The Exploitation Of Modern Day Capitalism, By Karl Marx

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Karl Marx (1818-1883) was one of the most influential philosophers and revolutionaries to this day. His views on capitalism and its exploitation have had a great impact on today’s society. Even though there has been more than one hundred years since he died, his theories are still relevant and are continuously brought up for discussion.
The capitalist mode of production is a mode of production based on private ownership of the means of production. Capitalist produce commodities for the exchange market and to stay competitive must extract as much as possible from the workers at the lowest possible cost. Workers sell their work for a wages to the capitalists, which in turn sell the product. Marx said that commodities have two values, the “use-value” …show more content…

There are two classes in capital society; the Bourgeoisie (capitalists) and the proletariat (workers). From Marx’s point of view the Bourgeoisie are the oppressors and the proletariat the oppressed. The bourgeoisie own the means of production, and the proletariat have to work for them as they have no other choice. In feudal societies the explotation was apparent, but in modern day capitalism the exploitation is disguised, as the prolerariat are “free …show more content…

The workers are forced to sell their labour for money in order to survive, because work is the only thing they can offer. They are not owned by anyone, so they can quit and go somewhere else if they please, or they can get laid off as the employer wishes. Capitalism is not determined by enslaving the workers, so they are technically free, it’s just that they have to work in order to survive. “They live so long as there is work, and they work only as long as their labor increases capital”. Marx argues that the workers have to sell their labor power because they are forced to get economic security, therefore one can say that the workers are slaves of their own needs. The labour is only performed out of necessity, which therefore also alienates the

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