California Teacher Credentialing Examination (CSET) Practice Test

Karl Marx argued that a violent overthrow of the capitalist system was necessary for societal change. This perspective is grounded in his belief that class struggle is the driving force of social change throughout history. According to Marx, the existing capitalist system creates inherent inequalities and exploitation of the working class (proletariat) by the owning class (bourgeoisie). He posited that the only way to create a classless society and resolve these inequalities was through revolutionary means. In Marx's view, peaceful negotiations or gradual reforms would not be sufficient to dismantle the deeply entrenched capitalist structures, which would resist any efforts to reform them. He believed that a revolutionary upheaval was essential for the proletariat to seize power and fundamentally transform society into a socialist system, leading eventually to communism. This approach contrasts sharply with the other options, which propose various forms of peaceful change or a regression to an earlier social order, neither of which align with Marx’s vision of revolutionary change as the catalyst for societal transformation.