Karl Marx and materialism

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' "The German Ideology" discuses the idea of how each person can be categorized on account of the resources he or she produces and the strategies he or she uses to produce the respective resources. Material values are everything in society and it is thus intriguing to observe the relationship between materialism and people's thinking. The degree to which many individuals are interested in gathering as many material possessions as possible largely determines the role they play in the social order.

The two theorists consider the ruling class in any community to represent the values and ideals of the respective group of people. From their perspective, it is "the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force." (Marx & Engels 19) Society is always going to take on such a system because people are naturally inclined to favor particular groups instead of others and to express support toward having a certain type of people ruling them. Individuals in charge are typically chosen because their actions are in accordance with principles largely promoted by the masses.

Marx and Engels support their theory by showing that ruling classes have always managed to impose their point-of-view through dominance. Even in cases when the masses might have been interested in other principles, these individuals extended their authority and made it possible for the people to acknowledge that they needed to act in accordance with values promoted by people leading them.

Members of society are divided into two different groups, individuals who work with their brains and individuals who do physical work. Marx and Engels show these two groups as complementing each-other in spite of the fact that they tend to show little to no appreciation toward actions performed by the other.

The idea of development is one of the main goals associated with ruling classes. When a new ruling class takes power it needs to take on attitudes showing that it sympathizes with the masses and that it is unhesitant about acting in agreement with what the masses want. This strengthens its position and influences people to support it, thus making it more likely to continue its activities for a prolonged period of time.