The German born philosopher and sociologist, Karl Marx centralized his ideas around the flaws of capitalism. He published works like Capital, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, and co-authored The Communist Manifesto, and The German Ideology along with Friedrich Engels. In these writings, Marx focuses on the breakdown of economic classes (such as wage laborers, capitalists, and land owners), and the necessities produced to survive (Appelrouth & Edles 2016: 28). Marx blames capitalism for alienating workers from their species being, thus contributing to the lack of class-consciousness that is further intensified with commodity fetishism. In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, Marx asserts that alienation is deeply rooted in capitalism.
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According to Appelrouth and Edles (2016: 56), in The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engles informed the public of the poor treatment of the working class in hopes that the working class would revolt. They believed that achieving class-consciousness would allow the working class to overthrow the current capitalistic economy that benefits the few, and instead would benefit the vast majority of the population. Marx felt that eliminating private owner ship was vital in creating a classless society (Marx in Appelrouth & Edles: 67). By creating a classless society people would be able to reach the full potential of their species being, and exploitation would be eliminated. Nevertheless Marx understood that class consciousness would be difficult to achieve considering that those in power tend control the ideas of those not in power by means of the media and education (Appelrouth & Edles 2016: …show more content…
He claims that this cycle is exclusive to capitalism, and labels the cycle M-C-M for the capitalist and C-M-C for the working class. Marx continues with M-C-M, it indicates that someone who owns capital (M) purchases commodities (C) to create other commodities for profit (M), in short “It takes money to make money” (Appelrouth and Edles 2016; 72). C-M-C means that the employee sales her work as a commodity (C) for a wage (M) that she spends on commodities (C) she requires to live (Marx in Appelrouth & Edles 2016: 82). This example exposes how difficult it is to get out of the cycle. Marx is essentially saying that income prevents the worker from purchasing goods that don’t allow there to be exploitation. Thus the worker will remain exploited and will produce more commodities that she will later be forced to buy for survival without
According to Appelrouth and Edles (2016: 56), in The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engles informed the public of the poor treatment of the working class in hopes that the working class would revolt. They believed that achieving class-consciousness would allow the working class to overthrow the current capitalistic economy that benefits the few, and instead would benefit the vast majority of the population. Marx felt that eliminating private owner ship was vital in creating a classless society (Marx in Appelrouth & Edles: 67). By creating a classless society people would be able to reach the full potential of their species being, and exploitation would be eliminated. Nevertheless Marx understood that class consciousness would be difficult to achieve considering that those in power tend control the ideas of those not in power by means of the media and education (Appelrouth & Edles 2016: …show more content…
He claims that this cycle is exclusive to capitalism, and labels the cycle M-C-M for the capitalist and C-M-C for the working class. Marx continues with M-C-M, it indicates that someone who owns capital (M) purchases commodities (C) to create other commodities for profit (M), in short “It takes money to make money” (Appelrouth and Edles 2016; 72). C-M-C means that the employee sales her work as a commodity (C) for a wage (M) that she spends on commodities (C) she requires to live (Marx in Appelrouth & Edles 2016: 82). This example exposes how difficult it is to get out of the cycle. Marx is essentially saying that income prevents the worker from purchasing goods that don’t allow there to be exploitation. Thus the worker will remain exploited and will produce more commodities that she will later be forced to buy for survival without