Class notes
Module 4 Equality
- Course
- POLSCI 1AA3 (POLSCI1AA3)
- Institution
- McMaster University (mcmasteru)
This document is my lecture notes from module 4, particularly coving Marxism and elite theory.
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Friday Lecture Notes- Consider that I missed the first 15 minutes of this lecture.
- The context that Marx writes in: Marx lived in an era when industrialization
triggers the switch to more voting power, but only more voting power to those who
own land
- Things are altering where there is a new upper class, and a switch to labourers
labouring all the time
- Marx wanted to do a scientific analysis of what led the world to the point it was at
when he was writing
- Marx breaks the economy down into two elements, the means of production (things
like tools, technology, and other material forces that are used to make things), the
second part is the relations of production (the people who do the producing)
- Definition: If you own the means of production, you're the bourgeoisie. If you don't
own the means of production you're the proletariat.
- The bourgeoisie are under market pressure where they must squeeze the proletariat by
giving them the lowest wage and the worst working condition to maximize profits to
remain competitive under capitalism
- Another part of the process is innovating the means of production with machines to
save money on wage costs. Problem is that when workers get laid off, you lose the
market to sell your goods to, because its the very same workers who also buy your
products
- Marx argued the economy was the foundation for everything, politics, power, religion,
etc. This made the economy a fundamental thing in the world to Marx
- Marxists see religion as an opiate of the masses because it keeps them in check to
continue to do what capitalists want. Religion says that once you're dead, you'll be
happy, so just keep working in the now to be good.
Tuesday Lecture Notes
- A democracy is a government that maximizes the power of the individual, equally
- 1% of Canadians own 25.6% of Canada’s wealth
- The wealth gap is increasing over time, especially due to the pandemic
- This provokes some questions:
- Do we have meaningful political equality?
- Can we have meaningful political equality?
- One possible answer to these questions is elite theory
- Elite theory argues that inequality is inevitable, this is true based on historical
precedent. There is always a small class that rules, and a large class that is ruled.
- Why does elite theory happen? Individual talents are distributed unequally (in a
very Darwinist/Prado distribution model). Existing structures/institutions also cause
this (oligarchies, government institutions, iron law).
- How can we test elite theory? Find an organization that starts out equal, and wants to
continue to be equal in the future. Then, watch how they transform over time and see
if they become less equal/more hierarchical or not.
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