Analysis Of Privilege, Power, And Difference By Ben Johnson

From the time we are born we are fed the lies of capitalism. We are raised in a society that hides the ones that are hurt by this powerful mindset. These people are swept under the rug to be dealt with later. Johnson and Robbins have very influential ideas about capitalism. Johnson writes about the matrix of capitalist domination. In this section he tries to explain the complexities of privilege and how privileges relate to one another. Johnson takes us back to when capitalism first began to take hold in the world and the anatomy of the working class. He explains how a variety of terrible circumstances adds to the terrible history that has plagued the history of capitalism.
In Johnson’s book Privilege, Power, and Difference he addresses the …show more content…
The factors of the anatomy of the working class in the nineteenth century helped contribute to the privileges of today’s society. First, the working class was mobile due to a lack of connections to home. Capitalism was the downfall of anything made by hand or on small farms. When capitalism swept in the value of handmade objects or crops fell dramatically forcing people who lived this way to move into the city seeking work. Due to the desperation of these workers they took low paying jobs or ones that forced them to move around. Next, when people were able to find work capitalism separated people by race, religion, ethnicity, age, and gender. The desperate need of work pitted those who could defend themselves against those who could not. In this way racial or ethnic groups were formed by the competition for jobs. Third, discipline was enforced by authorities in the way of intimidation and more intriguingly, time. Before capitalism people who had power of their own lives worked until they were hungry or tired then stopped and took a break and when right back to work and kept this pattern, but after the surge of capitalism factories forced workers to work sometimes 12 hours a day and then it was taught that free time was to avoided at all costs. “Time is money” was quoted by Benjamin Franklin during this time (Robbins, 41). Finally, the working class all had resistance on their mind and attempted to revolt. In Europe many countries revolted with great success in the light of the Marxist era, but within months most of them went back to the ways of the past. Men were also blamed during this time for bringing children and women into poverty. These ideas shut down most ideas of resistance in the working class. All of these things worked together to bring about the injustices