Ottilie Baader Paper

Ottilie Baader worked as a seamstress in both a factory and in her home. During this time, she witnessed many instances of how difficult it was for a working class citizen to make a living. Laborers had nothing to sell but their own labor to the more fortunate bourgeoisie. They fell under ownership of the upper class during the industrial revolution and were forced to work in poor conditions if they wanted to make wages. At this time, the working class was not able to stand up against the factory owners because of the fear that they would not be able to provide for themselves or their family. Karl Marx described working class life in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, in which he proposed the theory of Marxist socialism. This theory explained that once the working class could no longer put up with the cruel working conditions, they would start a revolution against the bourgeoisie and gain control of the markets. Ottilie Baader came to support Marxist socialism through her experiences of working with machines in a factory, attempting to stand up to unfair treatment from her boss, and battling to supporting her family while working at home.

During her time as a factory seamstress, Ottilie Baader was exposed to Marx’s view that the value of the working class was completely dependent on the labor they could provide. In the factory where Baader was employed, one seamstress and one preparer worked together and they shared a combined wage of 7 thalers per week (Baader, line 30). Before receiving this, the cost of damaged materials were deducted from their pay. This was Baader’s initial exposure to Marx’s argument that personal worth has been changed into exchange value (Marx, line 94). The wages that the working class received would depend on the quantity of goods they produced and how well they produced them. The working class was forced to sell their labor to factory owners. Ottilie was working long hours with a short lunch break and stated that, “you were merely a...