View source for Class struggle

[[File:Lenin sweeping the world.png|thumb|A [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik]] poster depicting [[Vladimir Lenin]] cleaning the world of [[Monarchy|emperors]], [[Bourgeoisie|capitalists]], and [[Religion|clergy]] for the benefit of the international [[Proletariat|working class]]. ]]
'''Class struggle''' is one of the primary driving forces of history. Class struggle has existed for as long as [[class]] society has existed, when a privileged socioeconomic stratum was able to exploit the [[Surplus labour|surpluses]] of those beneath them, thus partly or wholly emancipating them from the requirement to work in order to subsist. As a result of the different relations to the [[productive forces]] and exploitive nature of class society, the exploited and exploiters developed contradictory material interests, which would mature mutually antagonistic relations to the other, eventually resulting in [[revolution]] or another qualitative change in society.    

It is understood that the primary form of class struggle under [[capitalism]] is one between the [[bourgeoisie]] and [[proletariat]]. Following the intensification of class struggle both before and after a [[proletarian revolution]], society will mature into the [[Communism|higher stage of socialism]], also known as communism, where will class distinctions between the proletariat and other classes will become non-existent, thus eliminating class struggle.

==Distinguishing characteristics==
{{Quote|text=''"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another...."''|author=[[Marx]] and [[Engels]]|title=[[Communist Manifesto|''Manifesto of the Communist Party'']]}}
Distinguishing characteristics of class struggle under [[capitalism]] include:

*[[Labour]] (the [[proletariat]] or workers) includes anyone who earns their livelihood by selling their [[Labour-power|labor power]] and being paid a wage or salary for their [[Labour time|labor time]]. They have little choice but to work for [[capital]], since they typically have no independent way to survive. 

*Capital (the [[bourgeoisie]] or capitalists) includes anyone who gets their income not from labor as much as from the [[surplus value]] they appropriate from the workers who create wealth. The income of the capitalists, therefore, is based on their [[exploitation]] of the workers (proletariat).

*At this stage, production itself becomes a social enterprise.

==See also ==
*[[Historical materialism]]
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[[Category:Marxism]]
[[Category:Theory]]
[[Category:Class struggle]]