Progressive Social Theory and Government Growth: The Labor Theories of Value and Property

AbstractThis article points out the underlying value of progressive economic thought is not the individual but rather all the people in the society and the need to have an active government intervention to bring about social change that benefits the whole of society rather than just the wealthy. This value is articulated as the "labor theory of value. " It is built on the notion that capitalism in its pure form essentially permits and even facilitates the exploration of those who labor for their income.IntroductionClass theories are essential group theories, in that they accord primacy to collective entities in their analyses, but unlike inductive group theories such as pluralism or corporatism, which will be discussed in the next section of this chapter, they tend to define their units of analysis in "objective terms and conduct their analysis in an explicitly deductive fashion. That is, class theories ascribe group membership on the basis of certain observable characteristics of individuals, whether or not the individuals involved see themselves in those terms, and they expect behavior that maximizes group interest to flow this orientation (Wilson, 2012; Thompson, 1984). According to current theory, "class" refers to groups differentiated in various ways within a more inclusive category, such as, the category of social groups with common economic interests, or the category of groups whose members share economic conditions which are identical in a certain respect (Kraus, Piff, & Keltner, 2009). While there are several types of class analysis, such as those of Marx, Dukheim, Weber, Olson, the focus of this investigation will concentrate on the "Marxian" approach, which, because of its influence and comprehensiveness is by far the best known and theoretically developed (Durkheim, 1893; Weber, 1947; Olson, 1965). In this approach class membership is determined by the presence or absence of certain characteristics, usually, but not always, related to the economy.Class AnalysisMarx exhibited various notions of social class in his writings. However, the one developed by Marx in his mid- nineteenth century Communist Manifesto, is best known and to a lesser degree Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Here Marx argues that each society has two classes contesting political and economic power. In this material conception of history, human society has passed through a number of distinct stages - "modes of production" - each of which has a distinct set of technological conditions of production - "means of production" - and a distinct manner in which the various actors in the production process relate with each other through "class structure" or "relations of production" (Block, 1987; Domhoff, 1983; Cohen, 1980). Each mode of production entails a particular class system, which is ultimately determined by ownership (or non-ownership) of the means of production.Based on the logic of this model, at least theoretically, each mode of production develops a dichotomous class system consisting of those who own the means of production and those who must work for the owners, and the relationship between the two groups is inherently conflicted. Slaves resisted slave ownership in slave societies; serfs struggled with landlords in feudal society; and workers struggle with owners today in capitalist society. Continued class struggle leads to eventual collapse of modes of production and their replacement by another mode, which in turn is eventually replaced by yet another system. In practice, Marx expected that a dichotomous class system would occur only for a brief period at the tail end of a mode of production, although it would be possible to see its gradual evolution over time as a mode of production matures and developed. At other points in time, modes of production would have more complex class structures in which multiple classes would exist (Kolakowski, 1981). Marxist class theory interprets public policies in capitalist societies as reflecting the interests of the capitalist class. …