Similarities Between Adam Smith And Karl Marx

Karl Marx and Adam Smith wrote in the same time period – during the industrial revolution, where the bourgeois had risen to power by oppressing and exploiting the proletariat. The term bourgeois refers to the people in the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labor. The proletarians are the people in the class of modern wage laborers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live. While Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, wrote in favor of capitalism, Marx, in his Communist Manifesto, was a harsh critic of the system and declared its inevitable destruction and consequent rise of the working class.

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

Marx thought of capitalism in a pessimistic way, he saw the relationship between the employee and employer in a capitalistic society as toxic. To Marx, in a capitalistic society the employee would always be at a constant struggle for power be never endlessly repressed by the bourgeoisie. The employer would pay employees only what they needed to survive making it impossible to move up in class or society. He also recognized that in capitalism everything becomes corporatized. Things like marriage go from a sacred bond between two individuals that once never included money or the government, to something that is regulated by the national government and must be done through the federal court and include ties between the individual's financial status. Small businesses would also become corporatized, a local family doctor has now become part of a larger practice that brings in complex forms of payment such as insurance instead of simply paying a small family doctor directly. He also goes into the downfall of capitalism. The way capitalism works is through a series of economic highs and lows, each high is marked by prosperous times, high employment rate, and overall happiness. But the lows are marked by deterioration of the national economy, low employment rates, and struggle for all classes. To Marx’s these highs and lows are what's killing capitalism with each low being worse than the last until the people revolt and create a new form of government. The next would be socialism and once this fell like capitalism, the new governing system would be communism. Communism is an ideal system where people are never struggling for money and are paid based on their needs rather than their particular job. Through this system a

Marx believes a totalitarian state is a necessity in the beginning stages until a classless society is achieved; he is indifferent to limitations on the power of the government because he knows society will not willingly change their ways for the greater good (Marx and Engels, 1969). Marx recognizes the desire for society to change and his structure for the future is clearly outlined in his works. A socialist system will teach people to be selfless and lead to destruction of class distinctions. The main goal is to reduce the unequal distribution of wealth achieved through exploitation of the workers by the bourgeois class. Marx viewed capitalism as a flawed system which teaches human nature to pursue selfishness. For example, people are less willing to produce and sell their commodities if it bears no monetary generation. There is an overwhelming want by people to make money and it hinders the development of technology.

Marx believed that, through class consciousness, the workers would eventually recognize they were being exploited, and put an end to privilege. That they would revolt against their oppressors and end Capitalism once and for all; and a new utopia of equality under Communism would emerge.

Smith and Marx agree upon the importance of capitalism as unleashing productive powers. Capitalism is born out of the division of labour... that is, it is made possible by dividing jobs up into simple tasks as a way of increasing efficiency. By increasing efficiency, then everyone can produce more than they personally need. The extra produced can go towards the accumulation of capital, (machines, more land, more tools, etc) which will allow for even more increased efficiency and production. Both thought that this increased production was great. But Marx said that capitalism was only one stage... that every country must go through capitalism, to get that increased production, but that capitalism is

Since the early days of the United States, the Founding Fathers and other brilliant minds sought ways to understand and make sense of the inner workings of society and the economic market. Out of the many thinkers and developers of that time period, perhaps none made so great an impact on American society as the Scottish contemporary philosopher and political economist, Adam Smith—who is most known for his influential work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, By the early nineteenth century, other streams of economic theory emerged from various individuals who were also influenced by the ideas of Smith. Some of these individuals included David Ricardo, Karl Marx and later John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman—each of whom contributed their own ideas on economic activity. However, it was Smith’s ideas on capitalism and his laissez-faire approach to free markets that have transcended other economic theories and continue to impact American economic thought to this day.

- Control and regulate the various economic conditions such as inflation through the management and

Why is the work of Adam Smith considered so crucial in the development of economic thought?

There is perhaps not a more famous ongoing dialectic argument in the field of political economy than the one between Adam Smith and Karl Marx in regards to capitalism. The two thinkers, although coming to radically different conclusions about the outcomes of the capitalist system for all parties involved, agree on a surprising number of ideas such as labor being the source of commodities’ value, as well as the fact that the division of labor increases productivity. However, their different conceptions of what determines the price of a commodity, the driving force behind and the effects of the division of labor, and the purpose of the capitalist system have widespread implications that cause their holistic arguments to diverge considerably.

As I started reading the prompt, the first two names that came to my mind were Karl Marx and John Locke. Karl Marx ideas of the government and its function, property ownership and natural rights are influenced by the ideas of John Locke to some extent, be it in favor or against his ideas. John Locke believed that the government would work properly if it works according to the will of the people. Also, he mentioned that there should be a social contract which would form the basis of the government’s legitimacy, and if the government would not abide by it, then the government could be dissolved by the will of the people. Thus, he demanded the government to be fair and unbiased in order for it to be maintained for a long time. Karl Marx idea of

A major strength of Marx’s theory on is that it provides a comprehensive explanation of the power struggle that conceptually occurs within a capitalistic society. This explanation is extremely comprehensive and covers not only macro-social aspects, but also micro-social aspects which helps understand more clearly the proletariat’s struggle with human potential, alienation, etc. It is relatively rare for sociology to focus extensively on micro-social interactions for explanations, which is a strength of Marx. I think this theory on capitalism is a great conceptual theory, but is not entirely applicable in the real world, which some frown upon. Another strength is the focus on not only the present, but also the past and future. Along with this, it is important to point out that even though Marx eluded to a future of communism, he did not spend too much time depicting what this new world would be like, according to Ritzer (73). Yet another strength is Marx’s political and economic background. Not only was he a very influential sociologist, but an economist and philosopher. This background allowed Marx to bring views from other fields into his theory of capitalism.

In Alienated Labour, Karl Marx theorizes about class tensions within a capitalist economic system, specifically, he concern himself with understanding the working class’s loss of identity (alienation) through the upper class’s ownership of the means of production. In Second Treatise on Government, John Locke emphasizes the symbiotic nature in the trade of property and the accompanying labor. Able to account for changes in the desires of the working class, Marx develops the more convincing argument.

Another problem that Karl Marx described in capitalism that dominated the world during his time was insecurity. The problem with modern work is that it does not provide security and this was mentioned very specifically towards jobs. With little value to what is being done, abandonment at any minute in capitalism may occur which makes people fear and have job insecurity. The capitalists are in power and can at any point fire their workers without notice. Another issue that Marx talked about was little pay for workers by the capitalists who would reap wide profit margins and get rich. They would basically steal the talent and work of the workers and in return ask for a higher price than the cost of making it- primitive accumulation. “The communists fight for the attainment of the immediate aims, for the enforcement of the momentary interests of working class; but in the movement of the present, they also represent and take care of the future of the movement” (pg. 185). So Marx predicted that workers would come together and revolt against the

Throughout history humanity has tried to bring order into existence, but we never had it because it cannot be accepted that we have order no matter how our life is. Although we are all biologically equal, but in terms of thinking we are different by nature and that brings disorder or chaos to us. Throughout history there have been several philosophers and thinkers who had tried to bring order to the society with their ideas, but among these philosophers the ideas of Tomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Karl Marx got very popular during their time and Marx’s ideas are still popular. Therefore, in this paper I will be explaining and analyzing different and similar perceptions of Tomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Karl Marx about order and disorder. These philosophers have seen the government as the main point which