The discussion on Marx and Engel’s Dialectics continued this class meeting with much gusto from Professor Fernandez. It was discussed that, unlike what the authors originally intended, their work resulted in a lot of varied interpretations. The true Marxist would correctly reason out that in the pyramid of societal thought, Ideology lies on top of two lower levels. Below it is the Politico-juridical Idea. Both of which make up the superficial and non-material component of this pyramid and collectively aims to reproduce the ideas of its base. On its base lie the relations of production and the forces of production. This base of society is said to be material aspect.
The knowledge of this pyramid of societal thought is critical in understanding Marx’s Dialectics. He reasons that it is an individual’s materialistic conditions define his consciousness. The State is said to be the prime promulgator of both the Idea and the Politico-juridical Idea. In order to topple the oppressive mechanism of capitalism, it would not be enough to abolish the base of society but rather, the current state should be brought down to accomplish this objective. Marx added that all rational nations would follow this kind of path en route to a change of a better mode of production: primitive mode of production – slavery – feudalism – capitalism – socialism.
One of the more interesting notes mentioned in class was Marx own economic upbringing. In his works, Marx would always fight for the rights of the proletariat or the working class so one would naturally attribute this behaviour to his empathizing for his fellow lower class. Surprisingly, Marx grew up in an affluent and a comfortable environment so it comes as a surprise that he became the champion for the proletariat class. Lastly, the oppressive nature of a capitalist mechanism was discussed. Written all over Marx’s Das Kapital is the implicit message that capitalism is both exploitative and oppressive to the working class. The only thing capitalism holds sacred is the profits that it earns. The passive role of the government in preserving the capitalist status quo also does not help the cause of the proletariats.
There were a lot of interesting insights raised in class this meeting. Let me comment on one of them. Professor Fernandez consistently pointed out the College of Business Administration (CBA) is a breeding site of professionals who are trained to exploit other people in their undertakings. I would respectfully disagree. Though we live in a capitalist environment, branding the CBA as such would be a great injustice to the college. Being a trained in the field of Economics which deals with the proper allocation of scarce resources and address issues inherent in an economy, I would argue that the CBA is not breeding human-exploiters but rather, a college that trains effective and efficient future businessmen who are not only concerned with making a profit but more importantly, who serve society by providing people with jobs and abiding with the state’s prescribed civic duties. They are trained to be future-managers who are trained to handle people in a manner that makes work worthwhile and meaningful. At the end of the day, every individual has to make a living. These CBA graduates are honed to become future leaders of their respective fields that not only care about making a profit, but also are concerned in generating jobs and opportunities for other people to also make a living. Though capitalism may be oppressive in some of its aspects, there is absolutely nothing wrong in trying to pursue a sustainable livelihood in the hopes of providing food to one’s family table at least three times a day. (11/30/2010)
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