Social Stratification and the Division of Power
There may arguably be an intrinsic need for man to contrive new methods of explaining and understanding the nature of human interactions. As dictatorships transition into democracies, as human rights systematically gain importance in society, and as the ways in which people interact and exchange power transform, so does this transition render once universally accepted understandings of human interaction contextually irrelevant. Particularly, man has struggled with the facet of human interaction encompassing the division and breadth of power. Simply put: where does power lie, and why? One man of many who has attempted to formulate and capture that human …show more content…
Economic power is not directly tantamount to self importance and worth. Marx has established in his ideas on the basis of a dichotomous society made up of the economically powerful and subsequently respected bourgeoisie, and the economically powerless proletariat class with no form of identity apart from wealth. This dichotomy is overgeneralizing a vast spectrum of people without taking into consideration other underlying traits of an individual. To challenge Marx’s claim, I actually think that looking at other facets of his writing can prove that power lies beyond economic wealth and the pursuit of economic …show more content…
I initially thought such a notion of collective ownership and goals was extreme and unachievable, but the idea has been actualized in the modern world. An example is found in the reoccupation of Argentinian factories following the capitalist leadership of Carlos Menem. Although capitalist economic approaches are beneficial to certain global communities, Menem’s policies lead to rampant unemployment and inaccessibility of the funds of many Argentinians. Eventually, some “proletariat” Argentinians took matters into their own hands and systematically began reclaiming closed factories for their own, a famous example being the case of Zanon Ceramics. Zanon Ceramics has since then been successful in becoming a worker run industry, with no “bosses”, and has eliminated bureaucracy. However, as Marx has written and seemingly understood, much of this agency begins with a vast violent uprising. Although I dislike this reality, I have a strong belief that violence is a necessary primary tool in any expression of power. In my mind, the expression of the power of the proletariat is justifiable as it is provoked by a stark mistreatment of people in a basic humanitarian