Class Struggles or Cat Struggles? What Marx Would Say About the Internet
If Karl Marx were alive today, he’d probably have a lot to say about the internet, not least of which would involve class consciousness among cats. Yes, cats. Those furry freeloaders dominate online platforms with a level of influence that would make even the most seasoned capitalist jealous.
Marx would likely critique the internet as a reflection of economic systems gone haywire. Social media, for example, operates on a model of unpaid labor: users create content, while platforms rake in profits. Every viral cat video is a testament to surplus value extracted from the proletariat—though, in this case, the proletariat has whiskers.
But Marx would also find the internet fascinating for its role in shaping class struggle. Platforms like Twitter and Reddit have become battlegrounds for labor movements, with hashtags like #Strike and #FairWages trending alongside adorable kitten gifs. It’s digital duality at its finest: one moment, you’re watching a cat jump into a box; the next, you’re joining a virtual picket line.
And let’s not ignore the irony of capitalism funding its own critique. Sites hosting anti-capitalist content profit through ad revenue and subscription models. Marx might sarcastically applaud the ingenuity, then remind us it’s still exploitation.
But what about the cats? In a Marxist lens, they represent the perfect bourgeoisie: pampered, unproductive, and entirely reliant on the labor of others. They lounge in sunny spots while humans toil to fill their food bowls. If Marx wrote “The Communist Manifesto” today, it might include a chapter titled “Feline Oppression: Fluffy Tyrants of the Home.”
In the end, Marx would see the internet as both a tool for revolution and a microcosm of the systems he critiqued. It’s a space where the proletariat memes, the bourgeoisie schemes, and the cats…well, they just nap.
