Essay on Marx & Mill: Class Struggle & Power Dynamics in Society

Marx, the father of sociology, elaborated on the class struggle as the struggle between classes in a society. According to his theory, he grouped the classes according to the capital controllers, the producers, and the laborers. He further explained that the classes relate to the means of production. On the other hand, a sociologist Mill’s, in his theory, mentions that the life of the ordinary citizen is determined not by him but by few individuals with majority power in the society. Mill refers to them as the elite people. These individuals make decisions that impact all people’s lives. The two theories show that the ordinary people in the grass-root level end up as victims of the people who have more power either financially, skillfully, or politically. The theories reveal the struggles of the person who has no power because he or she ends up as a victim of the decisions made by the people above. Moreover, the two theories expose the differences of the people in society hence creating the social classes. The classes of people in society are determined by their positions politically, how wealthy they are, among other factors.

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New York Times article on race and America revealed about the protests ignited by a viral video of a white police officer mercilessly pressing his knee against the neck of a black man, George Floyd (Hubler, 2020). The police officer did this for nearly nine minutes. This incident brought up many other violent situations that were done against innocent people. The protestors openly spoke of the importance of every person’s life and fuelled for the stoppage of the biasness against the black race. Protestors also openly discussed their pain through the hands of the violent law enforcers who are supposed to maintain law and order. Also, during the protest, more incidents of the innocent protesters in the hands of law enforcers were witnessed. This situation relates to Marx’s theory in the sense that George Floyd, a member of the society, had no say to what happened to him in the hands of the police officer. In relation to Marx’s class struggle theory, George and the police officer were from two different classes, and this prompted the officer to behave as he did because he had the power. Moreover, mills theory of power elite is evident in this scenario as it shows how the officer who has power misuses it by brutally handling George, not minding his situation (Hubler, 2020). He exercises his decision without putting into consideration how it affects the victim or other people in society.

The article on George Floyd reveals the issue of classes and power in modern society. It clearly shows how people are biased against because of their tribes, races, and even status. It further reveals the misuse of power in society. This triggers thoughts because one would question if Floyd was a white man, would the officers’ actions have remained the same? Also, if power was in the hands of Floyd, would he have acted as the officer? This incident reveals the irony existing in society. Those in power are expected to protect the other people, but unfortunately, what happens is that they use their positions to make themselves better and leave the other people suffering under their decision. Decisions made by the elite people in society are usually there to benefit them in one way or another. The theories of Marx and Will brought out the naked truth of what happens in a society. The difference in classes and power control is in the hands of few individuals dictate the life of the common citizen.

To sum it up, the two sociologists’ theories have a great impact on society today. Marx insists that the workers should join hands since, by doing so, they will break chains. This means that once all the people are united, they have a position to make decisions and stop the elite from making decisions that do not affect them negatively. Moreover, the elite members of society should learn from the elite power theory to make decisions well for all the people in the society.

Reference

Hubler, S. (2020). A Crisis That Began With an Image of Police Violence Keeps Providing More. Nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/police-violence-george-floyd.html.