Marxists are particularly interested in the economic and social inequality that is shown in our society. This main inequality is shown between the different classes presented in our culture and the roles played by each class. For example the higher class, who generally own the means of production, have the power to exploit lower classes as they can hire cheap labour to make the products sold to the western society. These big production companies can gain a large profit for their products by hiring lower class people to create them in factories at minimum wage. Another example of social inequality is production companies and richer people being able to get away with not paying taxes. Arctic Monkeys, for example, don't have to pay their taxes due to their fame which shows an unequal balance between the different classes in our society.
2. How does Marxist thought divide society? (Think of the two terms they use.) Give a definition of each of these terms.
Marixsts have divided society into two separate groups of people: the bourgeoisie who own the means of production, and the proletariat who have to sell their labour in order to make a living. This shows a clear split between the opportunities presented to each group as the proletariat play a secondary role in contributing to society despite them creating all the consumer products presented to us. The bourgeoisie are the owners of the companies that provide these services, and as a result they make the profit from the products sold to our society. A clear divide in society is shown through these titles as one group recieves a large profit for selling products created through cheap labour, while the other have to create the consumer products for a low profit.
3. Give an example of how Marxist thought sees people as being exploited.
From a marxist perspective, the workers are clearly exploited by the owners of production companies by being made to work long hours for a small profit. An example of exploitation would be companies such as Apple and Facebook 'allowing' women to freeze their eggs in order to prevent them from having to take time off work to have children. This limits the freedom of the women working as they are fed false beliefs that they should put off having children while they maintain a stable career in order to ensure they keep working as many hours as possible. Work has been put above fair treatment in today's society and as we are all living in a state of false consciousness, a lot of us don't realise that the ending of workers being exploited is an achievable goal, not a utopian ideal.
4. In what ways does Marxist thought suggest that we are suffering from false consciousness? Try to give two examples.
Marxists suggest we are living in a state of false consciousness as we are forced into believing that consumer products will have a positive effect on our life and are necessary in order to be happy. For example, products that affect the way you look such as hair dye and makeup are promoted to women with the ideology that it will improve their life by making them more appealing to the male audience. A large amount of companies can sell the same products sold in cheap drugstores for double the price by putting a different brand on it and claiming it will change their identity. Consumers are exploited by these companies as they are convinced these products will make them feel better by allowing them to mould their identity, for example men's hair dye adverts always promote men looking younger and they would want to achieve this as their is an ideology that younger men are more likely to get hired.
Another example of false consciousness would be companies feeding us the idea that we need a certain product such as iphones. A phone's main function used to be to make calls but in a modern society the technology in a iphone is considered essential to function in our daily life. The iphones get updated slightly every year and re-released, making last year's model worth less and less appealing to the public, despite there only being a miniscule change between the two phones. For example, one of the only changes between the Iphone 5 and 6 is the size of the screen, but society is convinced that we need this new update as we live in a throwaway culture where we always need to be up-to-date with the newest products. Some members of the public queued up for 15 days to get the newest Iphone with no excuse why they needed it other than it was the newest one.
5. What benefits might a market liberal (capitalist) system bring to the population? Try to give three, with examples.
There are a few aspects of market liberalism that capitalists believe is beneficial to the population. These may be:
- Escaping Poverty - Capitalists believe that they are doing a favour to society as their companies provide jobs to people in poverty so they can earn a living and provide for their families. A lot of companies pay people the minimum wage for their country so they believe they are giving poorer people a living by getting them to create consumer products.
- Providing society with labour saving devices - Consumer products are believed to make the lives of the public easier as labour saving devices such as dishwashers and washing machines allow people to have the work done for them. This is helpful for people with little time who may have a family to look after or a job with long hours, as they won't have to complete time consuming tasks such as washing up or hand washing their clothes.
- Providing society with choice - Consumers are constantly provided with updated goods and the newest technology, giving them luxuries that can be used in everyday life. This may also be seen by capitalists as an encouragement to consumers to work harder as they will gain financial reward and be able to afford more expensive goods as a result of this. The wide choice of different cultural products allows the public to earn their money and spend it on things they prefer.
6. How are false needs reinforced, according to Marxist thought? (Think of particular agents of socialisation.) Give two ways, with examples.
False needs are largely reinforced in our society as we are advertised products with the idea that we need to have them, despite them not being important for our basic needs. Food and water are basic items we actually need in our day to day life, but products such as expensive hair and skincare are promoted by encouraging us that we require them in order to create our identity. Iphones are one of the main false needs, as we could live without them but many are convince they need their iphone and some even hold it above their religious beliefs in terms of importance. These phones are advertised in a way that convinces us that we need them to be happy and as a result of this we all believe they are essential to us. With the latest iphone 6 some people queued up for 15 days to buy it and this is a good example of how our false needs affect us.
7. Illustrate Bauman's ideas about 'the perpetual non-satisfaction' of consumers.
Bauman makes the suggestion that without consumers constantly desiring new products the economoy would run out of ways to sell us new things. For example, with items such as games consoles and phones they are constantly being updated and advertised to us with new features which makes us convince ourselves that we need the latest model. A lot of the newest products only have small adjustments such as a change in screen size or colours, but the media persuades us that it's essential that we have the latest products. Because of this, our desire to have the newest products is never fulfilled and we will continue to spend our money on them.
8. Explain why we might pay more for a product than we think it is actually worth (think of use and exchange value).
The way products are advertised can have a massive impact on how much we are willing to pay for them and although we might not think the use value is good enough to spend that much money, it can be easily sold to us through promotion. An example of this would be market advertising as we can be easily tempted into buying expensive products due to it being on offer and the shop convincing us it's worth our money. Some products sell at a 'buy two for £__' rate and despite us knowing we don't have any use for two of the same product, the offer will convince us that it's a good deal and worth paying the extra money. From a logical perspective, buying one product would be considerably cheaper than buying two just to get a slight 'discount' on them, but the way it is marketed makes us believe we're getting more for our money by buying two of a product we only need one of.
9. What do critics of late capitalism such as Paul Moore and Bill Gates suggest is needed to make late capitalism more acceptable?
Paul Moore thinks we are required to act unethically as a result of capitalism and it would be made more acceptable through ways such as a redistribution of wealth. Providing more ethical conditions would benefit business and make capitalism more acceptable and Paul Moore also says 'we need a new way of being'.
10. What does market liberalist thought suggest when it criticises marxism as promoting a 'utopian ideal'? (Think of what Milt Friedman said about angels...)
Market liberalists criticise marxism as they believe that what they want is promoting a utopian ideal which would be unachievable in our society. They think the way things are being run now allows a sense of control as well as encouraging freedoms. As Milt Friedman suggests, all societies run on greed, and there are no 'angels' that would run society for a reason other than their greed.
7. Illustrate Bauman's ideas about 'the perpetual non-satisfaction' of consumers.
Bauman makes the suggestion that without consumers constantly desiring new products the economoy would run out of ways to sell us new things. For example, with items such as games consoles and phones they are constantly being updated and advertised to us with new features which makes us convince ourselves that we need the latest model. A lot of the newest products only have small adjustments such as a change in screen size or colours, but the media persuades us that it's essential that we have the latest products. Because of this, our desire to have the newest products is never fulfilled and we will continue to spend our money on them.
8. Explain why we might pay more for a product than we think it is actually worth (think of use and exchange value).
The way products are advertised can have a massive impact on how much we are willing to pay for them and although we might not think the use value is good enough to spend that much money, it can be easily sold to us through promotion. An example of this would be market advertising as we can be easily tempted into buying expensive products due to it being on offer and the shop convincing us it's worth our money. Some products sell at a 'buy two for £__' rate and despite us knowing we don't have any use for two of the same product, the offer will convince us that it's a good deal and worth paying the extra money. From a logical perspective, buying one product would be considerably cheaper than buying two just to get a slight 'discount' on them, but the way it is marketed makes us believe we're getting more for our money by buying two of a product we only need one of.
9. What do critics of late capitalism such as Paul Moore and Bill Gates suggest is needed to make late capitalism more acceptable?
Paul Moore thinks we are required to act unethically as a result of capitalism and it would be made more acceptable through ways such as a redistribution of wealth. Providing more ethical conditions would benefit business and make capitalism more acceptable and Paul Moore also says 'we need a new way of being'.
10. What does market liberalist thought suggest when it criticises marxism as promoting a 'utopian ideal'? (Think of what Milt Friedman said about angels...)
Market liberalists criticise marxism as they believe that what they want is promoting a utopian ideal which would be unachievable in our society. They think the way things are being run now allows a sense of control as well as encouraging freedoms. As Milt Friedman suggests, all societies run on greed, and there are no 'angels' that would run society for a reason other than their greed.
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