The inner contradiction in the concept of 'class

But the crucial point is that Marx's definition of class and class conflict
under capitalism is hopelessly muddled and totally wrong. How can 'capitalists' , even in the same industry let alone in the entire social system, have any
thing crucial in common? Brahmins and slaves, in a caste system, certainly
enjoy a common class-interest, in conflict with other castes. But what is the
common 'class-interest' of the 'capitalist class'? On the contrary, capitalist
firms are in continual competition and rivalry with each other. They compete
for raw material, for labour, for sales and customers. They compete in price
and quality, and in seeking new products and new ways to get ahead of their
competitors. Marx, of course, did not deny the reality of this competition. So
how can all capitalists, or even 'the steel industry' , be considered a class with
common interests? Again, in only one way: the steel industry only enjoys
common interests i f it can induce the state to create such interests through
special privilege. State intervention to impose a steel tariff, or a steel cartel
with restricted output and higher price, would indeed create a privileged
'ruling class' of steel industrialists. But no such class having common interests pre-exists on the market before such intervention comes about. Only the state can create a privileged class (or a subordinate and burdened class) by
acts of intervention into the economy or society. There can be no 'capitalist
ruling class' on the free market.

Similarly, there can be no 'working class' with common class-interests on
the free market. Workers compete with each other, just as capitalists or
entrepreneurs compete with each other. Once again, i f groups of workers can
use the state to exclude other groups, they can become a ruling class as
against the excluded groups. Thus, i f government immigration restrictions
keep out new workers, the native workers can benefit (at least in the short
run) at the expense of incomes of immigrants; or i f white workers can keep
black workers out of skilled jobs by state coercion (as was done in South
Africa), the former becomes a privileged or ruling class at the expense of the
latter.

An important point here is that any group that can manage to control, or
gain privileges from, the state can take its place among the exploiters: this
can be specific groups of workers, or businessmen, or Communist Party
members, or whatever. There is no reason to assume that only 'capitalists'
can acquire such privileges.

In his class analysis, Marx constantly had to struggle with the fact that
neither capitalists nor workers act in practice as i f they are each members of
monolithic, conflicting classes. On the contrary, capitalists persist in competing with each other, and workers likewise. Even in their rousing Communist
Manifesto, Marx and Engels had to admit that 'The organization of the
proletarians into a class, and consequently into a political party, is continually
being upset again by the competition among the workers themselves'. Indeed.