Karal Marx Essay, Research Paper
One of the first and most persuasive advocates of modern capitalism was Adam Smith. The most serious challenge to Adam Smith and his followers came from Karl Marx, a nineteenth century German. The son of a Prussian lawyer, the methodical Marx was a worthy and resourceful opponent. He unfolded his economic theories in his monumental Das Kapital, a work on which he spent eighteen years of research and writing. Marx s main objection to the capitalistic system was that it was unfair to workers. To show this, he developed his now famous theory of surplus value. This theory involves the relationship between the worker and his product and the employer and his profit. It implied that whatever profits the capitalist class acquired, it stole from the workers. Seventy years after his death about a third of the human race was living under governments that called themselves Marxist . Marxism is more that just a set of bright ideas which anyone, at any time, might have thought up. It is rather a time and place phenomenon, which acknowledges that the very categories in which it thinks such as abstract labour, the commodity, the freely mobile individual and so on could have emerged from a heritage of capitalism and political liberalism (Eageton, 9). Karl Marx s ideas had a greater influence in a shorter time then any other thinker in history.
Karl Marx was born in the Germany in a town called Trier. His parents were Jews who converted to Lutheranism when he was six, but Marx was anti-religious by the time he was a teenager. His creed even then was, Criticism of religion is the foundation of all criticism (Magee, 165). Marx did little paid work in the course of his life, instead, he chose to live in poverty most of the time and continue his studies and his writing. Marx went to Paris in 1843, where he met the young Friedrich Engels. Engels came from a rich German family that lived in Manchester, where they owned a textile business. Engels maintained Marx financially for the rest of Marx s life, enabling him to produce his work. A few years after he met Engels, Marx elaborated on the basic system of ideas that was to became known as Marxism, and became the intellectual foundation of Communism. Marx was expelled from France in 1845, so he went to Brussels, where he and Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto, published in 1848 (Magee, 179). Marx was duly expelled from Brussels in the same year, and ended up in London in 1849. He spent the rest of his life there. Most of his writings consisted of brilliant pamphlets and articles, but there was one full-length book, his masterpiece, Das Kapital, meaning simply Capital , published in 1867. It is one of the most influential books in history. Marx died in London in 1883, and is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
Within seventy years after Marx s death there were people living under governments called Marxist. These included countries in Eastern Europe, Russia, the former Tsarist land empire, and China (Gurley, 89). Nothing like this had ever happened before, nor will it probably happen again. It was amazing, the fact that Marxism was one continuous failure. The ideas conquered, but the societies that grew from it collapsed or separated themselves from Marxist policies (Magee, 167). During this period of ideological success, Marxism had an influence on the arts and politics. Famous people in the arts such as playwrights Jean Paul, the poet Pablo Neruda and the painter Pablo Picasso regarded themselves as Marxists or Communist (Magee, 178).
Marxism and capitalism were engaged in an intense worldwide struggle. Societies organized according to Marxist principles seemed to be coming up everywhere, they spread from zero to a third of the world, (Gurley, 3). The ideals of Marxism inspired, as capitalism did not, millions of people around the world, mostly the poor, but many intellectuals and a few priests and other clergy. Marx and Engels believed that above capitalism itself would rise a still higher form of society, socialism, where the workers would be the ruling class. They could be both admirers and critics of capitalism, but at the same time recognized exploitation, alienation and troublesome features of the new society, which they thought would be overcome when the working class successfully built the system.
Marx s solution to this exploitative situation was simple, the means of production and exchange should be taken from the capitalist and turned over to the workers. This would eliminate the problem of surplus value, since the working class would be producing and exchanging goods for itself as a collective unit (Leone, 5). The labor theory of value, even if it could be granted to be valid for every other commodity, can never be applied to the commodity of labor. This would imply that workmen, like machines, are being produced according to rational cost calculations (Schumpeter, 27). Since they are not, there is no guarantee to assume that the value of labor power will be equal to the man hours that enter into production.
Marx thought that the development of modern technology was to go on putting more and more people out of work. This would divide society into two classes, the capitalist and the workers. Capitalist exploitation would worsen the living standards of workers until, one day the workers would revolt violently. The overthrow of capitalism would usher in a socialist age based on common ownership of property. Once socialist ownership had benn consolidated, true communism would arrive (Gurley, 65). Governments would disappear and people would be able to live in complete liberty. Society s guiding principle would then be from each according to his abilities, and to each according to his needs.
Marx s theories did not develop the way he said they would. This was partly because he was mistaken as to the nature of his theory. He believed it to be scientific in the same way as Newton s physics is scientific. What the bourgeoisie produces…is its own gravediggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable, Karl Marx said (Magee, 144). He thought he was able to predict the inevitable future development of society. Other thinkers were based on simple Utopian dreams, moral uplift or wishful thinking, whereas he had carried out a scientific study of society to discover what forces were actually at work, and had based his political teachings on these realities (Magee, 169).
According to Marx and Engels, human nature is determined by the mode of production in which people work to maintain human life, and since the mode of production changes, so does human nature (Gurley, 9). Marx s theories have been the source of continued disagreement. His detractors challenge the uselessness of the labor theory of value and the idea of surplus value. Among socialists, communists have accepted the bulk of Marx s theories and applied them in countries subject to communist rule. Through gradual reform, rather than revolution, socialists in countries such as Canada have played a major part in social reform and in the creation of modern mixed economies in which governments are much more important than they were a century ago (Mclellan, 76).
The capitalist system has changed over the years in the industrialized democratic nations of the world. The main reason has been the ongoing changes between government and industry and also between industry and labor. Government has been playing a bigger role in business affairs. The proliferation of laws regulating monopolies, the pricing of goods child labor, and minimum wage scales have succeeded in controlling or removing most of the excesses which characterized industry in the 19th century (Leone, 54) Through collective bargaining, unions have won higher wages, better working conditions, and benefits for their members. Some may claim that when the government is able to interfere in economic affairs, there will be inefficiency and an erosion of political freedom. Under the present system, it is argued, the worker never has, and never will, receive a fair share of the pie. When the capitalist can t make a profit, they turn off the machines and they turn us off like we were part of the machines. If General Motors can t make enough money, they just lay off 10 000 people, as if they were turning off a machine, said Peter Camejo; Socialist Workers Party candidate for president in 1976, from a speech delivered at the University of Chicago on December 2, 1975 (Leone 57).
By the end of the nineteenth century it was becoming clear that things were not turning out as Marx s theories said they must. Nowhere in the world was there a society where changes were happening according to Marx s scientific laws of historical development. This gave rise to something that became known as revisionism. Different Marxist thinkers started trying to revise Marx s theories so as to fit in with the contrary evidence and also started to reinterpret the evidence to fit in with Marx s theories (Magee, 170). Out of this grew a plurality of different Marxist schools of thought, at odds with one another, sometimes violently so. What led in with the end to the withering away of most of them was the fact that wherever Marxist political movements came to power the result was, invariably and without exception, a bureaucratic dictatorship, a society nothing like the one the theory had claimed was inevitable (Magee, 168).
Bibliography
Eagleton, Terry. Marx. London: Orion Publishing Group Ltd., 1997.
Gurley, John.G. Challengers to Capitalism. New York: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1988.
Leone, Bruno. Capitalism: Opposing Viewpoints. Minnesota: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1978.
Magee, Bryan. The Story of Philosophy. Montreal: The Reader s Digest Association (Canada) Ltd., 1998
Mclellan, David. Marxism after Marx. London: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1980.
Schumpeter, Joseph. A. Capitalism Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harperand Row
Publisher, 1950.
Seldon, Arthur. Capitalism. Massachusetts: Basil Blackwell Inc., 1990.
Другие работы по теме:
Karl Marx Biography Essay Research Paper Karl
Karl Marx Biography Essay, Research Paper Karl Marx Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in the city of Trier, Germany. Marx was a revolutionary who advocated “merciless criticism of
Make And Toke Your Own BONGS Essay
, Research Paper ********************************* * MAKE AND TOKE YOUR OWN BONGS! * ********************************* BY TONY MARX ==> A guide for everyone on the art of making bongs, from the
Social Stratification Essay Research Paper In Manifesto
Social Stratification Essay, Research Paper In Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, both authors believe that society had rapidly splitting into only two classes: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat as result of a long historical process and social revolutionary of machineries and large scale productions.
Karl Marx 4 Essay Research Paper Marx
Karl Marx 4 Essay, Research Paper Marx, Karl (1818-1883), German political philosopher and revolutionist, cofounder with Friedrich Engels of scientific socialism (modern communism) and, as such, one of the most influential thinkers of all times. Marx was born in Trier. In 1842 he became editor of the Cologne newspaper Rheinische Zeitung.
Karl Marx Essay Research Paper 181883 German
Karl Marx Essay, Research Paper 1818-83, German social philosopher and revolutionary; with Friedrich Engels, a founder of modern Socialism and Communism. The son of a lawyer, he studied
Communist Manifesto Essay Research Paper Karl Marx
Communist Manifesto Essay, Research Paper Karl Marx is living in a world he is not happy with, and seems to think that he has the perfect solution. I am a strong believer in his ideas. We are living in a time period with a huge class struggle. The Bourgroise exploits and the proletariat are being exploited. Marx did not like the way this society was and searched for a solution.
Alienated Labor By Karl Marx Essay Research
Paper Few philosophers viscerally strike a chord with their readers, regardless of the subject in question. Yet there is something within Marx’s essay, Alienated Labor, that is able to communicate directly to working people laboring even over one-hundred and fifty years subsequent to its publication.
Das Kapital By Karl Marx 1818
– 1883) Essay, Research Paper Throughout the last few centuries, according to Marx, it has been the common worker’s fate to suffer the “maximum of working time and the minimum of wages” in order to supply Capitalists with
Film In The Early 20Th Century Essay
, Research Paper The Marx Brothers were three American brothers who became famous for their zany antics in motion pictures. Trained as musicians, they began their careers in vaudeville with their mother and aunt as the Six Musical Mascots.
Proletarians And Communists Essay Research Paper Proletarians
Proletarians And Communists Essay, Research Paper Proletarians and Communists Since the beginning of time man has performed what was needed to be done for one singular reason. The reason of bettering himself. You could say that he went out and worked because he needed to feed his family but that is also bettering himself.
Marxism Essay Research Paper Marxism is a
Marxism Essay, Research Paper Marxism is a type of scientific socialism. Karl Marx was a communist used this to differentiate his ideas from the utopian socialist. His main idea was ?Workers of the world unite.? Marx also wrote the book ?The Communist Manifest?, in 1848.
Education Learning By Communism Essay Research Paper
Education: Learning By Communism? Through Freire?s ? The Banking Concept of Education,? we see the effects this concept has on it?s students and also we see the effects that the alternate concept, problem-posing has. The ?banking? concept allows the students to become vessels of knowledge, not being able to learn at a creative pace.
MacKinnon Essay Research Paper Rousseau and Marx
MacKinnon Essay, Research Paper Rousseau and Marx spearhead the movement of the worker. They attempt to alter current, unjust, stifling situations and bring a natural equivalence to all. Yet, throughout their works, they hardly mention the role of women. Marx does, at one point, acknowledge that women should no longer be known as “private”, but as “collective”: open and free to all men.
The Communist Manfesto Essay Research Paper The
The Communist Manfesto Essay, Research Paper The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx Karl Marx (1818-1883) explained historical change by using and adapting a theory that was first developed by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 – 1831). According to Hegel s theory, in any period of history there is a conflict between contrary and opposing forces.
The Communist Manifesto Essay Research Paper Karl
The Communist Manifesto Essay, Research Paper Karl Marx s The Communist Manifesto forecasted the downfall of capitalism and the rise of communism. It predicted that the communist revolution was most likely to take place first in Britain or Germany because of their high population of proletarian factory workers.
Marx Alienated Labor Essay Research Paper Marx
Marx Alienated Labor Essay, Research Paper Marx on page 327 of his essay “estranged labor” is describing what to him were the fundamental conditions of labor under capitalism and why he found them
The Commonwealth Essay Research Paper How did
The Commonwealth Essay, Research Paper How did traditional industrial location factors influence The pattern of industry in the UK? Traditional industrial location factors were, in the words of Karl Marx: Land, Labour, Capital and Raw materials , and these greatly influenced industrial location in the UK up until the 70 s:
Marx Essay Research Paper After reading through
Marx Essay, Research Paper After reading through Marx?s German Ideology, I came to realize that it was not actually a critique on the faults of German thinkers or philosophers. It was more a critique on the nature of history, as we know it. For the most part, people see history reflected through ideologies that distorts reality.
Applying Karl Marx To Ritzer
’s Mcdonaldization Of Society Essay, Research Paper Tim Horgan Cont. Soc. Reflection Karl Marx believed that a major revolution was in the future for the Western world. Exactly how far in the future remains to be seen, but many would argue that capitalism is as strong as it ever was and no class conflict will occur.
Marx And Marxism Essay Research Paper Marx
Marx And Marxism Essay, Research Paper Marx and Marxism 2. First noted by John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government, labor is a source of value. Stated simply, the work a person does is worth money or a wage. This is a fundamental, arguably the fundamental principle, in the capitalist economic system.
Hegel Vs. Marx
… Who Is More Free? Essay, Research Paper Human freedom is what Marx described it as: absolute knowledge derived from the realization that you are a part of everything and the lack of dependency on material goods. Marx s technique of thesi and antithesi coming together to form the next incantation of society is in my mind the most reasonable.
Karl Marx 2 Essay Research Paper Karl
Karl Marx 2 Essay, Research Paper Karl Marx (1818-1883) Karl Marx is a German philosopher and most important figure in socialist history. Marx is known as a Communist, but should be known for his great philosophy. He also is said to be the founder of economic history and sociology.
Animal Farm Essay Research Paper As I
Animal Farm Essay, Research Paper As I read the book “Animal Farm”, I have came to see that the story “Animal Farm” is a metaphor for the life in the USSR. We see how ” Animal Farm ” takes on personalities of social and political figures from the USSR. They relate to the social and political life of The USSR in how they act and live.
Karl Marx 5 Essay Research Paper Karl
Karl Marx 5 Essay, Research Paper Karl Marx The work of Marx, like that of other philosophers and thinkers in the 19th century, owed a great deal to the social context into which he was born and thus the issues he tackled were often similar to those of concern to his contemporaries. It was Marx who decided to go beyond the academia and theoretical study and produce an active theory or a practical philosophy which could provide a basis for political action.
The Defender Of The Faith Essay Research
Paper In Philip Roth’s, “Defender of the Faith”, Sergeant Nathan Marx is the “Defender” of whom the title speaks. Reluctant at first, Marx defended his faith on two fronts, one across the sea in Europe and the second in the United States. The battle in the states was of a different type. Marx learned what it was like to defend his and the faith of his fellow Jews against prejudice and abuse by those who waged the war.
Social Conflict Theory Essay Research Paper History
Social Conflict Theory Essay, Research Paper History has always been fueled by conflict. History books are filled with conflicts of the have and have-nots. For example look at the early history of America, it was a fight between the oppressed colonists and the aristocratic British. Our independence was gained over a conflict.
Defender Of The Faith Theme Essay Research
Paper visit www.simpsonau!!! Theme in “Defender of the Faith” can be interpreted in many varying ways, some of which are life-long lessons and others to the relation between faith and the individual.
Comparison Of Karl Marx And Matthew Arnold
Essay, Research Paper Comparison of Karl Marx and Matthew Arnold Through their writing, Karl Marx and Matthew Arnold show their opposing views on the importance of internal and external functions of culture. In the
Karl Marx Essay Research Paper Karl MarxKarl
Karl Marx Essay, Research Paper Karl Marx Karl Marx was a German political philosopher and a revolutionist, confounder with Friedrich Engles of scientific socialism and is one of the most influential thinkers of all times.
Marx Essay Research Paper Karl Marx and
Marx Essay, Research Paper Karl Marx and Max Weber have agreed and disagreed on numerous issues during their years as sociologists and political economists. An issue that they
Marx And Weber Essay Research Paper I
Marx And Weber Essay, Research Paper I thought Marx’s Wage Labour and Capital was much more interesting and easier to understand than the previous reading. In this section, Marx attacks the idea of competition, division of labor, capital growth, and the injustice that workers must face as a result of them.
Karl Marx 3 Essay Research Paper Karl
Karl Marx 3 Essay, Research Paper Karl Heinrich Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in the city of Trier in Prussia, now, Germany. He was one of seven children of Jewish parents. His mother, Henrietta, was originally from Holland and never became a German at heart. Shortly before Marx was born, his father converted the family to Christianity and Karl was baptized at the age of six.