Marx on Capitalism

Question 1

Alienation Under Capitalism x3

Answer 1

1) From their labour

2) From their fellows

3) From their humanity,

Question 2

According to Marx, how are workers alienated from their labour?

Answer 2

This is because the activity of the worker ‘belongs to another’ (89).

Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, Marx, 1844

Question 3

According to Marx, how are workers alienated from their humanity? Quote

Answer 3

‘He is a commodity which can pass from the hand of one owner to that of another. He is himself a commodity’

Wage Labour and Capital, Marx, (1847)

Question 4

According to Marx, how are workers alienated from each-other? x3

Answer 4

1) No longer a fellow, instead a manager and worker relationship

2) Other workers are competition

3) Alienation of species-being means that ‘one man is [also] alienated from another’ (91).

Question 5

According to Marx, what is species being?

Answer 5

Species-being is the unique creativity that the human race has.

Capitalism takes this away from humans, alienating them from their human nature and from eachother

Question 6

How will the inevitable end of capitalism occur?

Answer 6

The more inhumane and intense work becomes, the proletariat grow in number, as other non-bourgeois classes ‘descend’ into it, either because their capital is too small to compete (i.e. shopkeepers) or because their skills become redundant (i.e. artisans) and they become more and more conscious of their status as proletariat and their discontent with the capitalist system

Technological innovations and capitalist competition drives wages down, making ‘their whole livelihood ever more uncertain’. Workers begin to unite and form discrete coalitions – they occasionally win temporary victories, but the real gain is their growing ‘unity’.

Question 7

3 Criticisms of Capitalism by Marx

Answer 7

• Causes Crises: As the bourgeoisie is ‘continually revolutionising’ technology and ‘the uninterrupted convulsion of all social conditions’ causes issues such as overproduction that demand new technologies and new markets.
• Exploitative: Forces people to work to survive, rather than work out of joy. The Manifesto describes how the proletariat grow in number and consciousness, as work increase in amount/intensity.
• Alienation: Workers are alienated from their labour, fellows, and their humanity.

Question 8

Marx Quote on How Communism allows humans to enjoy their lives

Answer 8

Under communism people are able to “to hunt in the morning, to fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, […], without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.”