Marxs Main Contention

In his writing, Karl Marx uses the concept of class to bring out the critical analysis of historical, political, and social changes. According to Marx, the history of existing society is a product of the history of class struggles for existence, power, and identity. The book emphasized on the events that preceded the famous French coup detat which was executed by the French President, Louis Napoleon, who overthrew Napoleon 1. Marx used this even to show how class struggle in France created new heroes out of nothing, due to class factors (Marx 9). The proletarian revolutions which succeeded the bourgeois revolutions, demanded for class equality in terms of political representation and power struggles to control the industrial benefits in European countries. According to Marx, the class struggles during the industrial revolution, due to pathetic condition of the working class, who wanted a change in the system, so that they can get better payment for their efforts. In relation to this, in French revolution, most of the peasants voted for Bonaparte because he represented a different view from the system. The class relation was at all-time low, which created both economic and political discontent in France.

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The economic and political situations in France and entire Europe brought about the existence of class, which, according to Marx in his The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, was a product of how people viewed themselves in light of others and the struggles that people underwent to better their identities within the class. Here, the concept of class is utterly political and very subjective to the bid to stay in power or to gain power by all means, and to outdo the rival class. During the French coup detat, Louis Napoleon rose to power, and according to Marx, the event meant that class struggle has gone a notch higher and new stars are created out of nothing (Cowling & James 47). The proletarian revolution meant that the class struggle for power indeed worsened the relationship between different classes in the society. Most of the peasants struggled for better lives while the working class struggled to have their wages and revenues improved, that is an improvement in the status of their lifestyles. There was sour relationship between the political class and the lower citizens, which led to gradual revolution in the French cities.

From Marxist point of view, the relationship that existed between the political class and the peasants was the key source of struggle in the French upheavals. He further emphasized that revolution is a powerful tool and accelerator of social processes through the critical analysis of the differences between the times of bourgeois and proletarian revolutions. During the former, the issues are transient and easily reach their maximum expectations, whereas in proletarian revolution, are long-term, and involves a lengthy periods of societal radical revolution to bring about change in the political stratification and to achieve class harmony. Proletarian revolutions are often ever self-critical and are marred by the strong and irresistible drive and desire to point out the mistakes without fear and seek redress with the intention of a forward movement (Marx 47). Marx believed that these revolutions shaped the class struggle from group to individual desire to make the life better for the individuals and the society at large. He further formulated the conclusion that the victory of the proletarian revolution in the French coup detat showed the efforts that the masses intended to smash out the old state machine., although in his own observation of the development and emergence of military and bureaucracies, the machines have instead been refined through the all coups detat.

Reflection on the Writing

Marx point out at how conflict of different interests in the social set up are manifested, through frustration and revolution and political struggles. The main though here is the contradictory difference in the relationship between the outer forms of a struggle and the societal realities. Even with the inexperience and disorganization of proletarian warriors of Paris, they still managed to win power, and establish some levels of the societal conformity.

Marxs main contention that class antagonism and socio political discontent are the root cause of the political struggles in the societies, especially in the capitalist countries. Currently, the world has plunged into various political struggles, which are associated directly or indirectly with the class policies (Cowling & James 55). In United States, for instance, both the democrats and the republicans are favoring different classes of citizen in their respective policies, which has always affected the voting patterns, splitting the country into half. Democrats are always skewed towards favoring the middle-class citizens while the republicans favor the first class, and seeks to prevent their interests in terms of taxation, and property ownerships. This has created conflicts in the political arena in the US leading to a virtually divided country, with both the republicans and the democrats all favoring certain class of people. Marx therefore was right in his observation of the situation around class struggle for power and political game plans.

Works cited

Cowling, Mark, and James Martin, eds. Marx's Eighteenth Brumaire:(post) modern interpretations. Pluto Press, 2002.

Marx, Karl. "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. 1852." New York: International (1963).