It is not the consciousness of men that determines their beeing, but on the contrary, it is their social being that determines their consciousness. From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need. All social rules and all relations between individuals are eroded by a cash economy, avarice drags Pluto himself out of the bowels of the earth. Anyone who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are impossible without feminine upheaval. Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex, the ugly ones included. Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks. In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality. Society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand.
Margaret Thatcher once said "there is no such thing as society". Whilst I disagree strongly with that, I don't much like this definition either. However, I think much of Marx's social critique is still quite valid. On the question of religion, no doubt one of Marx's most famous sayings is "Religion is the opium of the people" He saw it simply as a way in which the capitalist ruling class control the workers. No doubt he was right in the case of many trad. religions, who still to this day like to cosy up to the capitalists. But here, I think we are trying to focus more on a personal inner spirituality. Whilst obviously there is some degree of socio-economic conditioning involved in this, it goes beyond it. I would point to the standard sociological definition of society as 'Individuals in their groups' as being about right. Another point is that critics of Marx from Weber onwards have shown that factors other than economics determine many things in society.
wherever the quote in the op regarding women and "social changes" was taken from... it is altered from the original, which while i don't personally care, is disrespectful, and it's also a little shady "Everyone who knows anything of history also knows that great social revolutions are impossible without the feminine ferment. Social progress may be measured precisely by the social position of the fair sex (plain ones included)."
Material reality is the reflection of the true world for our minds once we know it from the greedy guy's defeat of our facts.:mickey:
