Marx's Critique of Capitalism - Essay Example

Order 118221 Marx's critique of capitalism is based on his theory of history politics and alienation. Discuss critically. Introduction: In allhis works, the major and most significant concern of Marx has been that of the intellectual destruction of capitalism. Marx viewed capitalism as a very harsh social activity which will be defeated by history. It is an activity where the society is built as per controlled relations of the majority being dominated by the minority, thereby not being entirely reasonable. (Critical Theory at a Crossroad: Adorno, Marcuse, and the Radical Sixties) Though Marx believed in the increasing development of history, and also in the unavoidable ruin of capitalism, he believed that by the destroying the support of capitalism he would be able to hurry the total fall of capitalism and thus bring forth a socialist era. There are many of his works which seemed to be revealed as a result of his reactions on the growth of new areas of political economy, which is helped by the laissez-faire theories of Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus. These theories intimated the extension of precisely the features of capitalism that was most defective in the views of Marx. Therefore his critique begins from attacks on the satisfactory liberal bases analysis of capitalism to the very intricate analyses of economics and also of leading theorists. (Marx's critique of capitalism) Analysis: Marxism is not a single theory but is found as a cluster of a few similar related theories. There is an alternate way of how the Marxist theory of history is called. (Karl Marx: Wikipedia) It is the historical materialism which is found on the views of Marx on people and what people fundamentally are. Marx's theory of history originated from the thought that the way of society rise and fall and it further interferes in the development of human productive power. (Karl Marx: Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy) There is a common liberal belief that every individual gets the liberty to enter into all economic adaptations by ways of an equally beneficial contract. When Marx reacted to this, he remarked that "men enter into definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will, relations of production". (Marx's critique of capitalism) Marx's perception about this historical process is that it is a procedure through which the required series of ways of production rise to its highest point in communism. (Karl Marx: Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy) Max's analysis of history is focused on the differences that he saw between production relationships and the means/forces of production, such as technology, land, natural resources, which are essential for the production of natural goods. In other words it is the relationship that people enter into between their social and technical related matters while using the means of production. (Karl Marx: Wikipedia) It was the belief of Marx that any phase of history which is based on an exploitative economic order sow's the seeds for its own ruin. (Conflict Theory) It was under the observation of Marx that any particular society changes its methods of production, and he also observed that the European society grew from a feudal mode of production to a capitalist mode of production. On the whole Marx believed that production changes more swiftly than the relations of production. For example, first the technology of say, Internet was being developed and only then was the laws that are relating to the technology were developed. Marx found this mismatch between this social construction and economic fundamentals as a primary source of social disorder and clash. (Karl Marx: Wikipedia) It was Marx's view that it is through this economic fundamentals that the social and political conflicts take their roots, and hence the political theory should confine itself with the modes of production than getting into abstract thoughts such as liberty and justice. Hence it is found that Marx's major concern was on the structure of capitalism, which he found as the root cause for all the conflict occurring in the developed world and as a very essential step to be taken for the development of the society. (Marx's critique of capitalism) Marx found that the social relations of production comprised of not only relations among individuals, but also relations between or among groups of people or classes. As being both a scientist and materialist Marx could not follow the classes as purely being subjective. In other words it could be said that groups of people are aware of being identified with each other. (Karl Marx: Wikipedia) Marx's notion of class does not have any connectivity to the hereditary caste, and it is not purely social class in the sociological sense of upper, middle, and lower classes. These classes are often defined in relation to quantitative income or wealth. (Class Struggle: Wikipedia) Here Marx tried to define classes in terms of objective criteria, such as their approach to the resources. The relationship between a person and the means of production defines the membership of the class to which they will belong, that is the position of a person in the society that emphasises capitalism. Marx in his work talks about two classes in majority who comprise of the vast majority of the population. They are the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. There are few other classes like the petty bourgeoisie who share characteristics of both the above said main classes. (Class Struggle: Wikipedia) According to Marx each class has its own diversified interests, which will again result in social clash and social disorder. The conflict between the social classes has become an essential part of the human history. Thus the history of all existing society till time is the history of all class struggles. (Karl Marx: Wikipedia) The major point that Marx point out here is that the members of each of the two main classes have common interests. These interests on a whole, clash with those of the other classes. This reacts in a way of putting the individual members of different classes into conflict. This class opposition may also be revealed as a low worker emotional attitude, small destructions, and the hidden accumulation of individual workers of petty authority and information. The opposition may also be specified on a greater scale by the ample support for the socialist and populist parties. General forms of class struggles for the employers are obtained from the union-busting legal firms and the lobbying for anti-union laws. Marx idea on this was that such a conflict was the key to the social structure of capitalism and could be done away without replacing the entire system itself. (Class Struggle: Wikipedia) As for capitalism, Marxist theory gives reasons that the working class comprises of both "objective" class interest as a collective group and also a huge amount of individual interests of the workers. Therefore class interests may vary from "trade union consciousness" and economism. In the same manner the capitalistic class may influenced by the long-term collective interest of the class and the individual capitalist who look out for profit. In such a radical condition, the approach to a single point of the individual interest and class interests are expected. The evidence that is got based on observation of class antagonisms depend on the depth of the historical condition in which they function. Taking for instance other social division such as issues concerning 'nationality, ethnicity, religion, language and gender' will be able to coordinate with, or confuse the silent class tensions. At times there can be situations when class can be equally moderated by issues relating to similarity in customs as between the white proletarians and the capitalists in apartheid-era and more moved to extreme intensity among the blacks and whites in South Africa. (Class Struggle: Wikipedia) Thus both the examinations of history and economics are put together in Marx's anticipation of an unavoidable failure of capitalism on economic reasons. (Karl Marx: Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy) It is the prediction of Marx that capitalism like all the other historically cruel social systems, will worsen to the point when the people will begin to realise their hindrances to success and revolt, thereby pushing out the cruel rulers and thereby creating an economic equality in the construction of a communist state. (Critical Theory at a Crossroad: Adorno, Marcuse, and the Radical Sixties) Marx formulated that the major conditions under capitalism will develop in such a way that encourages a proletariat formed collectively to achieve their own goals to develop the following: the capitalist can become immensely powerful by the total collection of surplus value as an enhanced means of production, and also appreciating an over class clashes. When this situation is not lessened by the increasing organization by workers of political and economical conditions, it would unavoidably cause a break up of the classes, appreciating the revolution that would result in the destruction of capitalism itself. There would be a revolution which would lead to a socialist society in which the proletariat had control over the state which is "dictatorship of the proletariat". The actual meaning of this term was that of a workers' democracy, and not that of a dictatorship. Thus Marx democracy on capitalism is a bourgeois dictatorship. After the commencement of a revolution, the two classes would suffer and finally it would come down and resulting in dissolving the classes. (Class Struggle: Wikipedia) When the class boundaries came down, then the state devices would fall down. As per Marx theory the main task of any state device is to hold up the power of the ruling class. But significantly without the presence of classes, there would be no necessity for a state. This would therefore lead to a communist society with no class or state. (Class Struggle: Wikipedia) It could finally be stated that the Marx's critique of capitalism is seen to be avoiding the conventional debates consuming liberalism, conservatism and other political theories. The critique also discusses social consciousness and not justice agreed upon as an individual liberty. It is the condition of the society that determines the effect of a given economic or political structure, not taking into account the justice of the structure. (Marx's critique of capitalism) Alienation is a key concept of Marx which could be the right way of explaining Marx's critique of the productive and social conditions created by capitalism. The production process on the eyes of Marx was the creating of commodities by one of the workers, mainly for the benefit of the property owners. An ideal society according to Marx was that each worker should be able to work and produce as per their nature by way of "free, creative labour, self-regulated work". Through this process men could reach a fulfilled life and could exercise and gain for the efforts that they had taken. This thought of Marx was similar to that of Aristotle's eudaimonic moral framework, which entrusts more importance on the result of the productive process. Hence in Marx system the political and economic superstructures were judged according to the labour based value of their social outcomes. (Marx's critique of capitalism) During the times of Marx there existed two distinct classes under Capitalism. One was those who owned property and the other was those who worked for the property owners, where the working class was the majority. But the problem here was that the working classes were not able to express their self-regulated free and creative working. Rather they were forced to work for the property owners for the sake of survival and wherein their labour was controlled and fixed by the property owners. According to Marx it is a fact that the property owners do no socially necessary labour at all, but employ workers providing them with very low labour charges. This was what Marx called as congealed labour, where capitalism changes Marx's theory and brings the labourers under control of the property owners to work for valueless business in the form of money. This situation of the working classes was called as alienation by Marx. When production is undertaken the material nature of the world is changed and by way of labour the objective of nature is justified. If only labour is understood as a means of production of some goods for the property owners, than for the labourers themselves, then the objectified nature of the labourers are taken away from them. In short it can be said that when nature becomes an alien to the labourer's actions, then the labourers are separated from their own labour. (Marx's critique of capitalism) However, the process of alienation is not confined to only capitalism. Marx takes into account three stages of historical development of the society. They are "oriental despotism, ancient slave-holding society, and feudalism". (Marx's critique of capitalism) Each of these has a common concept taking place in them which is alienation. Under despotism, the workers are forced by the ruling despot and hence they cannot hold the production under their control. It is found to be a slave-holding society, where the slaves are totally kept aloof, neither being able to control their production processes nor having the rights of ownership of their products. Under the feudalism the peasants would be given some land, but mostly the entire portion or a small portion of the proceeds are forcibly taken by the land owner. Hence there could be an objection raised on the concept that Marx's theory of alienation is not specific criticism of capitalism, but a general criticism of the entire economy of the nation, and also that alienation is a deplorable result of the productive process in common. (Marx's critique of capitalism) But the concept of Marx was that not only alienation was a hindrance to the economic superstructure, but also it was because of capitalism that made humanity suffer the most deeply felt form of alienation. This was when the bourgeois of the society controlled over the labour and when the product of the labourer's become the commodity of the capitalist. In his concept of alienation, Marx explains a deep sense of loss experienced in capitalism, more so than under any other economic superstructure in history. Adding to the financial exploitation and capitalism is understood as an economic and political superstructure that all the arrangement such that the working classes are brought under one control for the benefit of the bourgeois. The level of consumerism that the developed world has experienced from the Marx's writings are found as a compact unit and extension of the different things that Marx's found out and criticised. (Marx's critique of capitalism) Conclusion: In conclusion, it can be understood that many concepts and aspects of his criticism of capitalism were greatly successful, which till date entrust difficult challenges to the economic and political doctrines in the current western tradition. But he stated many false and contradictory statements. And the final aspect that he lacked in was the practical positive alternate choice and to provide a "road map" of how to get to his theories from capitalism. References Class Struggle. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_struggle Accessed 29 March, 2006 Conflict Theory. Retrieved from http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/soc/s00/soc111-01/IntroTheories/Conflict.html Accessed 29 March, 2006 Karl Marx. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/ Accessed 29 March, 2006 Karl Marx. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx Accessed 29 March, 2006 Marx's critique of capitalism. Retrieved from http://tom.acrewoods.net/research/philosophy/ideology/marxism-capitalism Accessed 29 March, 2006 Skinner, Jacob. Critical Theory at a Crossroad: Adorno, Marcuse, and the Radical Sixties. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/inquiryjournal/articles/skinner.htm Accessed 29 March, 2006 Read More