The
raised fist, or the clenched fist, is a long-standing image of activism, often a symbol of social
revolution and political
solidarity. It is also a common symbol of
anarchism and
communism, but can also be used as a salute to express
unity, strength, or
resistance. The origin of the
raised fist as a symbol is unclear. Its use in trade
unionism,
anarchism, and the labor movement had begun by the 1910s. William "Big Bill" Haywood, a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World, used the metaphor of a fist as something greater than the sum of its parts during a speech at the 1913 Paterson silk
strike. The
raised fist logo may represent
unity or
solidarity, generally with
… Read more oppressed peoples. The black fist is a variation of the logo generally associated with the
Black Power movement. Its most widely known usage is by the
Black Panther Party, a Black Marxist group in the 1960s.
The
Bourgeoisie is a sociologically defined social class equivalent to the upper classes. They are contrasted with the
proletariat by their relative affluence and their cultural and financial capital. In Marxist philosophy, the
bourgeoisie is the social class that came to own the means of production during modern industrialization and whose societal concerns are the value of property and the preservation of capital to ensure the perpetuation of their economic supremacy in
society. The
bourgeoisie is the most important class of
society opposing the
proletariat, insofar as the employees their wages are higher possible while the owners intend to increase their profits by employing labor
… Read more at the lowest possible cost. From this de facto difference is born the Marxist concept of class struggle, the goal of any
revolution being to abolish inequalities and in particular to reduce income inequalities.
Class War, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in
society consequent to socio-economic competition among the
social classes or between rich and poor. The forms of class
conflict include direct violence such as
wars for resources and cheap labor, assassinations, indirect violence such as deaths from
poverty and starvation, illness and unsafe working conditions, and economic coercion. In the political and economic philosophies of
Karl Marx and
Mikhail Bakunin, class struggle is a central tenet and a practical means for effecting
radical social and political changes for the social majority. The anarchist Mikhail
… Read more Bakunin said that the class struggles of the
working class, the peasantry, and the working poor were central to realizing a social
revolution to depose and replace the ruling class, and the creation of libertarian
socialism. In political
science, socialists and Marxists use the term class
conflict to define a social class by its relationship to the means of production, such as factories, agricultural land, and industrial machinery. The social control of labor and of the production of goods and services, is a political contest between the
social classes. Marx's theory of history proposes that class
conflict is decisive in the history of economic systems organized by hierarchies of social class such as capitalism and feudalism. Marxists refer to its overt manifestations as
class war, a struggle whose resolution in favor of the
working class is viewed by them as inevitable under plutocratic capitalism.
?
Eat the Rich? represents standing up to those in power and holding them accountable on behalf of the less fortunate. The phrase is attributed to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "When
the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will
eat the rich". It is used in
radical and anti-capitalist circles, gaining wider traction at the beginning of the 21st century in response to increasing income inequality. Today, "
Eat the Rich" is
now a rallying cry against an overly capitalistic
economy that encourages the rich to become richer while the poor starve.
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