Marxism in Geography

10.02). With this order different types of social class will form. The people working for a subsistence wage will form a separate social class known as the working class and will look at the world in different ways to the capitalist who will be much better off money wise. The capitalist would be able to engage in different social activities due to having a far greater disposable income. This will again lead to different class formation. The capitalist will pay the wage owner a subsistence wage and as a result of that he will gain surplus income from the production. This surplus income would then be reinvested into the production that will improve efficiency. This will eventually rid the industry of competition and increase earnings for the capitalist. In the words of (Cloke, Philo, Sadler 1991), "This separation of society into two classes-capital and labour, rested upon an exploitative relationship in which capital gained more from the process of production than labour, via its appropriation of the surplus; its ability to pay labour a wage for subsistence and yet still retain the excess return of the value added in the course of production.".
             However as technology improves the capitalist will invest money into machinery. This leads to a reduction in demand for labour as the machines take over from the workers and provide mechanical labour. For production to take place there has to be a demand for the good produced. Workers that once worked for the capitalist would demand these goods. If there is no longer any work for them they will not be able to afford these goods so in theory there would be no need for these goods to be produced at all. Marxists believe that communist structures in society should be set up. In short this is where the government has state control over industries and decides what and for whom should be produced rather than leaving it to market forces. This eliminates some members of society gaining from surplus earnings as all people would be earning equal amount that eventually leads to huge unequal distribution of income.