Frankfurt School

FRANKFURT SCHOOL

THE theorist I choose was Friedrich Pollock.  And I quote, " So far I go with the Socialist as to think it a pretty general rule that where monopoly is necessary, it is better in public hands", taken from Pollock. Pollock was a German scientist and Philosopher. He was one of the founders of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main, and a member of the Frankfurt School of neo-Marxist theory. Pollack was educated in finance 1911 to 1915. During this time he met Max Horkheimer, with whom he became a lifelong friend. He then studied economy, sociology and philosophy in Frankfurt am Main, where he wrote his thesis on Marx's Labor theory of value and received his doctorate in 1923. The Institute for Social Research was founded in 1924 by Pollock and fellow Marxist Felix Weil, who funded the group. In 1927/1928 Pollock traveled to the Soviet Union in honor of the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. His research there led to his treatise: Attempts at Planned Economy in the Soviet Union 1917-1927. Thereafter he took a post as lecturer at the University of Frankfurt and he replaced the ill Carl Grünberg as Director of the institute from 1928-1930. In 1950, returned to Frankfurt, taking part in the reestablishment of the Institute, again taking the role of director. From 1951 to 1958 he was professor of national economy and sociology at the University of Frankfurt.

How do these concepts fit into my own mass culture? Well I don't think they do because we live in a capitalist society where social class systems exist and where the more money you have means the more power you can extend for yourself. But I do believe as citizens we long for equality especially in the distribution of wealth in our country. I don't think we long for a classless system but we long for a financial gap in spending to be closed. For example, the cost of a education decreases the chances of young people wanting to go to college after high school but increases their chance of joining the military in response to the the cost of college. We see more educated people with families downsizing and losing there homes because financially they just can't afford it. And we see young people fighting not to be socially  equal but to climb up the economic ladder because they are inspired by Americans like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, great minds who did not go to college and created great money drawing empires. I disagree with these ideas because a classless system isn't as simple as it looks. Most People work hard and do amazing things because they need money to live. We go to college because we want go jobs so we can have the money to provide for yourselves. If we turned to a classless system people would be less motivated to step outside there box.