Marx, Class and Poverty - The Necessity of Class to Eradicate Poverty

Abstract

A popular theme in the discourse on class is the distinction between the poor and working classes. Recently, there has been a tenuous relationship between the two classes. Marx proclaimed the working class as the agent of change to facilitate a revolution. The working class, in understanding the historical implications of its role in the production process, was tasked to deconstruct the notion and existence of class. The goal would then be to eliminate any differences between the classes. However, the creation of a social surplus and subsequent redistribution effects are contingent upon the existence and productivity of a working class. This article argues that with a [social] surplus being a by-product of the working class, class [distinction] is necessary for further redistribution of a surplus contributing to the eradication of poverty. Poverty cannot be expected to be eradicated without a working class that strives towards becoming the “new middle class.” Class, therefore, can be described as being dynamic in that the poor benefit from social distributions emanating from the working class and the middle class. Importantly, the poor aspires and has the potential to become part of the middle class. Consequently, the ranks of the working middle class are expanded by way of the most mobile and successful of the poor class. Class migration is desirable and a necessity for eradicating poverty.