The Capitalist Idea

The Capitalist Idea

            The 1948 pamphlet by the Germany philosophers, Karl Max and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto was one of the world’s most influential documents. The Communist Manifesto is a summary of Karl Max’s theories concerning the nature of politics and society. The manifesto features the ideas of Max and Engels concerning capitalism and how the two scholars expect capitalism to be replaced by socialism. The two authors conclude the declaration by calling on nations to overthrow the existing social conditions what served for revolutions motivated by communism around the world. The main arguments in the manifesto include the need for Europe to fight for communism. Karl Marx argues that capitalism is about the exploitation of workers and the owners are only interested in the profits from the labor employed, a fact that reflects the present society where workers work for survival without directly enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Karl Marx disputes the privatization of the production sector which would, in turn, lead to the exploitation of laborers. According to Marx, every society has a specific organization of production that he refers to as a mode of production. However, Marx is opposed to the evolution in the mode of production that has created antagonism between classes of different people in the production chain defined as, workers and owners. As defined by Karl Max, capitalism involves a situation where an organization aims at producing goods on profit, and to beat the intense competition in the market. The production firms do not give heed to the improvement of the workers’ rights (Milios). The position of a firm in the market is determined by the effectiveness by which a firm maximizes labor production while minimizing the cost of production. In capitalism, the workers do not have the opportunity to interact with the goods produced, and thus self-confidence is deprived of leaving the work with the option of fighting for survival and not a personal improvement. Also, capitalism ideology alienates the workers from interacting with other people in society due to the requirement of giving a lot of time for the employer. Karl Marx is however confident that capitalism will eventually be overthrown because laborers will eventually give up the harsh working conditions.

Communism will eventually overtake capitalism.  According to Marx, capitalism creates a feeling of exploitation by the worker, and with time, workers will revolt against the selfish nature of the capitalists. The main idea behind capitalism is that employers are given the priority of deciding the wages to pay to the workers. The wages set are designed in a way that the employers benefit from maximum labor using the minimum cost possible. The strategy of maximizing labor production while minimizing cost leaves the workers at the suffering end of the work cycle. The idea presented by Marx is that value should be defined by considering the wise spending of socially necessary labor time. Marx embodies the term ‘social necessary’ in the definition of value to avoid the confusion that may arise with some people taking the definition as if to mean that slow production process leads to a high value of goods (Bloch). The addition of value only supports the increase in production of labor and Marx uses the definition to portray capitalists as parasitic and that the capitalists just make profits because the payment made for labor is less than the labor provided. Karl Max argued that those opposed to the idea of communism should note that selling a commodity at a lower price does not lead to an increase in the price of other commodities.

Karl Marx’s arguments are in line with the present structure of employment by capitalists. The arguments are similar to the arguments of colonialism and imperialism. The unique similarity is that employers do not listen to the complaints by employers. Just like colonialism, the employers only wait for employers to resort to resistance, at the point where the employers pretend to listen to the complains presented and end up convincing the employees back to pay, either on false promises or little pay rise that does not equal the living standards. Several questions would arise on whether colonialism and capitalism are in any way related to capitalism. However, the response by Marx suffices to say that the only matter of concern is to make sure that capitalism was not left to interact with primitive production structures since the only interest of the employers will be to create a workforce, and the result will be the resurfacing of slavery (Pihama, p.30). The arguments by Karl Marx cannot be ignored since sufficient evidence is provided on the arguments given.

The growth of capitalism only results in the consumption of other production methods. The manifestation of capitalist ideologies in colonialism is only represented by the evident conquest towards occupation issues by workers. The process of capitalist growth is associated with nature and is independent of human will, consciousness and intelligence. The characteristics of a society and people are affected by factors other than historical materialism. Economic factors and determination to create more wealth are among the factors that lead to the growth of capitalism. The idea of capitalism still applies to the present’s societal structure that appreciates the existence of two economic classes of people in society: the rich and the poor (Kearns). Karl Marx presents ideologies that hold to date and society has been compelled by circumstances to conform to the ideologies of capitalism.

The definition of capitalism is in line with the present’s motivation behind the provision of labor. Workers do not have a specific motivation behind going to work other than the urge to be paid the little wages set by the employers. The evidence behind the motivation is the frequent revolution movements that keep on coming up each day from workers’ unions that seek pay-rise for their members. The fact that employees are not allowed to enjoy the quality of the products they help to produce deprives them of self-confidence, and no motivation other than wages is available. The general working environment is comprised of two groups: employers exploiting the cheap labor and employees championing for better pay.

In sum, Karl Marx is confident that capitalism will eventually fall. The main arguments in the manifesto by Karl Marx include the need for Europe to fight for communism. Karl Marx argues that capitalism is about the exploitation of workers and that private the owners are only interested in the profits from the labor employed, a fact that reflects the present society where workers work for survival without directly enjoying the fruits of their labor. Also, Karl Marx’s arguments are in line with the present structure of employment by capitalists. The growth of capitalism only results in the consumption of other production methods and Marx gives every reason to stand against the ideology.

References

Bloch, Ernst. “. On Karl Marx. Verso Books, .” (2018): 33.

Kearns, Gerry. “”The territory of colonialism.” Territory, Politics, Governance 5.2 .” (2017): 222-238.

Milios, John, and Dimitri Dimoulis. “Karl Marx and the classics: An essay on value, crises and the   capitalist mode of production. Routledge,.” (2018.): 23.

Pihama, Leonie. ” “Colonization and the Importation of Ideologies of Race, Gender, and Class in     Aotearoa.” Handbook of Indigenous Education.” (2017): 1-20.