SLIDE 1:

Good Morning Prof. Ador G. Paulino. Good Morning everyone. I’m MacGyver D.
Noche from the City Engineering & Building Official Department. I’ll be discussion
one of the Social and Political Theories and Philosophies influencing Philippine
Public Administration.

We've seen many political ideas come and go over the last several centuries, but
few have been as controversial and influential as Marxism.

SLIDE 2:
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were German philosophers and revolutionaries. They
met in 1844 and soon discovered that both shared similar views about philosophy
and socialism. Their writings majorly addressed the problems of the Capitalist
society and advocated Socialism as a solution. The philosophy advocated by their
work is known as Marxism (after Karl Marx).

SLIDE 3:
Based on the writings of 19th-century German intellectuals Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels,
(IN THE SLIDE)
“Marxism is an economic and political doctrine that seeks to resolve the tension
between social classes by controlling the means of production.”
Basically, Marxists believe that governments should be used to prevent individuals
from controlling and monopolizing economic prosperity.

Because of this,
(IN THE SLIDE)
“Marxism is directly contradictory to capitalism, which supports a free market
economy controlled by individual producers and consumers.”
In fact, Marxism was intentionally developed as an alternative to capitalism, which
Marx and Engels saw as ruining Western society in the industrialized and
unregulated world of child labor, income inequality, and monopolies that was the
19th century. It was a compelling idea, and one that reshaped the world.
SLIDE 4:
BASIC GOALS
While Marxism is a pretty complex ideology, we can boil its goals down to two
basic ideas:

(IN THE SLIDE)

1. Marxism aims to expose the contradictions of capitalism.
2. Marxism is meant to introduce a pathway for the creation of a communist
society.

SLIDE 5:
1. Marxism aims to expose the contradictions of capitalism.

(IN THE SLIDE)

“Marx and Engels believed that capitalist ideologies were misleading, meant to
keep workers submissive.”
For example, the free market was described as a democratic institution, one of the
people, but is built to benefit individuals above the collective good.

(IN THE SLIDE)

“Basically, the workers spend their time and labor to produce goods, but the free
market (not the workers) determines the value of their work.”
As a result, the workers are alienated from society because their labor is
appropriated by the market, a process that also alienates the other social classes
from the humanity of the workers.

SLIDE 6:
2. Marxism is meant to introduce a pathway for the creation of a communist
society.

(IN THE SLIDE)

“A communist society is one in which the means of production are taken away
from individuals and controlled by the collective (represented by the state).”
Communism is an alternative to the free market system, something with which
Marx and Engels could replace capitalism. The two were not meant to coexist.
SLIDE 7:
CLASS
To explore these ideas, Marxism is focused on the idea of social class, which it
defines as a group of people categorized by their role in the economy, and
specifically their relationship to the production of goods.

In the capitalist society of the 19th century, Marx and Engels identified two
primary social classes (each with minor divisions within it).

(IN THE SLIDE) bour gwa zee

“1. At the top are the Bourgeoisie, the people who own the means of production.”
These are the business owners, factory managers, and other people who do not
actually make anything but oversee those who do.

(IN THE SLIDE)

“2. The opposite class is the Proletariat, the workers who actually produce things.”

Class is the most important unit of human society to Marxism, and so all of human
history can be explained through the struggle between social classes.

SLIDE 8:
One example of the application of Karl Marx’s theory in Philippine context is the
EDSA revolution.

(IN THE SLIDE)

“Where the people empowered themselves in order to overthrow the dictator,
who is abusive to its power, and grabbed the freedom they deserve, leading to
progress of the country.”
Since then Philippines was a democratic country and all the people have the
equality and rights despite the different status in life.

(IN THE SLIDE)

“But then the conflict between the classes cannot be denied. It can be seen in the
face of the country. The rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer.”
Despite the democracy, social stratification is still present in our society. People
should have the voice in this kind of problems but it seems that most are drowned
out by bigger names.
Lesson Summary

Marxism is an economic and political ideology focused on the struggle between

social classes and the replacement of capitalism (free market economy controlled
by individual producers and consumers) with a more collective system.

According to Marxist founders Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, class struggle was
the driving force behind human history, leading to the capitalist society. This
society is divided between the bourgeoisie (those who own or manage the means
of production) and the proletariat (those who actually produce things with their
labor).

Marxism sees capitalism as contradictory and exploitative in its focus on the

individual, and claims that class struggle will ultimately overthrow the capitalist
society and create a communist society, where production is focused on the
collective good. Love it or hate it, Marxism has been one of the most influential
doctrines of the last several centuries as the Marxists believe the end of history is
on its way.