The opening line of The Communist Manifesto states: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Marx believed that the real struggles within any society were between the different classes with every class struggling for mastery. This is true even among the dominant class which must continually conquer for itself the political mastery of its country. The prevailing class must subjugate the working class, while the middle class tries to maintain its precarious position above the lower class. All the while the lower class is trying to climb up to a higher level.
G. Scott Harrison
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