Mastura, Mikhail Ayman B.

BSA - 2A

An Essay Regarding Marxism and Capitalism

Karl Marx was a very influential person in this world, with multiple contributions about theories
regarding society, economics, and politics. Those theories can be collectively summed up as his school of
thought: Marxism. One of Marx's most famous critiques was that of capitalism, where he objected to
ideas such as alienation and exploitation of the workers. He saw divides between social classes, and
believed that the bourgeoisie, or the upper and middle classes, would be overthrown by the proletariat
or the lower class. It is his critique of capitalism and his belief of Marxism that will be discussed in this
essay.

To make things simpler, we have to understand what capitalism is. According to Marx, the
bourgeoisie were the ones who owned the means of production such as land and capital. Since the
bourgeoisie only owned these private properties, they required people to work for them, which is the
proletariat class. Here, we can already see a divide among two classes: the bosses and the workers.

Why exactly is a divide between these two classes so conflicting? One thing to always remember
is that capitalists are in charge of the means of production, meaning they are always in control in a boss-
worker relationship. For example, they can prevent some people from working for them, or they can
even restrict the amount of work a person does for them. Now this is obviously unfair, since the laborers
obviously need money, yet their bosses do not supply them enough for their needs. Their only choices
are to continue working for the capitalists or to retire from their jobs.

Marx also stated that capitalists exploit their workers by giving them wages with less value than
the full value of the products that they create. For example, suppose a worker is hired by a capitalist and
is paid $10 for every day he comes to work. He then produces one product worth $50 each day of work.
There is already a $40 difference between the amount of wage he receives and the value of the product
that he creates. This difference is what Marx called surplus value, which only capitalists enjoyed since
they owned the means of production.

Now Marx had a different belief and solution regarding all the private property that capitalists
had. His solution was to the abolish all private property that capitalists owned, meaning every individual
had the right to equal goods. Every person had equal right and ownership to all the means of production
available in the society. This abolishment of private property would then remove the exploitation that
the capitalists did to the workers by extracting their surplus value.

An abundance of resources would also be present in Marx's communist system, meaning people
would be given things according to their needs now, and not according to their abilities. Since people
are not being forced to work for others now, they can be free to pursue their own goals. Essentially, this
eliminates the alienation or lack of individuality that workers had before under capitalism.

Marx's communist point of view essentially deletes all the exploitative elements that capitalism
possessed. Workers would be freed from their alienated labor, they would be free from all the
exploitation of their surplus value, and an abundance of resources would allow people to benefit from
his system. Is Marx right in his point of view? The question remains to be answered. Some people may
support Marx, and some others may support capitalism. Ultimately, it is up to a nation to decide on
which economic point of view to follow.