Who Rules America Corporate America, Weber & Marx Essay

Who Rules America Corporate America, Weber & Marx - Essay Example The natural rights theorists aim was to show that man was born in a state of nature, and given the right to do as he/she wished, but this was sacrificed to the governance of the land, i.e. that the rational man would give up the state of freedom, for the security and safety of law, governance and sovereignty, but retain the right to obtain and accrue whatever property they wish as long as it is within the rule of law. This is the basis of the US, with its promotion of life, liberty and freedom. A key concept of the American way is that it is the land of equal opportunity and one can reaps the benefits for what they work for. In the US Corporate America and the values of capitalism have the ultimate power, where the equalities in economics are validated with the notion of equal opportunity for all individuals1. This pretty much follows the protestant work ethic, which theorists such as Weber supported; however in response to huge inequalities theorists such as Marx arose who argued th at to have economic inequality is an abuse of the power that the capitalist oligarchy holds. The following section will examine the theories of Weber and Marx The theory of Weber condones the exploitation of the workforce and the inevitable inequalities of economic power. This treatment and mechanization of the workforce may in the short term seem the best way to increase productivity at the minimum price. This is very much the rational approach to human interaction and the increasing of productivity, management and governance of individuals. If there is no objectivity then there can be no maximization of work productivity at the minimum cost. This follows the view of management and governance of individuals, whether it be in the workplace or the governance of the country, where each of the workers need to be treated objectively and equally. Weber also stresses the importance of inequality within the social structure for the workers. Therefore Weber's theory is more than the interaction between the management and the working class. Weber's theory has four parts of society which are; traditional and cultural history and rules; affectual - emotional shaping influences of society; wertrational - value orientated rationality; zweckrational - goal orientated rationality. Therefore the focus of Weber's theory is that society and management can be determined by these four spheres of social classification. The key notion that Weber developed in order to balance out the inherent inequalities is that of the rationalizing of society and law; hence if the values of the society and the goal's of the individual can be rationalized and de-mystified then equality and justice can be instituted to achieve the best system for the society and the individual to obtain these goals. Weber sees it as an important factor that has shaped society and important to understanding the development of societal structure and management. Therefore to truly develop a system that is fair and just and can transcend the barriers of inequality a rational discussion of society needs to occur in order to determine justice and the rights of mankind; however the inequality in the power that Corporate America holds over the labor market is inevitable and just.2 The model of Marxism, on the other hand, states that it does not regard the individual as having any human rights, instead it is for the state to set the needs of the individuals, i.e., it is not the good of the individual that the state upholds but the good and the needs of the state. Marx considered law, justice, freedom and democracy as ideas and concepts that are determined by historical and