Can Equality Exist in a Capitalist Society?
The Marxist theory of class struggle paints a pessimistic outlook on the idea of true equality existing in a capitalist society. Karl Marx’s reasoning behind this belief was that so long as the owners of capital—the bourgeois—had differing amounts of wealth and power, then there could never really be a situation of perfect equality between the classes. While Marx’s outlook may seem bleak, it is undoubtedly true that social injustice is still prevalent in capitalist societies today.
However, it is possible to argue that there can be some degree of equality in capitalist societies, although it may not be perfectly equitable. Indeed, after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, many western democracies began to move away from socialist policies and embraced the free market. This transition was widely celebrated by celebrated economists, particularly Nobel Prize winners such as Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. These economists saw free markets as the key to economic prosperity, creating increased competition and opening up socio-economic opportunities for people from all backgrounds.
In essence, free market economies allow for more social mobility, with those from less well-off backgrounds able to work hard, get an education and thus climb the socio-economic ladder more easily than in more autocratic regimes. Furthermore, the existence of a higher degree of freedom of choice in the form of consumer purchases and business ventures means that the capitalist system allows individuals to make life decisions that they would otherwise not have been able to make in more rigidly structured socialist regimes.
To an extent, then, inequality and social injustice can indeed be reduced in capitalist societies, but only to a certain degree. It is still true that those from wealthy backgrounds generally continue to have access to more opportunities, education and other resources than those from less privileged ones. However, the basis for individual success is, to a large extent, a result of their own hard work and drive, which can only be truly supported through a meritocratic, rather than aristocracy based, system.
Capitalist societies, then, are far from perfect, but they still have the potential to give individuals the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background. While it is undoubtedly true that social justice will always remain an issue, the freedoms allowed by the capitalist system provide individuals with the opportunity to escape their socio-economic class and thus create a safer, more equal and productive society.
