Marx Argument Against Capitalism Essay

In Marx’s arguments against capitalism, he claims that capitalism works against human nature by alienating us from our work, dividing us into classes, and forcing us to compete rather than cooperate. Moreover, he alleges that nearly all historical conflicts to date are caused by struggles between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. With that in mind, Marx sought to eliminate the class struggle via a redistribution of power. Rather than capitalists owning factories and turning a profit based on the work of their employees, the workers of an industry would be in charge of said industry. The abolition of private property was another key point, but due to today’s conception of what private property is, it may be more appropriate to say he meant

A common one being the idea that communism enables laziness. This is an attack on the premise of people inherently wanting to help each other, instead arguing that if there were no consequences, people would rather be lazy. This argument is supported by the concept of human greed, or the assumption that the average person would prefer to do as little as possible, for the largest possible reward. Marx’s claim of work being a source of joy combats this, but is difficult to say either one is decidedly correct, as human nature can easily vary from individual to individual. Similarly, pro capitalists argue that capitalism incentivizes innovation. While this may be true, it only truly incentivizes it for those with the financial freedom to risk innovating. While there are many rags to riches type stories one can reference to perpetuate the idea that “hard work is all it takes,” there are far more rags to rags stories of hardworking citizens being stuck in what we now refer to as a poverty trap. Finally, the strongest argument against Marx’s ideas have to do with the fact that we have seen it fail in Russia and China, though a proponent of Marxism would likely argue that they simply were not executing it