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  • Essay / Investigating the role of production within the community through the theories of Tocqueville and Marx

    In this article, I analyze the role of production within the community using both the theories of Tocqueville and Marx. Tocqueville talks about positive volunteering for the community while Marx talks about forced labor and slavery. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Tocqueville also discusses how voluntary work contributes to a sense of belonging, while Marx discusses the loss of one's sense of self through work. Inequality is apparent in work and Tocqueville discusses hierarchy and its role, and Marx explains how social structure and social location indicate an individual's privileges. When we look at production, we can think about voluntary or forced labor, sense of self, and inequality. Production can have positive and negative implications within a community. Voluntary associations are people who work and come together to do something for the common good, such as Americans joining together to give parties, found seminaries, build churches, distribute books. In democratic communities, people found themselves powerless if they did not engage in voluntary association. Although there is a barrier for democratic societies, it is easier for aristocratic societies than for democrats to form voluntary associations. Indeed, aristocrats have a hierarchy, each level having greater weight in society, so a few associates are enough to influence the others and agree on rules. Thus, production brings together through work, if there is no voluntary association, people would withdraw and become "barbarians" and transform into the opposite of community which is individualism. Production can also be negative, Marx (1844) supports a materialist approach, according to which society needs material needs and those responsible for production are people obliged to work due to their social situation. This affects the nature of entire institutions: everyone must sell their labor to obtain the necessities they want, such as food. The mode of production of material life forms the basis and determines the social, political and spiritual processes of life. For example, proletarians do not own property, so to survive they have no choice but to sell their labor on the market while bourgeois can hire and pay someone for their production. Those responsible for production can be described as slaves and wretches because they lack power and their production results in competition. It is evident that Tocqueville views production within a community more positively than Marx. Through work, one may or may not feel a sense of belonging depending on the circumstances. As I mentioned previously, voluntary association creates unity, working toward a common goal. Tocqueville (1835-1840) argued that the community was considered a family and felt obliged to it rather than alienated. We feel good because we are part of a community where everyone is inclusive. An example today is that the educational institution, the common goal of professors, teaching assistants, principles, etc. is to help students succeed. Professors and teaching assistants can be thought of as a family working together to help their students. Tocqueville (1835-1840) emphasizes that collective goods are not.