A belief that people's consciousness of the conditions of their lives reflects material conditions & relations

Question

Somone please explain this in lamen's terms. This is a Marxism statement.

Answer 1

Marx said people make their own history but not in conditions of there own choosing.

He meant that peoples descisions in society and the world around are free but they are based on what resources they have access to.

Examples: one girl might want a party like a supersweetsixteenth but her parents arent rich so she decides to have a smaller party.

Similarly a person living in the UK might want a loaf of bread and is willing to pay the extra 20% caused by the rise in food prices while a women in egypt may not be able to get it but needs it just as much hence the egyptions strike, protest and revolt to get their bread.

Descisions are based on our needs and ability to statisfy them- which is decided by where when and to whom they are born/live i.e. our history.

Answer 2

What it basically says is that how people consciously look at their lives is directly based off of their material status. In other words, you rate your life using only material things.

Answer 3

Karl Marx or Lenin ? Layman is the proper word / term to use in this instance. The Communist Manifesto is full of untrue,misleading tripe throughout. As to consciosness and materialism, Those that have do, those that do not only wish they had. In order to control the masses you mus tprovide them what they truly need to merely exist. Marxs' theorum and what Lenin put into place are complete opposites. One is Utopian(perfect existence) the other not so. !