His proposition to adopt socialism as the social order was supported by the fact that in the socialist setting, the working class, which makes up the bulk of the population during his time, would benefit most as the 'riches' of the country will spread among the people rather than concentrated to the wealthy or elite class. However bleak the picture of industrialization was demonstrated in his discussion in the "The Social Gospel," Rauschenbusch still believed that perhaps, industrialization was the catalyst that would prompt the development and "beginning of a progress in the intellectual, social and moral life" -- ideally embodied by the socialist society. In Rauschenbusch's discussion and analysis, the working class became significant because they were the direct 'oppressed' individuals in the industrialization happening in his society during the 19th century. Like Rauschenbusch, the increased development and shift in social structure of the society was what prompted Karl Marx to develop his own thesis regarding capitalism and modernism, subsisting also to the belief that a socialist society is the best remedy to the worsening condition of human society under the capitalist economic society.

In arguing his point, Marx demonstrated also the plight of the working class, whom he called the proletarians. For him, and just like Rauschenbusch, he considered the working class the most oppressed in the industrialized society, as they become direct victims of the new technologies of industrialization, which were used by the elite class to prolong and assert their power and control over the working class and capitalist society in general. While demoralization was described by Rauschenbusch as a 'spiritual straight jacket,' Marx termed this feeling of demoralization as "alienated labor." Alienated labor occurs, according to Marx, when "the worker sinks to the level of a commodity...a restoration of monopoly in a more terrible form...the whole of society divide into the classes of property owners and propertyless workers..."

In this passage, Marx demonstrated the...

The feeling of demoralization signifies that lack or absence of rationalization within the individual is happening. When the worker experiences an absence of rationalization in his life, it can be construed that s/he also lacks the political power and control not only over himself/herself, but s/he also lacks the power to govern his/her everyday activities as an individual and member of the society. Ultimately but not exclusively, this lack of power to govern over everyday activities are motivated by the lack of financial power, which means the individual is not able to financially support himself/herself, a reality that was most reflective in the experience of the working class (especially during the 19th century).
The concept of alienation was conceived because, according to Marx, the worker becomes an "object" -- an alien, so to speak, a separate entity that does not have any relation with other individuals, groups, animate and inanimate objects present in the society. In Rauschenbusch's terms, alienation was expressed in the spiritual sense, while Marx interpreted it in the political sense.

Like Rauschenbusch, Marx developed the belief and theory that a socialist society would best alleviate the detrimental effects that industrialization caused to the working class. Under the socialist system, the working class -- people in the society in general -- would have greater freedom and equality. Equality in Marx's terms is defined in terms of financial and political independence. Under the socialist social order, the achievement of a "productive life" -- a state wherein the individual is able to exercise the conduct of "free activity" -- signifies the implementation of higher order of human living, which includes equality and rationalization of the individual, among others.

Bibliography

Rauschenbusch, W. 1975. The Social Gospel. NY:MacMillan.

Marx, K. "Alienated labor." In Seeing Ourselves. NJ: Prentice Hall.