- On Class Conflict -

- Abstract -

Now begins the second week of back-to-back philosophy posts. Today's entry was graciously requested by Dr. @f3nix, the topic of course being in the title: Class Conflict. Dr. @f3nix also made a request on an intro to Lacan, which will most likely happen on Friday; so keep your eyes peeled for that. On that point, this post equally serves as an addon to the first week, first back-to-back event: Dialectics: an updated guide. So it's advised yah read that to get a prepper on this.

I should notate that the Sources below will serve doubly as both actual sources and furthered readings into the matter. I try to pick out a variety of sources on the matter, including very particular situations where class conflict does have a significant role. Going from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin to even Mao Zedong and Silvia Federici. I also linked some of my video essays on the matter as an additional help as well.

Now unto the subject proper, Class Conflict. Class Conflict is one of the many Core Components within the entirety of Marxist Tradition. Not only is it one of the mediums used as a way to investigate the socio-economical tensions in any given country, but is an impetus for Marxists to address and resolve the tensions and contradictions of Capitalism. Put it simply, one cannot be a Marxist while denying the reality of Classes and Class Conflict; to do so is commit theoretical and political suicide. For if one denies the conflict spawned about by both the very existing economic-based reality and the Superstructure (Culture and Ideology) built around that, then that Marxist be no Marxist. For they cannot properly analyze the World qua Marxism nor can they resolve the problems they so happen to identify in the exclusion of Class Conflict. To put more simply, Class Conflict is one of the primary mediums that motivates the March of History to move forward when each epoch has long lived its heroic age. And to the Marxist programme, it is a tangible reality that has to be overcome in the revolutions they strive for.

- Class -

But of course, what is Class?

Class, in the most complicated sense: A collection of people who have definite relations to and are determined by the means of productions, of which their interests are spawned in relation to their access to the means of production. Yet what does it mean to have definite relations of production? What means it so to be determined by the both relations and the actual means of production? What is class interest for the varying classes? What are and who composes the varying classes?

- Class hierarchy -

To start backwards, let's first answer the composition of the classes. Fundamentally, two distinctive classes exist and this is especially true within the realm of Capitalism. The first class is the ruling class, promptly denoted as the Bourgeoisie or the Capitalist Class; the Capitalists fundamentally own the means of production, but necessarily not to do they LABOUR what they own and they only get to extract surplus value. The second class is the working class, promptly denoted here as the Proletariat or the Worker Class; the Workers lack ownership over the means of production that they LABOUR upon as they work to create commodities and are stolen of the surplus value they create.

Nota bene, Marxists do use a term call the Petite Bourgeoisie and Lumpen-proletariat; the former refers to "small Capitalists" and the latter to "poor workers." The Petite Bourgeoisie still have to labour on the means of production, yet uniquely can they start hiring workers and exploit them by extracting the surplus value the workers create as to then become bourgeois. However, there are periods where the Petite Bourgeoisie can be sympathetic to the Workers, as seen in Russia and China, and even ally with them; yet that depends on how much more prole versus bourgeois they are with how much Capital they possess. On the other side we have the Lumpen-proletariat: this class, though the underbelly of the proletariat, has been a finicky one for whole sorts of socio-economic reasons. They are both revolutionary and counterrevolutionary just as the petite bourgeoisie, yet their whims are dependent on the recruitment of the bourgeoisie against the working class versus the power of the proletariat to convince them to fight with them against the bourgeoisie. In cases of thievery and homicides, the lumpen are clear enemies to all, including themselves. In cases of exploited vandals, ethnicities and general unemployed people, they can serve as a catalyst of revolutions. All dependent on how their existence is threatened by the Capitalist Class like the Petite Bourgeoisie.

- Class interests -

Now we get into class interests if it wasn't subtly implied in the passage above. Each class, including the two in the nota bene, do have definite class interests. Class interests are reproduced accordingly to the bettering and worsening of material conditions; if better, class conflict dies down and it becomes harder to fight back since there's SOMETHING to lose; if worse, class conflict intensifies and can snowball intensively to all out fights in the street to just live another day. What matters here, however, is that class conflict is directly influenced by class interests. The working classes have a simple wish: to own what they LABOUR upon and to be mastered by nobody but themselves. The ruling classes also have a simple wish: to deny the working classes' simple wish and to benefit from their labours on the means of production, they as the ruling class, owns without ever having to labour with them.

To go back to our two other classes: the Petite Bourgeoisie wishes to escape the Working class position to become a member of the Ruling class; the lumpen-proletariat to simply live on another day and have a semblance of an existence even if it isn't guaranteed. For the latter, that's understandable as they live on the barest of essentials to get through the day; yet this is the leverage the bourgeoisie have over them as to make them easily counterrevolutionaries. For the former, with the acquisition of Capital in their hands, they simply do wish to not have to labour for the rest of their lives as to subsist another day; but it means not that they wish to exploit others consciously as the black stain of exploitation still exists in their heads. However, both classes shall make their calls towards the revolution if so influenced by the proletarian revolution and see that they have something to gain from it instead of something to lose from it.

- Relations of Production -

To make explicit, again, what was implicit up to this point: these two main classes (along with in-between classes) do have determinate relations. Of which these relations of productions determines their class interests which influences class conflict to even happen to begin with. However, we have answered what there is to answer on the relations, was I concealing something? True, we did answer directly what class had what relationship to the means of production, yet we haven't explained the definiteness and determinations of the relations of production.

For the ruling classes, it is held concretely by the Bourgeois State which is made up by, for and of the Bourgeoisie, but their ownership over the means of production, without having to necessarily work on it, makes them see the workers as lesser and informs them to suppress any worker's movement which tries to give the workers the means of production. For the working classes, it is with their surplus value being extracted and living always on just enough (or enough to subsist) which makes them spiteful of being under the thumb of the Bourgeois Class. Both despise each other for even having to share a part of the pie: the Bourgeoisie always pushing the Proletariat to work more and more hours for lesser and lesser pay as to get more of the surplus value; the Proletariat always demanding to work less, to get more of their own employed and to get more pay as to live another day.

Yet what I have described above are the primary contradictions which generates Class Conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. And as the days go on and they continue to have nothing resolved, the Social Order will have to give, fights will begin and strict enforcement of what has been so far will come about. Class Conflict, as the medium that allows the two classes to interact with each other, will evolve as a medium, for conflict will not be tame as it had been under the Bourgeois World. Indeed, whirlwinds of danger are racing and the flames are growing high without stop; the time for civility has long been overdue and the period of Chaos ensues with Revolution at the gate.

- Superseding Class -

Indeed Chaos shall reign in as the decider of the Revolution's final Victor. Indeed, Chaos is no god, no human, no entity nor a force. It is merely the outcry of Order, of which all has allowed to persist despite what has been conceived of as morally right or wrong. Chaos coming in when the dysfunctions of Order can no longer sustain the orderliness of Order and must break down to let the bigger pains exact itself upon the Subjects of any given area. Chaos, the crying spirit of Order, now makes everything fair game, deteriorates all that has been, let's (reflexive) History become judge once more and attempts to resolve the contradictions that have given pain to Order for so long.

Here, Revolution proceeds as the next mature form of Class Conflict - now the scope of interactions between the two classes have expanded way past the horizons. Revolution, with the guiding hand of Chaos, seeks to prop up the conditions that allows the contradictions to finally be superseded and allow the March of History to go forward with its strides. Here we see the Working classes unite under a single banner as to fight to make their class interests the only interests and to purge the Ruling classes for all it had to suffer for during its rule. Oh it is here we see the New World coming out of the womb of the Old World; where the proletarian revolution fights to situate itself and expand once steadied. No more are the abuses of Capital as it was, now we see the proletarian own what they work upon and build a State by, of and for the workers.

And as the outcries of Order simmers down and Chaos wrapping up the last contradictions before it must hand the job to Order, we see that the Revolution, qua medium and real-life, can no longer sustain itself just like Class Conflict under the Bourgeois Social Order. Indeed, the Revolution only sustained itself in revolutionary crises and as the transition between the Bourgeois to Proletarian Social Order. Now, in the place of Revolution, qua medium, comes about Socialism, yet things don't simmer down here but only intensify, where all the antagonistic contradictions are now finally be resolved without the possibility of coming back. Here we see Socialism carry out the taskers of the Revolution but did the one thing the Revolution dreamed of doing, rooting out all that it fought against and sow permanently the seeds of tomorrow. Socialism ruthlessly torches over the Capitalist Social Order and paints anew the World it has won over, where the Proletarian can truly manifest its class interests without a fear nor exploitation of the Bourgeoisie.

But with an end of the era and the start of the heroic age of Socialism, Socialism will be the last in the succession of things to be superseded; Socialism too will be superseded when things have truly settled down and the contradictions resolved. With the last of contradictions superseded, Socialism will be superseded and the Class Conflict medium will be only the memory of (reflexive) History. In its place, will the Communist World truly shine; for the whole time Communism was exerted upon the World by the will of the Workers. For, to quote Karl Marx, "Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality [will] have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence." Communism has been along the entire way with the rise of class consciousness for the Working Class, to the Revolutionary Period where the Worker has won the first battles against the Bourgeoisie, to the Socialist epoch where the Proletariat was struggling to make its own Social Order to replace the Bourgeois Social Order and to current reality where the last of the contradictions have been resolved and a new epoch, indeed the End of History, can truly begin.

- Concrete-

But of course, the Marxist programme is not limited to simply the contradictions between the ruling-working classes. All good and informed Marxists are allies to intersectionality and shall be the auxiliaries to what it wishes to achieve. Though lets be honest that even if for some god awful reason you, as a Marxist, don't support groups and/or intentions of them like feminists, LGBTQIA+ and so on and so on, then you will have to stand with them with their intentions by the very least. Not because "alliance-opportunism" but because you, as a Marxist, know Capitalism propagates such toxic forces that makes the culture reactionary, and, that even when one takes out capitalism, a culture just doesn't transform immediately. That's idealism (in comparison to materialism) at that point, and worse than even the idealism we see on the internet.

Just because you slice the superstructure's connection to the base, it doesn't mean it will go away as such. The superstructure will struggle to the death with the new base to reassert the old base and go "back" to a point where it could maintain and reproduce itself. This is why, for example, Mao Zedong would be such a cheerleader for the Great Cultural Revolution to stomp out the reactionary culture because that very reactionary culture had the ability to send China backwards. Even going beyond that, these issues of racism, trans-misogyny and so on and so on don't take a back seat to the contradiction between the ruling and working class.

Indeed, any good Marxist would realize that once revolution is achieved that you do have to solve the ruling-working class contradiction in conjunction with all these other contradictions as they appear around the World. For while each have varying strengths and bigger importance in different parts, all should be equally slain as the Proletariat takes control of the means of production as they become both working and ruling class. To which, the addressing and resolving of these other ills will weaken the old ruling class, the bourgeoisie, and make impossible to go back to the time that they wish to. Or simply: prevent the reactionary culture from ever having any more influence than it had in the past. To achieve that monumental step of real liberty, real equality and real unity, then shall the World forever change and be a life that's worth living.

We may never know indeed how the future can look like, even what it shall think of us; indeed these are things outta our control. However, it doesn't mean that it is out of our grasp; more-so, it's something the entire human race can start practicing towards in order to make it under our control. To control our own fate, our own destiny, to make our mistakes our own so we can truthfully live up to them and to live the life that's worth living. Hitherto has the World fought and we shall fight on, yet we all are ready to make the qualitative leap towards a World of, by and for the Workers. Down with the reaction and urah along with your comrades, for a World is to be won while it is still healthy enough to sustain the World beyond. For a society grows great when people plant the seeds of tomorrow of which they know they can never delight in, but of which the future shall be forever blessed for. Workers, dream and dream big for the new World! Agitate for the new World! Educate others of the value they have at their fingertips alone! Organize those so than they can possess the full value of their labour-power!

WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!

- Sources -

My guide on Dialectics

Friedrich Engels's Principles of Communism PDF

My analysis on Principles of Communism

Karl Marx's and Friedrich Engels's Communist Manifesto PDF

Karl Marx's Theses of Feuerbach

My analysis on Theses of Feuerbach

Friedrich Engels's and Karl Marx's Revolution and Counter-Revolution

Karl Marx's The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

Karl Marx's Critique of the Gotha Programme

Friedrich Engels's Anti-Dühring

Friedrich Engels's Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin's Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin's State and Revolution

Mao Zedong's On Guerrilla Warfare

Mao Zedong's On Protracted War

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin's Dialectical and Historical Materialism

Mao Zedong's On Practice

Mao Zedong's On Contradiction

Silvia Federici's Caliban and the Witch