In reality, the worker is little more than a cog in a heartless and brutal capitalist machine. Socialism also entails a rejection of the liberal assumption that the individual is somehow free to exchange their labour. Whereas Marx compares capitalists to “vampires” and “werewolves,” conservatives emphasise the goal of social harmony based upon shared values.

This represents a key area of disagreement between socialists and conservatives. The interests of these two social classes are therefore in conflict. They become de-personalised from their own work and the fruits of their labour are stolen by the bourgeoisie. Marxists claim that this leads to an acute sense of alienation because workers do not benefit from the products being made. Under the exploitative conditions of the capitalist economic system, the surplus value of the proletariat is appropriated by the bourgeoisie. Work undertaken by the reserve army of labour is characterised by low-wages, low-status, little or no job security, zero-hours contracts and poor working conditions. If an employee refuses to accept this arrangement, they can be threatened with the sack and be replaced by members of the reserve army of labour. With regards to the latter, Marx perceived that “the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.”Īccording to the socialist analysis of the economic system, the bourgeoisie have every incentive to pay workers the lowest wage possible (and offer the poorest working conditions) in order to maximise profit. The former is focused upon economic resources whereas the mental means of production refers to how the media serves the interests of the capitalist elite (Miliband, 1973 & 1982).

Moreover, the means of production is both physical and mental. The means of production is a Marxist term which refers to those elements of the production process that can be legally owned such as land and machinery. In the Communist Manifesto (1848), Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels boldly proclaim that “the history of all hitherto societies is the history of class conflict.” They believe that the social classes can be distinguished between those who own the means of production (the bourgeoisie) and those who work the means of production (the proletariat). Social class refers to a group of people in society who have the same socioeconomic status.

Friedrich engels socialism