Denouncement of Capitalism by Karl Marx - Essay Example

In the documentary, Spurlock exposes the ugly truths of one of America’s biggest fast-food corporations and shows how its knowing endangers the lives of its customers to make a profit. Spurlock experiments, and plays the part, of what the corporation would consider to be its best customer. He allows the corporation’s advertising and portion suggestions to make his decisions for him, and in doing so eats the fast food for every meal for thirty days. By the end of his experiment, Spurlock finds that he has gained twenty-five pounds and doctors warn him that his health is in ruin.    The fast food corporation used in the experiment didn't purposely try and kill Spurlock, but its advertising and unhealthy food were the direct cause of Spurlock's health deteriorating into a downward spiral. Marx says:   "The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from the under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its gravediggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable."   The grave diggers Marx refers to in terms of Spurlock's experiment would be the same things that made the fast food corporation such a success in the first place. The corporation was successful because of its overwhelming use of advertising, its use of inexpensive and unhealthy food, and its quest to give the customer what they want. Unfortunately, all of these things are what can eventually kill their customers, and without customers, the corporation will not be successful. Therefore the corporation is responsible for its demise.   The grounding force behind the corporation's success is money. Marx's General Formula for Capital exposes how greed and demand for profit can eventually drive a corporation into the ground. Marx argues when a corporation becomes so successful that it begins to exchange money for money instead of money for commodities that it destroys itself. When a corporation begins to buy to sell, it takes its first step toward demise. This exchange of money for money is never ending because according to Marx they "have the same vocations, to approach, by quantitative increase, as near as possible to absolute in wealth". The result is money which in turn is also the beginning. Marx believes that the possessor of this money becomes the capitalist. Since the fast food corporation in "Supersize Me" encourages poor nutrition for a profit, it in turn makes an increasingly bigger profit for increasingly lesser valuable foods.   The documentary brought Marxist ideas into modern society by showing that contemporary capitalism is not simply that it gives consumers what they want, but that it makes them want what it has to give. By advertising and offering food at a cheap price the fast food corporation forced itself upon its customers, making them want their products. Spurlock sums up his thoughts by saying, "The bottom line, they're a business, no matter what they say, healthy food is good for you, they make millions, and no company wants to stop doing that."   At the end of the documentary, Spurlock asks his audience a question: "Who do you want to see go first, you or them?" This question sums up Marx's thoughts on capitalism perfectly, showing that either way the fast food corporation will destroy itself. By supporting the fast food corporation, customers will be destroying their health and in the end, this could lead to their death. The fast food corporation will not be able to survive if it kills off all of its customers. Therefore Marx’s belief that capitalism is a vicious cycle and that all capitalist corporations will lead themselves into destruction is proven true through this documentary. Read More