The Class Structure of the Society

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Scarcity of resources is a phenomenon that is present in all societies. Therefore, parties that wield much power over the available resources control the society. Both Karl Marx and Max Weber agreed on this fundamental point.

Marx and Weber are some of the renowned sociologists who have helped in providing insights into various factors that explain various characteristics of the society. Weber lived during a time when people thought Marx’s ideas were the ultimate truth. However, he disagreed with Marx on various aspects of the society.

Marx advocated for communism, which would eliminate private ownership of property. This would eliminate the ‘oppressor and oppressed’ relationship, which existed in the society. On the other hand, Weber argued that the importance of the property or service that an individual owned determined the social class of the individual. This created dominant and minority classes. Ownership of property led to social stratification. Therefore, both Karl Marx and Max Webber agreed that the struggle for the available resources leads to social stratification.

According to Karl Marx, class struggles characterize the history of the society. The oppressor and oppressed parties are in constant opposition towards each other. The fight between the two parties changes from time to time. It may happen openly or secretly. Bourgeoisie is the oppressing party. On the other hand, proletariats are the oppressed parties. Capitalism helps bourgeoisie to amass wealth.

According to Marx, bourgeoisie created a system that enabled it to be ultimate benefactors of various social or economic activities. It is impossible for the bourgeoisie to exist without revolutionizing the instruments of production (Aron 151). This enables it to have a stranglehold of the society. The level of revolution of the bourgeoisie exceeds that of the earlier industrial classes. This is because the earlier industrial classes strived to maintain the social conditions in uninterrupted state.

These factors enable the bourgeoisie to have a strong control on the society. The bourgeoisie created several structures to help further its goals. It improved the means of communication. Improving the means of communication enabled it to improve the means of production. This helped in bringing civilization to even the most barbaric societies.

Bourgeoisie used market forces to conquer the society. It used cheap prices of commodities as the artillery that enabled them to conquer the society. This compelled the society to adopt their mode of production. It enabled the society to create an image that complies with the image of the bourgeoisie (Tucker 477).

This strategy enabled the bourgeoisie to move to urban areas. This led to the creation of large cities, which have a large population. According to Marx, this has rescued a sizeable percentage of the population from the idiocy of rural life (Tucker 477). This led to the development of various relationships with the society.

Towns became dependent on the rural society for their survival. However, bourgeoisie determined the success of the proletariats. Bourgeoisie used property to control the society. A few percentage of the population controlled a sizeable percentage of the property. Ownership of property by a few people led to political centralization. This was ultimately beneficial to the bourgeoisie.

According to Max Weber, property is the major factor that affects the class and status of an individual. Since property is scarce, the distribution of property determines the life chances that people acquire. “Marginal utility excludes the non-owners from competing for highly valued goods” (Webber 181). This empowers owners of land. It gives the owners of the land the monopoly to acquire property.

Therefore, this mode of distribution gives people who own land the monopoly to benefit from profitable deals. Since they own property, they do not necessarily have to exchange it. This increases the power that property owners have on the price wars. People who do not have property can only offer their services in native forms to the property owners. They must offer their services for their own sustenance (Giddens 43).

The mode of distribution of property gives the property owners the monopoly of transferring the property for use a ‘fortune’ or using the property as a ‘capital good.’ The property owners have the option of sharing returns on the capital either directly or indirectly.

Therefore, the mode of distribution helps the property owners have so much power over the society. However, for the property to have any significance, it must be very valuable to the society. In addition, market forces should prevail. Therefore, property and lack of property are the major factors that lead to social stratification (Webber 182).

The ability of a property to have returns leads to social stratification. In addition, the ability of an individual to offer certain services to the market leads to social stratification. People who own buildings, arable land, warehouses, or productive establishments can exchange them for money easily.

People can dispose these properties easily. Properties that have money equivalence make people who possess them to have greater power over their use. Therefore, one may belong to the class of people who rent or entrepreneurs (Webber 182). Property ownership determines the social class of an individual. Since property is scarce, people value it.

On the other hand, the type of services that people offer helps in differentiating people who do not have property. In addition, the way in which people make use of the service helps in differentiating people who do not have property.

However, the market plays a crucial role in determining the value of a service. People who have a valuable service may use the chance to make maximum use of the service. However, people who own property may still decide the value of the service (Webber 182). Labor is one of the services of people who do not have property.

Property owners may use their financial resources to buy machines that may replace the work of the laborers. This reduces the need to employ the laborers. Use of machines makes the laborers become appendages of the machines. Machines help in reducing the cost of production of a laborer. The more repulsive the work becomes, the less the wages (Tucker 479).

Reduction in the strength that people use in manual labor increases people who have the ability to perform the job. Women or children may perform the work that men used to perform. Therefore, differences in age become irrelevant to the performance of various services due to the use of machines. Consequently, age and sex cease to have social validity (Tucker 479). Certain services are very valuable to the society.

Banking is one of the services that are very valuable to the society. Bankers must create a good relationship with people who own property. The creditor-debtor relationship should be mutually beneficial to both parties (Webberer 183). Capitalism leads to exploitation of laborers. People must add value to the employers. In essence, the work of the employees should be able to offset the expenses that the employer would incur to the performance of the work (Giddens 46). This increases the disparities between people in various classes.

Increased disparities between people in various social classes may lead to revolutions. According to Karl Marx, it is only through the abolition of private property that people may eliminate the social disparities. Karl Marx was against the ownership of private property by a few people in the society.

This is because these people wield so much power over the society. Therefore, they may use property exploit people in the society. Karl Max supported political revolution against the bourgeoisie. According the Max, the proletariat is the only revolutionary class (Tucker 482).

Property is the major factor that determines social stratification. Property owners have power over other social factors. Property owners may use their property to monopolize the market. The decision to sell or not to sell the property lies with the property owners. The property owners may use the property to get returns.

On the other hand, people who do not have property belong to the lower classes. The value of the services determines the social class of people who do not have any property. People who have valuable services belong to the higher social classes. The bourgeoisie can use its resources to ensure that it control the value of the services that proletariats offer. Use of machinery may limit the work of laborers. Machinery makes laborers to become appendages of the machines.

Works Cited

Aron, Raymond. Main currents in sociological thought. Transaction Publishers, 1999. Print.

Giddens, Anthony. The class structure of advanced societies. New York: Harper & Row Publisher, 1975. Print.

Tucker, Robert C. The Marx-Engels reader, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1883. Print.

Webber, Max. “Class, status, party.” Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. Ed. Barbara Ehrenreich. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2010. 180-195. Print.

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The Class Structure of the Society

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