POT 3203 Fall 2024

Week 6 Module

THEME: Socialism I

DEADLINES: (all at 11:30 pm)

Quiz and Part A questions:       Monday   9/30 in Webcourses.

Part B posts:                                   Wednesday 10/2 in Yellowdig

 WEEK 6 ASSIGNED READINGS AND VIEWING (All subjects to quiz.):

Read: Ball et al., chapter 5 Socialism and Communism from More to Marx.

 View: Karl Marx (22 minutes), available at:

https://fod-infobase-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=35426Links to an external site.

Examine: (in Files under Assigned Readings.)

Figure 0.6. Inequality, 1900-2020: Europe, United States, Japan.

WEEK 6 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Distinguish between utopian and scientific socialism.
2. Describe the main features of Marx’s “materialist conception of history.”
3. Describe what Marx thinks is wrong with capitalism.
4. Describe the steps in the revolutionary sequence as Marx envisions them.
5. Describe democracy and freedom as characterized by Marx.
6. Describe the ways in which Marx’s theory fulfills the four functions of an ideology, as outlined in Chapter 1.
7. Describe in the evolution of income inequality in rich countries since 1900.

PART A TASKS in Webcourses

Q-0:  Is there an idea or a claim expressed in the readings that you find difficult, confusing, or unclear? If so, tell us which idea this is. Cite the document title and page where you encountered this idea. We cannot help you if the description of what is unclear is overly broad. You do not need to answer this question. If everything is clear, there is not point in answering. Q-0 is NOT for issues or ideas you understand but disagree with. It is only for ideas or claims you do not understand. If you have a disagreement or simply a doubt about an idea contained in the readings, you make that the basis of your critical question in Part B (Packback). Another student might answer your question there.

Q-1: Describe Marx’s theory of alienation.  

200 words minimum. State your word count.

 NOTE: In answering the question in Part A, you must strive to demonstrate that you reflected on the meaning of the readings and viewing. There is no right or wrong answer. There are only answers demonstrating shallow and perfunctory or serious and deep reflections on the material. We want to see the latter.

Your Part A answer is graded 50% for thoughtful content and 50% for good writing.

PART B TASKS in Yellowdig

See Tips for Posting in Part B in Files.

Task-1: Answer the question raised by the instructor. This week’s question is:

Is Marxism completely outdated or is it still somewhat, somehow, valid today?

Obviously, many of Marx’s predictions for the future did not materialize. Obviously, also, regimes inspired by Marxism did not produce attractive models of society. (Look at the Soviet Union or Cuba, for instance.) Marxism as a historical prediction and as a program for social renovation is not convincing – to put it mildly.

However, what are we to think of Marx’s critical understanding of capitalism? What (if anything) is wrong or outdated in Marx’s criticism of capitalism? What (if anything) is valid today in Marx’s criticism of capitalism?

For instance, Marx criticized the deepening of economic inequality in the 19th century. In the 20th century developed economies experienced a forty-year period of somewhat reduced income inequality in the years 1940s-1980s. But then inequality of income and wealth has returned with a vengeance and is worsening again in advanced capitalist countries. (Wealth is typically more unequal than income since wealth is accumulated income over the years.) There seems to be no end in sight to growing inequality. When does it stop?

In the U.S, today, the poorest 50% of the population own only 2% of the country’s wealth while the richest 10% own a staggering 72% (Piketty, p 151, bottom). If wealth is a social creation (i.e., a product of social cooperation among individuals with different talents and roles) as socialists argue, the resulting pie is divided extremely unequally. Is this an indication that there is something of value in Marx’s critical understanding of capitalism?

Other examples may focus on Marx’s criticism of the alienation of labor under capitalism. How many people today find satisfaction in the repetitive or meaningless work the capitalist organization of production imposed on them? Aren’t the expressions of talents and creativity not confined to the few that can access positions of leadership in organizations (CEOs) or innovation in the arts and sciences?

How about the priority taken by profit maximization for the few over product safety, environmental health, job security for the many, etc.? Are social media platforms, for instance, designed to support information reliability in the context of democratic self-government or to maximize profits at the expense of the former?

In short, while Marx might not instruct us on what to do about capitalism, does he not help us understand its limitations?

SOURCE: Ball et al. pp. 163-166.