Preview

Karl Marx Vs Adam Smith Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2081 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Karl Marx Vs Adam Smith Analysis
It is undeniable that Karl Marx and Adam Smith had different opinions regarding what capitalism is all about. Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations suggested that the free market where the people and their businesses have the liberty to create products as many as they can and impose prices depending on how high or low they want them to be would lead to the best and most attractive economic result for the people and the producers because of the “Invisible Hand.” Ion the other hand, Karl Marx in Capital said that the employees would be taken advantage of by the capitalists or businessmen because capitalism offers a huge benefit to the wealthy and is detrimental to the impoverished people. The wealthy people will get wealthier while the poor people will get more impoverished. Nonetheless, in spite of these differences in opinions in can be said …show more content…
This entails the resources used to produce the products like the plants, equipment and materials. The mode of production regularly develops towards an acknowledgment of its maximum capacity, but this development produces conflicts between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. In capitalism, the capitalists come up with products and for them to make the most money they force the employees to work hard while giving them very minimal compensation. This is why no matter how hard they work they are unable to improve their lives. They eventually realize that they have to stop the capitalists from abusing them. This is why Marx believes that capitalism will lead to the inevitable clash between the poor people and the capitalists. The poor people will eventually grow tired of being abused by the capitalists and so they will be forced to organize an uprising to defeat the capitalists and end their reign in society. This in turn will pave the way for the proletariat to establish a new economic system known as

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the Industrial Revolution, factory workers received little pay, worked long hours, and never saw improvement in their living and working conditions. In the mean time, the middle class was emerging. They were rich because of the enormous amounts of money created in the country because of the Industrial Revolution. Marx thought that the capitalist system would eventually fail. He described communism as “a form of complete socialism in which the means of production--all land, mines, factories, railroads, and businesses—would be owned by the people” (649). He also thought all goods and services should be shared equally.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Modern economic society can be described as a combination of certain points from several theories combined into one. Changing dynamics and economic needs of nations has spawned a development of various, and contrasting, economic systems throughout the world. Perhaps the two most contrasting philosophies seen in existence today are that of capitalism and communism. The two philosophers most notably recognized for their views on these economic systems are Adam Smith and Karl Marx. This paper will identify several fundamental aspects of economic philosophy as described by Smith and Marx, and will compare and contrast the views of these philosophers in relation to current global economic systems.…

    • 1263 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marx claims that this is and exploitation of the worker, and that the worker is the only commodity that produces more value than it is worth. Marx refuses to accept that there is a harmony of interests between the worker and the employer in Capitalism. Marx again attempts to point out a flaw in Capitalism stating, that there is no long term stability or equilibrium, and that it is just an economy of boom and bust. Smith on the other hand argues that a free market economy (Capitalism) leads to economic well being. Smith believed that the main cause of prosperity in a nation was the division of labor.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They were both known for their distinct theoretical contributions. Adam Smith proposed that there should be a free market where the producers are free to produce as much as they want and charge buyers the prices that they want. He thought that this would result in the most efficient and desirable economic outcome for consumers and producers. This meant that the consumers would only pay as much or less than they would value the benefit from the good, and the producer would only sell for as much as or higher than they would have spent on making the product. The market would always be equilibrium. There would only be a limited role for the government in the economic system. Karl Marx disagreed and thought that workers would have an advantage because they are already rich and there would be a disadvantage to the poor. The rich would only get richer and the poor would only get poorer. He came out with a theory called the labor theory of value. The claims that the value of a good or service is directly connected to the amount of labor required for its production. Marx thought that the two classes in society, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, will remain stuck in their respective classes because of the very nature of capitalism. The wealthy bourgeoisie owns the factories and also dominates the media, universities, government, bureaucracy, and hence. Their position on the social status is unchangeable. The poor proletariat are only able to work hard. Marx thought that to fix this problem; the poor would have to revolt and create a new social order where there would be no distinction between segments of society. Adam Smith thought that capitalism was the most ideal economic system. Adam also opposed the idea of revolution to restore justice for the masses because he valued order and stability over relief and oppression. Marx thought that capitalism would lead to instability and injustice in a society. Marx…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unit 7 Sociology

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This is basically the basis of capitalist society; Marx sees this as an evil society that must come to an end. In order for society to overcome a capitalist society the worker need to realize that they’re being exploited, they should unite and fight against their exploitation through revolution and replace the evil capitalist system with a…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marx then goes into the first part of the body of his manifesto entitled "Bourgeois and Proletarians." In this part, he goes into how society started communal but then became more unequal as time went on. Systems such as Feudalism, Mercantilism, and Capitalism benefited from the use of exploitation. He first introduces the idea that economic concerns of a nation drive history, and that the struggle between the rich bourgeoisie and the hard working proletariat would eventually lead to Communism. He goes on and on about how the bourgeois have always got what they wanted. Marx reflected more on the negatives committed by the bourgeois than the positives. He states the bourgeoisie "has agglomerated population, centralized means of production, and has concentrated property in a few hands." (Marx, p.8) He then describes the proletarians, or the labor class, and how they were formed, how they have suffered, and how they must overcome their struggles. Marx declares that this “dangerous class,” the social scum, that passively rotting mass thrown off by the lowest layers of old society, may, here and there, be swept into the movement by a proletarian revolution." (Marx, p.15) This began an inevitable revolution where the proletariats take over and dethrone the bourgeoisie.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Karl Marx Vs Adam Smith

    • 1892 Words
    • 8 Pages

    During the 18th and 19th centuries, there were a series of intense discussions by the great thinkers of the time, on how the economy should be molded going forward. The two most prominent of these intellectuals were Karl Marx and Adam Smith. Combined they shared a vision of an emerging social system, which they had foreseen; and what we now know as capitalism. Marx called his theory “the capitalist mode of production”, while Smith referred to the idea as the “society of perfect liberty”. There are several similarities and differences between the two social systems, and through these ideas, we can find how the economic system we use today came to exist.…

    • 1892 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Many factories out there will benefit the employees and not taking advantage of them. Marx, on the other hand, thinks differently because employees are working so hard, but the wages are not high enough and it is unfairly paid. Karl Marx, Andrew Ure, and Adam Smith have all different views of the society, however Marx is more convincing because his idea make more sense to many people in the society. There are good and bad things happen in history and that is the life of the people in this world.…

    • 1770 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In aversion to the issues of capitalism concerning wage labor and abuse of the laborer by the employer, Karl Marx and Frederick Engles saw the ills of society in the convention of private property. In his own words, Marx said that communism could be summed up in one sentence, “abolition of private property” (The Communist Manifesto, 23). Marx saw private property in the industrial age as the “antagonism of capital and wage labor,” (The Communist Manifesto, 23). The positive results of industry only allowed the bourgeois to obtain more capital and hire more labor. Capital, therefore, is for the bourgeois a means to accumulate labor for the individual.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Marx believed that capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction. He described how the wealth of the bourgeoisie depended on the work of the proletariat. Therefore, capitalism requires an underclass. But Marx predicted that the continued exploitation of this underclass would create great resentment. Eventually the proletariat would lead a revolution against the bourgeoisie.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Karl Marx’s philosophy has been the subject of so much judgement and Scrutiny on if his beliefs will truly save the working man. The bourgeois interlocutor believe Marx’s belief would be more detrimental to the people as a whole. They believe that by wishing to abolish private property, communism will become a danger to freedom and eventual end up destroying the very base of all personal freedom, activity, and independence. Marx responds to these comments by stating that wage labor does not create any property when considering the laborers affairs. It only creates capital, a property which works only to increase the social injustice of the worker. This property called capital, is based on class antagonism. Having linked private property…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adam Smith and Karl Marx were considered to be amongst the best or if not the best economic theorists the world has ever seen. Despite seeming to be polar opposites, both Smith and Marx are fundamentally similar. Both are looking to see what makes the entire system run, and what the basis of economy truly is. They both have their flaws, yet they were both correct. Their idea was to formulate something that would run the basis of economy. Both have different ideas, both…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Modern political economic theory and philosophy can be greatly attributed to the works of two men who seemingly held polar opposite views on the subject. Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher, published his most well known work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776 and is most often associated with the ideas and principles of the political economic system known as Capitalism. At the other end of the spectrum is Karl Marx; the German philosopher most often associated with Communism and the author (or co-author) of The Communist Manifesto. This paper seeks to discuss the core differences in their respective political economic philosophies with regards to what economic value is and what the role of government should be in their versions of political economy. This will conclude with the argument that while Smith's work had laid the foundation for modern economic philosophy, it was Marx who would ultimately leave the most significant impression upon the world with his revolutionary ideas.…

    • 2054 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Adam Smith vs Karl Marx

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Adam Smith and Karl Marx are both respected in their views for creating a society in which it will allow for the greatest number of people to flourish under the conditions of their type of government. Adam Smith, a Scottish political economist philosopher born in 1723, had the goal of impeccable liberty for all individuals through the capitalistic approach, in which he argues that capitalism will not only create new wealth and the possibility for universal opulence and future happiness, but improves the moral fiber of an entire nation. While Karl Marx, born in 1818, believed in individual freedom for society and logically criticized capitalism giving reasons as to why it was it was an immoral and evil economic system that will ultimately be overthrown. Figuring out what kind of state will ensure the greatest freedom or liberty of individuals was their main philosophical problem. They differed in their views of human nature, the social decisions made in the society, the role of competition, and the effects of the division of labor on human beings.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Karl Marx is regarded by many as the first social scientist ever. Although it is argued that Adam Smith was the first great economist, and David Ricardo the first great modern economist, Marx is undoubtedly the economist that has had the biggest impact on economic history. It was he that masterminded the concept of a socialist utopia, which ultimately led to over a third of the world been ruled under the communist regime , a model that Marx concocted. Born on 5 May 1818, in Trier, one of Germany's oldest cities, Marx was the first economist who infused history, philosophy, economics, sociology and political theory all into his work. Marx was ahead of his time, his theories were ground breaking, only time would tell whether his predictions would come to fruition. Marx's main claim was that capitalism would eventually fall due to its own internal contradictions and faults, to be replaced by a socialist utopia, so to speak. Marx had many complex motives behind the eventual fall of capitalism, he delves in to great detail about these reasons in his masterpiece Capital (1867), in this text Marx writes about how the capitalist system will falter over time due to the way it operates. It is these faults of the capitalist system that are brought in to question when analysing an issue of this nature, what weaknesses did Marx identify in his writings and were these weaknesses evident in the capitalist system come the end of the twentieth century?…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays