Wrong life, or Who are the lumpen

As we remember from school history, the term lumpen proletariat was put into use by Marx, thus denoting his lower stratum. In German, the word means "rags".

Gradually, the semantic content of this notion expanded, and all those who sank to the "bottom" of society were called lumpens: vagrants, criminals, beggars, prostitutes and various dependents.

Summarizing the known definitions, we can say that the word lumpen now unites the class of people deprived of personal property and interrupted by casual earnings, who prefer to live on certain social benefits.

Folk art

In the modern language, actively replenished by the youth slang, this notion has expanded even more. Now when uttering the word lumpen, its meaning can be understood, at least threefold:

• a person from the bottom (homeless, alcoholic, drug addict);

• a person outside society (marginal);

• An unscrupulous person who does not observe the norms of public morality (scum).

Thus, now a representative of any class of society can be called lumpen if his actions fit into one of three categories. Here, for example, phrases from the media: "lumpen-pop grows and multiplies," "yes, I am a lumpen-intellectual" or "a ruling class like that in Russia is a lumpen bureaucracy."

Who are the lumpens: the roots of life philosophy

Historians have determined that the first lumpens appeared in antiquity, and this class was created by the slave state. In ancient Roman society, the economy was built on the use of the labor of numerous slaves, and small landowners, unable to compete with large farms, quickly went bankrupt. This led to a massive resettlement of land-losing peasants into the city.

Nominally they had all the rights, as citizens of the Roman state: they could participate in elections, had the right to vote at city meetings. However, they did not have any property, and the work - too, that forced them to maintain their existence by "selling" their votes in support of wealthy customers, or to provide other small services.

The Roman government decided to provide material assistance to these people in the form of a weighty measure of grain (about a half kilogram per day), which they received on special lists.

In Rome alone, the lumpen proletariat at the beginning of the first millennium numbered about 300,000. He began to take an active part in all political and military scuffles. Not having their own constructive interests, these people were ready to serve anyone - just to ensure their livelihood and receive some simple pleasures.

Marginals - the "border guards" of society

Well, what about marginals? Translated from Latin, this means "borderline" and refers to a person who has dissociated himself from his social group, but could not integrate into any other. The number of marginalized people increases significantly when too rapid changes in the public order take place: reforms, revolutions, etc.

In Russia, this process began with the reign of Alexander II and continued with the efforts of Witte and Stolypin. By the beginning of the twentieth century, our country already had a significant stratum of marginals of very different kinds.

A Trace in Russian Literature

Marginals and lumpens stand out for their special psychology, which is vividly embodied in our classical literature, for example, Maxim Gorky, who described who are such lumpen. In the play "At the bottom" he gathered representatives of all social strata: the Baron from the nobility, the actor from the people of art, Satin from the technical intelligentsia, Bubnov from the petty bourgeoisie, Luka from the peasants, and the Mite from the proletarians.

But not all marginalized can be attributed to lumpen. It is enough to be disagree with the attitudes of your circle, remaining externally on the same social step. So, in Nekrasov's poem "To Whom in Russia to Live Well?", In fact, to live badly everything - from priests to grooms.

If from this position to consider the heroes of Chekhov's "Cherry Orchard", then they all fall under the definition of marginalized: landlords, whose circumstances force them to sell land; Servants with whom they leave; A servant, who is still experiencing the abolition of serfdom; Student-half-educated, dreaming of revolution.

Gorky compiled a psychological portrait of a representative of another variant of marginality - a man who rebels "from the class environment" in a rebellious way (writer's definition), categorically not accepting his values, and at the same time, continuing to perform his professional functions successfully (Egor Bulychev and Others ").

Savva Morozov - marginal from the underground

The story of the legendary manufacturer Savva Morozov is quite in the spirit of Gorky's Bulychev: he, as expected, exploited his own workers, and spent money to support the revolutionary-anarchist groups, that is, he dug his own pit himself. But at the same time he also patronized me.

Such a life could not end tragically - unable to withstand the internal discord, he eventually shot himself.

Lumpen and marginals: differences

In the explanatory dictionaries it is noted that lumpens and marginals are a general characteristic of people who have lost touch with their social environment and become outcasts in society. But what is their difference?

We will clarify who are the lumpen. By definition, these are people who have lost contact not only with their social group, but also lost means of earning a living without a source of income. Marginals are always on the edge: they have fought their own way, but they have not found anyone to stick to. At the same time, they can have mixed features of two bordering subcultures.

In other words, lumpens do not have permanent jobs, but live on casual earnings, social benefits or transgress the law. Marginals are people in the borderline, not adapted to the changed reality.

It turns out that lumpens and marginals are two separate groups of modern society. Marginality is rather a dissent inherent in a person who is lost in a world that does not meet his expectations.

On the other hand, who are these lumpens - a group of the population, not connected by any social factors, not creating values that parasitize the body of society.

Marginal - not very flattering characteristic. To call a lumpen means to insult.