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Karl Marx Impact On Society

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Karl Marx Impact On Society
In the 1800’s, Karl Marx’s made the statement, “Religion and democracy are the opiates of the people.” In laments terms, this is his way of stating how ideas constructed by people such as democracy or a certain religion play a large role in shaping the masses. He believed that religion and democracy were ways for the government to keep the people happy while still being oppressed and underrepresented.
Karl Marx saw religion and Democracy as a distraction for the people. People would be content with whatever harsh realities they faced in life, whether they be from the corrupt government or a more personal level, such as abuse in the home. As long as they believed that a God was watching over them and that they were free in their democratic nation. …show more content…
This ties in to Marx’s contributions to sociology, mainly the idea of the conflict theory. Marx believed that conflict in society occurred between social classes. There is a saying that, “the rich do not need God.” Karl Marx’s views can be seen clearly through this statement. Since the rich classes have the money, the ultimate decision belongs to them.
However, if the poor realized this, there would be a chance that they would protest and rise above the rich classes. In order to instill in the middle and poor classes false assurance of equality and love, this keeps them from evoking change. If the poor lost their religion, they would have nothing to suffer for. If they7 lost their hope in democracy, they would begin to see the world for the way that it truly is; a world where the rich make decisions and then pretend to take pride in equality.
Karl Marx made the statement that, “religion and democracy are the opiates of the people,” in order to explain how both religion and democracy are used to keep the masses silent. Religion is used to keep the oppressed silent while they suffer in hopes of gaining paradise and democracy is an idea that is used by governments in order to keep its civilians calm and feeling like they are in control of their government
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