theories prevail and continue gaining acknowledgement to this day (Allan 56).
Work Cited
Allan, Wood. Karl Marx. New York: Viking Publisher, 2010.
Derrick, Conn. Karl Marx: His Life and Work. New York: Craig Publisher, 2009.
