In Studying The Effects Of Capitalism, It Is Important

In studying the effects of capitalism, it is important to look at both Karl Marx’s The Marx-Engels Reader and Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. Marx, a German economist, historian and philosopher, wrote about economic struggles in the sense that those with the most take advantage of those with the least. Adam Smith, a Scottish economist and philosopher, wrote about individual freedom and limited government. The communist opinions of Marx have long been criticized by many philosophers, especially Smith. In The Marx-Engels Reader, Marx discusses how capitalism forms separation of people through the form of alienation from themselves and their labor whereas Smith believes that liberal capitalism provides ultimate individual freedom and in†¦show more content†¦It belongs to another; it is the loss of his self.† (Tucker 74). The more time that the worker spends on the product, â€Å"it is clear that the more the worker spends himself, the more powerful the alien obje ctive world becomes which he creates over-against himself† (Tucker 72). This type of work is a made for a machine, not a human being. Smith saw the benefits of liberal capitalism, and was an avid critique of Marx’s views on capitalism. The first chapter of Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith claims that the economy starts with the human propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.† (Smith 27). Smith argues that although acts of buying and selling were motivated by individual needs, they were ultimately good because of the needs of supply and demand. He says that a producer of a product is not going to sell his product for less than a profit, but he has to come to a compromise so that customers will buy his product. Just as consumers are not thinking about the seller, and only buy if the price is reasonable for them as a consumer. By purchasing the product they are contributing to the wealth of the seller, but they ultimately are acting in self-inter est when buying the product. Smith says that everyone benefits in the end. Unlike Marx, liberalism is ultimateShow MoreRelatedStrawberry Fields by Miriam Wells1172 Words   |  5 PagesThere has been a long standing debate between the socio-economic theories of capitalism and socialism. The current socio-economic system is capitalism but many feel it is not ideal due to the fact that it is based on making a profit. On the other hand, socialism is based on equality of all, which is enacted by paying all workers the same amount of money regardless of occupation. Miriam J. Wells is against capitalism and holds a socialist view point. According to Wells, politics shape the advantagesRead MoreFunctionalism : Functionalism And Functionalism1100 Words   |  5 PagesTalcott Parsons and Robert Merton were the three main theorists of functionalism, where they studied to understand how different parts of society could connect and work towards promoting social steadiness and harmony. Parson s viewed health as an important part of foundation and building a better society where illness has stopped people from carrying out different tasks. On the other hand, Weberianism focused on acknowledging people surviving with social inequality and social conflicts. Max Weber andRead MoreDifference Between Max Weber And Emile Durkheim1286 Words   |  6 Pagesresult is their own death. Now that he has defined what suicide is, for his purposes, he can go on to describe how suicide is a social fact and find data with which to describe the fact of suicide within society. Since Durkheim is interested in studying sociology in a scientific way, the data he uses to in his study is strictly empirical. He studies the suicide rates in a variety of societies to determine what social factors affect the tendency towards suicide. His choice of using suicide ratesRead MoreIndustrialization Of The Industrial Revolution1214 Words   |  5 Pagesfeudalism to capitalism due to the increasing progress of technology. â€Å"For Marx the industrial revolution marked the transition between two essentially different periods of capitalist development, the first being characterised by the dominance of manufacture and the second by the dominance of ‘modern industry’† (McQuaire, 1978, p188). Different sociological theorists focus on different causes of the development of capitalism. Weber’s ideas originate from The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism whereRead MoreThe Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism1463 Words   |  6 Pagesà ¯ » ¿Essay No.1 Weber has been considered as an expert on origination of capitalism. His most famous work is The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber thesis regarding capitalism is rather considered as an argument counter to Marxist thesis (which was regarding primacy of base over superstructure). Weber discussed in his book that capitalism was resulted by Protestantism which was a religious movement or more specifically speaking Calvinism. However any Calvinist who has gone throughRead MoreKarl Marx And Max Weber1003 Words   |  5 Pages Their conceptions about religion,capitalism, social class and power are in some ways compatible. The aspects of their study are quite similar, and Weber builds upon the analysis which developed by Marx, Meanwhile, Weber is also very critical about Marx’s theory that they have different approaches when they define the social problems, such as their views towards work under capitalist society. For Marx, class conflict is central to understand work and capitalism, but Weber does not consider conflictRead MoreUnderstanding Of God And Totems973 Words   |  4 PagesDurkheim, in studying the social origin of religion, he determined that it was not a product of the divine or supernatural but of society, acting as a source of identification and cohesion for individual members. This was especially true for the primitive societies Durkheim researched, where mechanical solidarity connected people through their kinship ties and lifestyle similarities—including through their religious training. However, Durkheim also believed it to still be important in more modernRead MoreWhat Interests Me : History And Hiring1616 Words   |  7 PagesWhat Interests Me: History and Hiring Introduction: The study of Ethics is an important branch of study. It is as important as the study of the sciences, math and business. At its core the study of ethics provides a framework to make decisions on how we conduct our lives. Almost every action we take has ethical implications that affect our own lives and the lives around us. This is important to consider in the business world, since the decisions made by business organizations can affect theRead More The Importance of Studying Comparative Politics Essay906 Words   |  4 PagesThe Importance of Studying Comparative Politics Comparative politics is an important aspect of political science in that instead of studying how this country functions, it studies why other countries around the world are the way they are. There must be some medium for finding the differences and similarities between one county and another in order discover what can effect such aspects as economic strength, military strength, and the structure of the regime in power. One reason to compareRead MoreMarxism: The Economic Basis of Being Human Essay1449 Words   |  6 Pagesincluded tree basic and important components which were the sociological perspective, the economic assumption and the philosophical system and all these aspects were partly responsible in the establishment of the revolutionary analysis for societal modification. This assignment is basically about breaking down Marxist theory whereby I will be making statements based on my own view compared to Marxist view about certain aspects that mainly revolve around the so ciety and capitalism. The content will cover