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German Ideology by Karl Marx


            According to Marx, "the last antagonistic form of the social process of production,"" is private property, in other words, capitalism. Private property is just one of the many forms of ownership that Marx talks about in The German Ideology. Private property is however, the last form of ownership before communism comes into being. "Division of labour and private property are, moreover, identical expressions - (The German Ideology, pp.160). Division of labour is termed "specialization- by Marx. This specialization causes "stupefication- in the working class. Essentially, Marx believes that each individual works in a certain specialization and is stuck in that area of expertise because of the structure of capitalism. For this reason, the workers become stupid and are not able to realize their potentiality. The entire process of capitalism, according to Marx and Engels is structured in such a way that it will bring about its own downfall. Thus it is a solution to the antagonism "the solution and the antagonism both being capitalism. For Marx, capitalism is the last social process, which will inherently lead itself into communism. Communism is the ideal society in the minds of Marx and Engels.
             The forces of production as creating "the material conditions for the solution of that antagonism- are the basic processes of capitalism. As mentioned above, division of labour is imbedded into the processes of capitalism. Division of labour is "specialization- which in turn causes "stupefication-. "For as soon as the distribution of labour comes into being, each man has a particular, exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape."" (The German Ideology, pp. 160) Marx helps show how under capitalism workers are stuck in their jobs and cannot choose to move around and work various different fields. Under communism, however, Marx believes that each individual can explore many different areas and therefore will not be a victim of "stupefication-.


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