Karl Marx Sociology

While each of the sociological theorists make good points as to how society works and why, I was most drawn to Karl Marx and his theories on how Capitalism plays a large role in how society operates. Marx believed that he could study various conflicts that society have and over time be able to see the outcome of those conflicts based on how similar conflicts had been handled in the past. Marx believed that society needed a change and while followers of Marx had said that a communist uprising was inevitable Marx responded by saying that “philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point however is to change it.”(Sociology Guide, 2011) Marx felt that conflict between the classes is an important factor in society. Marx thought that the classes were divided into the “haves” and the “have-nots”. This is still relevant today and can be seen all over the place with the conflict in the United States between the upper class (haves) and middle to lower class (have-nots). Society in this country has been divided more and more over the last several years with the fall of the economy.

The gap between the classes continues to widen as the conflicts between the members of society become more prevalent and start to take center stage. An example of this is the Occupy protests. Members of the middle and lower classes feel that the upper class is taking money from their pockets and putting it in their own and that they are not making decisions that benefits anyone except for themselves. The division goes further than just between the classes in many cases. Political viewpoints have also played a large role in the separation between members of society. A lot of that separation revolves around the classes as well and political views can often be traced to a persons upbringing, standing in society, how much money they make and also what they religion is. This is not always the case but trends do exist. Many factors play into social conflict but one of the most major players is money and that is what separates the classes the most. Marx’s views on capitalism and how the class system works applies today and can be seen without much looking. It is one of the sociological viewpoints that I felt was in the forefront when looking at society today.

References

Concern Infotech Pvt. Ltd SEO Expert Chennai (2011). Karl Marx. Sociology Guide. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://www.sociologyguide.com/thinkers/Karl-Marx.php