Philosopher David Hume And Hume's Critique Of Capitalism

Ben Shapiro once said, “the European style of living is seductive: fewer hours worked, more hours at the cafe, less concern over self-betterment. But that style of living does not produce a purposeful life.” From this expert, a capitalist government system will produce a purposeful life. Philosopher David Hume believed in cause and effect, which connects human’s ideas of the world into something they can understand throughout their experiences. Karl Marx criticizes capitalism because he believes it alienates people due to their labor being sold. I will argue that Hume’s argument on cause and effect is the basis for why capitalism is the best government system for the individual. First I am going to talk about Marx’s criticisms and chain of …show more content…
He states that this is slavery because when you own someone’s labor, you own them. The second criticism Marx has for capitalism is that it alienates people in the following ways: from the product, from productive activity, from species-being, and from fellow coworkers. It alienates people from the product because many times they cannot afford what they produce. This was especially true of factory workers during Marx’s time. He also argues that when the worker is selling his labor, he puts a piece of himself into his work which is then sold and shipped away. He states that this is wearing on a person who loses pieces of himself/herself each day they go to work. When he states that the workers are alienated from the productive activity, he is referring to class structure. While the workers are making so little each year, their bosses are bringing in loads of money. Next, they are alienated from the species-being, meaning they cannot freely produce creatively for the species – a uniquely human function. When this function is denied, Marx states that people revert back to animal functions including hunger, sex, and simple pleasures. Lastly, Marx states that workers are alienated from each other. This is due to the workplace of the factories during Marx’s time where …show more content…
Starting with production, companies only need to produce what will be bought. With the “need” being the “cause” and the “effect” being “production,” we will look at the basic economics seen in a capitalist system. Since we gain our knowledge of cause and effect form experience, having a governmental system in place that allows for the flexibility of change, depending on experience, is needed. For example, toy companies know from experience that when Christmas comes around, toys are in more demand, meaning their production should also increase. This unregulated form of free market allows for healthy competition, not only between companies, but between the producers and the consumers. They are constantly competing for a fair price, where the producer makes the money they need, but the worker is not alienated from the product they need to buy. While there will always be a socioeconomic structure ranking the wealthy to the poor, the ability to change one’s lifestyle over time is available to every