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Capitalism and socialism comparison
Adam smith and karl marx role in capitalism
Capitalism and socialism comparison
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Slide 1: What is Socialism?
Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the factors of production should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. The organization calls for public, rather than private ownership of property, and individuals live in cooperation with one another. Everyone who contributes towards a good or service, is entitled to a “share”. Therefore, society must own or control property for the benefit of all its members. Socialism is in opposition of capitalism ― the private ownership of the means of production, which allows individuals in a free market to determine how goods and services are distributed. Socialists complained that capitalism led to “unfair and exploitive”concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of only a few individuals. After observing this so called “flaw” in capitalism, socialists decided to change this by establishing a new political theory. Socialism evolved as a political ideology in the nineteenth century as a reaction to industrial injustice, labor exploitation, and unemployment in Europe
Slide 2: The Rise of Socialism
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This then led to wealth remaining in the hands of only a few individuals. Influenced by the ideas of Adam Smith, Marx believed that labor was the generator of wealth, and concluded that industrial capitalists made wealth by exploiting industrial labor. That is when he advocated a proletariat revolution, leading to the collective ownership of property and capital. As seen in the picture, the proletariat or working class, rose up to the injustice by supporting the new political structure of
For example, the bourgeoisie make property into a right because they are the ones with the property. However, without their power of labor behind them, the bourgeoisie class would crumple. To accomplish a revolution, the workers (proletariats) would need to rise up against the bourgeoisie and take back the factors of production. Marx believed that after the inevitable revolution of the proletariats against the oppressive force of the bourgeoisie, a communistic form of government would take hold. Under the oppression of the bourgeoisie, the proletariats, who composed the mass majority, only owned one resource—their labor.
money they need to survive and support their families. In this scenario, proletariats work extremely hard and do practically everything the business needs yet they receive little pay while their capitalist counter part do very little and reap most of the rewards and, otherwise known as exploitation. Marx also felt that workers were subject to alienation which is when a job forces machine-like, thoughtless activities onto a person, like repetitively doing that same task while completely taking out the human elements such as thinking freely and working alongside others, alienating them and making them feel like robots. Marx predicted that the gap between the two classes would expand greatly and proletarians would have no more hope for improving their lives and revolt against the capitalists once they understood capitalism. This revolution would then create a communist society.
He distinguishes between the masses called the 'proletariat', which produce goods for the benefit of a dominant class of owners of capital, the ‘bourgeoisie', and receive a wage in exchange for their labour. Marx explains that the bourgeoisie however exploit the labour of their employees by paying them wages of less than the market value of the goods they produce in order to make a profit themselves and allow future investment. Marx claims that the forces of production result in a set of social relationships which result in conflict between the proletariat and the capitalists is at the nature of capitalism. Profits and investment allow the bourgeoisie to continually accumulate capital and become more and more powerful. Furthermore, competition between the capitalists makes the bourgeoisie group smaller and smaller, and more of society will become part of the proletariat group.
This contrasts with capitalism where free markets predominate and property is privately owned. Socialism tends to favor cooperation whereas capitalism is characterized by competition. Karl Marx believed low-income workers, had these injustices, would inevitably revolt against and the wealthy bourgeoisie. In its place, he envisioned a society where government or the workers themselves owned and controlled industry. Marx argued that every economic system except socialism produces forces that eventually lead to a new economic form. Socialists believe shared ownership of resources and central planning offer a more equitable distribution of goods and services. In short, they hold that workers who contribute to economic output should expect a commensurate reward. Under a socialist system the government has a job to determine the output and prices of the goods, meanwhile in the capitalist economy system the market is the one whom decides the prices using the laws of supply and
Karl Marx, a German philosopher, saw this inequality growing between what he called "the bourgeoisie" and "the proletariat" classes. The bourgeoisie was the middle/upper class which was growing in due to the industrial revolution, and the proletariats were the working class, the poor. These two classes set themselves apart by many different factors. Marx saw five big problems that set the proletariat and the bourgeoisie aside from each other. These five problems were: The dominance of the bourgeoisie over the proletariat, the ownership of private property, the set-up of the family, the level of education, and their influence in government. Marx, in The Communist Manifesto, exposes these five factors which the bourgeoisie had against the communist, and deals with each one fairly. As for the proletariat class, Marx proposes a different economic system where inequality between social classes would not exist.
Socialism is an economic system characterized by the social ownership of the means of production, and where the production and distribution of goods is determined mainly by central planning. The objective is satisfying economic demands and human needs. It provides a safety net for all people, but without the use of prices, it also creates lots of waste.
In Marx’s opinion, the cause of poverty has always been due to the struggle between social classes, with one class keeping its power by suppressing the other classes. He claims the opposing forces of the Industrial Age are the bourgeois and the proletarians. Marx describes the bourgeois as a middle class drunk on power. The bourgeois are the controllers of industrialization, the owners of the factories that abuse their workers and strip all human dignity away from them for pennies. Industry, Marx says, has made the proletariat working class only a tool for increasing the wealth of the bourgeoisie. Because the aim of the bourgeoisie is to increase their trade and wealth, it is necessary to exploit the worker to maximize profit. This, according to Marx, is why the labor of the proletariat continued to steadily increase while the wages of the proletariat continued to steadily decrease.
Socialists suggest that social stability and cohesion is the leading method towards of social equality, and therefore prefer cooperation to competition, and favour collectivism over individualism. As socialism’s core value is equality, it is often referred to as egalitarianism. Due to the distinctive gap between social classes, the goal of socialism is to eliminate class divisions by promoting freedom for the need of material and basis personal
According to Marx class is determined by property associations not by revenue or status. It is determined by allocation and utilization, which represent the production and power relations of class. Marx’s differentiate one class from another rooted on two criteria: possession of the means of production and control of the labor power of others. The major class groups are the capitalist also known as bourgeoisie and the workers or proletariat. The capitalist own the means of production and purchase the labor power of others. Proletariat is the laboring lower class. They are the ones who sell their own labor power. Class conflict to possess power over the means of production is the powerful force behind social growth.
“Socialism.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 30 Jan. 2012. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2 Feb. 2012. .
By relinquishing private ownership the theory is that the state will oversee the distribution of wealth in a fair and equal manner. One of the shortcomings of this idea is it basiclly rules out the ideas of natural selection being necessary to the overall expansion and development of mankind. When you place laws against the development of better technologies you are depriving your economy of the chance to grow. Socialism discourages workers because there is no chance for personal gain, thus eliminating the will to work hard and improve
Marx observations of society led him to the realization that the people work every day for a poor salary; while the people they are working for, get wealthier. This created a ...
Marxians believe that surplus value, the profits available from production, were the driving mechanism of a capitalist system (Block 274). However, if surplus value is a driving mechanism, it suddenly becomes apparent why capitalists would try to exploit their workers in an attempt to derive maximum profits from their investments. Because they have been granted the role of the rich investor in a capitalist society, without whom the economy would grind to halt, they have the power to use the system to further increase their wealth. This power they have over the workers in a capitalist society creates the tension that Marx outlined in his theories on capitalism. Marx argued that the class structure of capitalism would be its downfall, as the workers would rise to overthrow the bourgeoise.
Socialism is a social and economic system where the means of productions are shared indivisibly throughout the community or enterprise rather than in the names of a few individuals. Or more simply put Socialists believe that the Chief Executives of a corporation are not the ones who deserve the big pay check. They believe that the working men and women deserve more money because they are they ones out in the field doing the work. The main goal of socialism is to more evenly distribute the wealth. They care more about having more people living comfortably than just a few individuals getting wealthy. Socialist ideas in todays politics are what they believe will make it easier for Americans to live in America.
If one looks at liberty and individual freedom, it is evident that command economies tend to oppress their citizens. Therefore, socialism, which allows for basic needs to be met and personal freedoms to be upheld, is the best economic system for all of a country’s citizens. Market economies, as a whole, inherently and inevitably lead to poverty and a large class disparity. In a capitalist society, the ones who supply labor, the ones who work the hardest, are the ones who are paid the least. The owners, who are already rich, receive most of the profit and accumulate large masses of wealth.