Close Examination of Karl Marx

Front

Where was Karl Marx Born?

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Germany

Answer explanation

Karl Marx was born in Germany - although because Karl Marx was so influential in France and then Russia, many people think he was born there. He did most of his writing in England with Freiderich Engels though - so many people think he's from England when he is German.

Front

When did Karl Marx live?

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1818-1883

Answer explanation

Karl Marx was born in Germany in the year that Napoleon was defeated and the French Revolution ended. His life was consumed with the question of how the French Revolution could have been more successful and he focused all his attention on a new field of study called Economics. In the next couple of days we will look closely at this field as it reveals a great deal to anyone who wants to understand why it's so hard to create a fair, just and wise government. He lived from 1818-1883 and during that time European and World society would go through the beginning's of some pretty amazing social transformations.

Front

One of the first things that Marx argued was that modern work was extremely specialized and that this specialization serves to do what to workers?

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Cause them to become alienated from the natural internalized reward we get from becoming really good at making or doing something that helps others.

Answer explanation

The first critique of Capitalism that Marx made was that modern industrial work causes workers to become alienated from the natural reward all people get from becoming good at something and also the feeling we get when we know we've created something important for others and other's acknowledge this by recognizing the contributions of a worker who creates something useful and important.

Front

Another criticism that Karl Marx made of modern work was that it caused workers to become:

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Totally Expendable

Answer explanation

Marx realized that modern work created a situation where most workers we're totally expendable and that as capitalists worked to create more and more machines and automated ways of doing things, this reality only got worse over time.

Front

The main and most famous criticism that Marx had about Capitalism was this: Workers get paid little while Capitalists get rich.

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Workers get paid little while Capitalists get rich.

Answer explanation

The most famous and repeated complaint about Capitalism is that owners (called Bourgeoisie), investors and those who manage the businesses that the owners controlled would in essence "steal" the wealth that the workers generated through their hard work. Although history has shown this not to be true in capitalist places, much of it is not because Capitalists changed on their own - but because of the pressure socialists created for Capitalists to change. We will look more closely at this as we move forward with the year.

Front

Karl Marx called the act of "skimming" profits off from the hard work of the Proletariat or taking their property without properly paying them for it (Proletariat is the name that Marx gave to the working class) this:

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Primitive Accumulation

Answer explanation

The answer is primitive accumulation which was not coined first b Karl Marx but rather by Adam Smith. Smith's account of primitive accumulation depicted a peaceful process, in which some workers labored more diligently than others and gradually built up wealth, eventually leaving the less diligent workers to accept living wages for their labor. Marx rejected this account as "childish" for its omission of violence, war, enslavement and colonialism in the historical accumulation of land and wealth. Marxist Scholar David Harvey explains Marx's primitive accumulation as a process which principally "entailed taking land, say enclosing it, and expelling a resident population to create a landless proletariat, and then releasing the land into the privatized mainstream of capital accumulation" By the way - this actually happened - in Europe and of course in the rest of the world where Capitalistic European middle class business people used their power and military might to seize land held publically by indigenous people or people from another land without actually paying for it. This act can occur when you control a work market too when business people choose to punish work that is not done correctly b lessening agreed upon wages.

Front

What is the fourth criticism Marx made of Capitalism?

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Capitalism is very unstable.

Answer explanation

Capitalism is very unstable - which is something that most capitalists would argue is not supposed to happen. Generally a Capitalists philosopher will argue that it's government intervention that creates instability and Marx saw early on Capitalism was unstable by design, because Capitalism has a tendency to create markets that are not needed which foster's bubbles for good or services that people eventually don't need anymore. In fact Marx saw this a good thing, because Capitalism creates the ability for the world to create all the food, shelter, education and health care everyone needs to survive. But because Capitalism does not redistribute basic needs fairly and creates markets for things people don't really need - recessions and depressions occur more and more frequently and it' always the poor worker who suffers the most when this happens.

Front

Are you beginning to understand why it's helpful to see the various economic systems like Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism as "stories" we tell ourselves about what we think is the "best" way to produce, distribute and consume things? Do you see how Capitalism becomes an "Ideology" or belief system that may or not be true always and may even include certain hidden problems like COMMODITY FETISHISM that we are not aware are problems for us?

Back

Yes, I'm getting this; Kind of but I have questions; Not really, this all seems like a lot; You lost me with primitive accumulation.

Front

Which of the following best answers what Marx felt was the most damaging problem with Capitalism: It teaches us to be greedy, It creates massive inequality, It teaches us to be anxious, competitive, conformists and complacent in the face of great injustice., It teaches us to be capitalists.

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It teaches us to be anxious, competitive, conformists and complacent in the face of great injustice.

Answer explanation

It may help you to know that Marx's main argument with Capitalism was that it creates a reality where workers and capitalists alike are stuck in a system that cannot last long. No society that is anxious, conformist, complacent and willing to deal with such terrible injustice can last that long because human beings will either work to solve these problems or they will revolt when enough people are victimized by the system. Does this help you understand why Marx is still relevant?

Front

Do you think we need to be more aware of Marx's insights about the ills of Capitalism? Would doing so help us go beyond philosophy and create ideas that might help us change the world for the better?

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Yes, Marx's insights are helpful; Maybe, but his ideas seem to also lead to bad stuff; Not sure, I just love commodity Fetishism and don't ever want to lose it in my life; No, Marx is a communist and communism is always bad.