The+Proletariat+-+James+Merritt

Proletariat - Producers of Offspring

General Background :)

- The Proletariat's were t he lowest or one of the lowest economic and social classes in a society.

 - While present throughout history, the ancient Roman's were among the first to have 'official' proletariats.

 - The proletariat's of Rome were  the poor landless freemen; artisans and small tradesmen who had been gradually impoverished by the extension of slavery.

 - They were the lowest of ranks among Roman citizens, who played an important role, not as an independent force but as a mass following, in the political struggles between the Roman patricians and the wealthy plebeians.

 - Back then, due to the fact there was almost no opportunity for productive work, the work was performed in the mostly by slaves.

- ** Karl Marx **** designated the class by the wage of the workers engaged in industrial production and whose chief source of income was derived from the sale of their labor power. **

-It was distinguished in Marxian literature from the poor, the working classes, and the // Lumpenproletariat ////. //(original and unemployable workers of debased or irregular habits and also included paupers, beggars, and criminals)

-Because of its subordinate position in a capitalist society and the effects of periodic depressions on wages and employment, the proletariat as described by Marxists was usually living in poverty. But it was not therefore identified with the poor, for some members of the proletariat, the highly skilled or labor aristocracy, were recognized as not poor, and some members of the entrepreneurial class were not wealthy. Despite synonymous use in agitational literature, the term proletariat was distinguished from the working class as a generic term. The former referred to those engaged in industrial production, whereas the latter referred to all who must work for their living and who received wages or salary, including agricultural labourers, white-collar workers, and hired help occupied in the distribution services.



...the bourgeoisie plays a heroic role by revolutionizing industry and modernizing society. However, it also seeks to monopolize the benefits of this modernization by exploiting the propertyless proletariat and thereby creating revolutionary tensions. The end result, according to Marx, will be a final revolution in which the property of the bourgeoisie is expropriated and ... Marx and Engels maintained that the poverty, disease, and early death that afflicted the proletariat (the industrial working class) were endemic to capitalism: they were systemic and structural problems that could be resolved only by replacing capitalism with communism. Under this alternative system, the major means of industrial production—such as mines, mills, factories, and... // in // communism (ideology): Historical materialism) ...view, is an economic system in which one class—the ruling bourgeoisie—owns the means of production while the working class or proletariat effectively loses its independence, the worker becoming part of the means of production, a mere “appendage of the machine.”  ...more effective as it expressed with eloquent ferocity the grievances of the poor while predicting retribution and a happy ending. For the state, once captured by the class-conscious vanguard of the proletariat, would take over the means of production from the capitalists, and a brief “dictatorship of the proletariat” would establish genuine communism. The state would wither away,...  ...result will be a war that will end all class divisions. Under the pressure of depressions, recessions, and competition for jobs, the workers will become conscious that they form a class, the proletariat that is oppressed and exploited by their class enemy, the bourgeoisie. Armed with this awareness, they will overthrow the bourgeoisie in a series of spontaneous uprisings, seizing...
 * Definitions Relating To Proletariats: **
 * ** bourgeoisie ** (// in //bourgeoisie (social class))
 * ** communism ** (// in //communism (ideology): Marxian communism;
 * ** political philosophy ** (// in //political philosophy: Marx and Engels)
 * ** socialism ** (// in //socialism: Marxian socialism)



Animal Farm – Proletariats

Boxer : The name Boxer is cleverly used by Orwell as a metaphor for the Boxer Rebellion in China in the early twentieth century. It was this rebellion which signaled the beginning of communism in red China. This communism, much like the distorted Stalin view of socialism, is still present today in the oppressive social government in China. Boxer and Clover are used by Orwell to represent the proletariat, or unskilled labor class in Russian society. This lower class is naturally drawn to Stalin (Napoleon) because it seems as though they will benefit most from his new system. Since Boxer and the other low animals are not accustomed to the "good life," they can't really compare Napoleon's government to the life they had before under the czars (Jones). Also, since usually the lowest class has the lowest intelligence, it is not difficult to persuade them into thinking they are getting a good deal. The proletariat is also quite good at convincing each other that communism is a good idea. Orwell supports this contention when he narrates, "Their most faithful disciples were the two carthorses, Boxer and Clover. Those two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments." Later, the importance of the proletariat is shown when Boxer suddenly falls and there is suddenly a drastic decrease in work productivity. But still he is taken for granted by the pigs, who send him away in a glue truck. Truly Boxer is the biggest poster-child for gullibility.



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 * James Merritt **
 * CFIS 2009 **