Karl Marx’s Criticisms on Capitalism
Karl Marx’s Criticisms on Capitalism In 19th century, Karl Marx was recognized as the most influential philosopher. His philosophy and definition to economic structure is against capitalism. Karl Marx was born on May 5th 1818. At that time, capitalism helped society to progress. The distribution and production problem was solved by the invisible hand from Adam Smith. Market decided the demand, supply, and price. During the 19th century, his critique on laissez faire gained popularity. His analysis of capitalism was concise and penetrating. The working class under capitalism did not gain benefits from their work. They were paid with a low wage and long working hours. The workers were the oppressed. Consequently, the oppressed workers would take actions against capitalists. Therefore, capitalism would decline as workers realized that they had been exploited. The doom of capitalism was inevitable. [1] The conflict between freeman and slaves, lord and serf, and oppressor and oppressed created class conflict due to their different economic roles and status in society.[2] Bourgeoisie, as the oppressor, their paid wages did not keep pace with the workers’ outputs. Misery had been created. Once the oppressed organized their power to get rid of the misery and inequality, the capitalists would face a revolution. In addition, the exploitation of labor force actually contradicted the foundations of capitalism. Capitalism provoked non-agricultural activities to obtain profits and private ownership, but not the inequalities. On the other hand, communism provided an organizational force for working class to overthrow the bourgeoisie through a revolution.[3] Since capitalism did not satisfy the diverse demand from people, communism would fail to fulfill people’s diverse demand too. Communism distributed wealth equally, but not fairly. This distribution of wealth abolished the private property. Basically the competition for property was one of the causes for
Bibliography: Perry, Marvin et al. Sources of Western Tradition Vol. II. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. Walker, Angus. Marx: His Theory and Its Context. New York: Longman Inc, 1978. ----------------------- [1] Marvin Perry et al Sources of the Western Tradition Vol. II (NY: Houghton Mifflin Company Co, 2006), 184. [2] Marvin Perry et al Sources of the Western Tradition Vol. II (NY: Houghton Mifflin Company Co, 2006), 185. [3] Marvin Perry et al Sources of the Western Tradition Vol. II (NY: Houghton Mifflin Company Co, 2006), 187. [4] Angus Walker. Marx: His Theory and Its Context (NY: Longman Inc, 1978), 129. [5] Angus Walker. Marx: His Theory and Its Context (NY: Longman Inc, 1978), 119. [6] Angus Walker. Marx: His Theory and Its Context (NY: Longman Inc, 1978), 169. [7] Angus Walker. Marx: His Theory and Its Context (NY: Longman Inc, 1978), 173.