In modern age, social class is one of the huge factors that divides and categorizes people. Karl Marx’s perspective is that money rules over all things in today’s society. “In proportion as the bourgeoisie, i.e., capital, is developed, in the same proportion is the proletariat, the modern working class, developed — a class of labourers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labour increases capital. These labourers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity, like every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market.” Without money, there is no power. Similar to the film “In Time”, Time is a form of currency in their society. While the working class struggles to live only so long as they find work, the upper class are freed from death as they have a surplus of time. With the development of American capital, a social status system was created to define who is part of the working class and who is part of the upper class.
Karl Marx’s excerpt explains how class struggles play a central role in understanding social change. He also believes that money controls the system and without money, one is powerless. The film “In Time”, is about a society in which time is a form of currency. Will Salas lives in a ghetto area, working day by day making just enough to pass each day. One day, he comes across a wise man named Henry Hamilton who appeared to have more than a century left to live. Henry Hamilton gives Will Salas his remaining time as he has no interest in life any longer. The film gives us an idea of how the social class system is structured. One who has little wealth, struggle to live day by day but the only struggle for one who is wealthy is not being satisfied with how much they have because they’ve practically seen it all. This goes to show how capitalism even in modern society, is run by the wealthy while the working class are just hanging on.
Population also has a huge impact on the views of Marxism. As population rises at a significant pace, markets are growing just as fast and with the increased rate of production, there is inflation on the products since the demands are higher. “Meantime the markets kept ever growing, the demand ever rising. Even manufacturer no longer sufficed. Thereupon, steam and machinery revolutionised industrial production. The place of manufacture was taken by the giant, Modern Industry; the place of the industrial middle class by industrial millionaires, the leaders of the whole industrial armies, the modern bourgeois.” Since the demand will always keep rising, along with the rising population, inflation is implemented in the market. In the film “In Time” Henry Hamilton explains that their system, (in which one stops aging at 25 and engineered to live only one more year after 25) was established solely for population control. Inflation and lower wages came along when government officials saw that people were still surviving through this system.
When Sylvia was taken hostage by Will her whole life changed. She was born into a rich family but for the first time, she experienced what it was like living like a regular person in the ghetto. “A class of labourers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labour increases capital.” Sylvia used to be in a position where she would have others work for her as she lives lavishly in a luxurious mansion. Now, she is in Will’s shoes and sees the other side of the world that is suffering from poverty and working just to get by. Karl Marx states that labourers live only so long as they find work and find work only so long as their labour increases capital. Class struggle is crucial to understanding social change because if people are only familiar with one perspective or lifestyle, they won’t demand a change. After Sylvia lives day by day just like a regular person, she is now convinced that the world is cold and riches truly have power.
The moral that I got from the film “In Time” was: Put yourself in the shoes of the unfamiliar and only then you will understand how they feel and the changes that should be made. Karl Marx delivers a great perspective on both the working class and the upper class. The proletariat works day by day to earn enough money for their needs while the bourgeoisie run the market and have the proletariat work for them. The bourgeoisie use their power to exploit the proletariat while the proletariat are left with no choice but to give in to their efforts just to survive. It is a cold world that we live in and modern slavery is very much present in today’s society. Money is the focus to every civilization as we continue to peak in our industry. The social class system may be good or bad depending on who is looking at it but the social class will continue to divide us and run our economy as long as our capital is present.
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