Love and Dating in the times of Socialism and Capitalism
Karl Marx had said that the economic system of any society shapes the functioning of the society. I never realized the depth of this very simple statement until I came across this theory on 'Plastic Love' by sociologist Anthony Giddens. Love is seemingly a private affair, it is highly individual and we would not expect how the type of economic system we live in i.e socialist or capitalist would affect it. However, our economic lifestyle does shape how we see our relationships. LOVE AND DATING YESTERDAY Let us understand with a very simple example. Just a few decades back ( probably the time most of our parents got married ) India was a socialist country. With the economy nationalized there was always a dearth of products. There were years of waiting time if you wanted a car or a telephone connection. Thus due to this shortage, the social culture was such that people preferred to repair their broken stuff rather than wait to buy a new one. We still witness such tendencies in our