Marx on Capitialism

Question 1

• What is capitalism?

Answer 1

• An economic system where businesses produce goods and services to make a profit, based on private ownership of the means of production and hiring workers for wages.

Question 2

• When did capitalism emerge, according to Marx?

Answer 2

• Around the 16th century in Europe, and it has become the dominant economic system globally.

Question 3

• What are the two main classes in Marx’s analysis of capitalism?

Answer 3

• The bourgeoisie (capitalist class) who own the means of production, and the proletariat (working class) who must sell their labor.

Question 4

• How does Marx describe the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat?

Answer 4

• Marx sees a fundamental conflict, as the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat to make profits.

Question 5

• What is the Labor Theory of Value?

Answer 5

• Marx’s idea that the value of a good or service is determined by the amount of labor needed to produce it.

Question 6

• What is surplus value?

Answer 6

• The difference between the value workers create and the wages they are paid, which capitalists profit from.

Question 7

• What is alienation from the product of labor?

Answer 7

• Workers don’t control the products they create, which belong to the capitalists.

Question 8

• What is alienation from the activity of labor?

Answer 8

• Work becomes a means to an end (money) rather than a fulfilling activity, with little worker control.

Question 9

• What is alienation from the self?

Answer 9

• Workers lose their sense of self-worth and creativity, becoming cogs in the capitalist machine.

Question 10

• What is alienation from others?

Answer 10

• Capitalism creates divisions between workers and capitalists, and even among workers competing for jobs and resources.

Question 11

• What is false consciousness?

Answer 11

• Capitalist ideology can create a false sense of reality in the working class, making them unaware of their exploitation.

Question 12

• What is hegemony?

Answer 12

• The bourgeoisie maintain power through force (police, military) and control over ideas (media, education, religion), creating a dominant ideology.

Question 13

• What is Marx’s overall critique of capitalism?

Answer 13

• Capitalism exploits workers, alienates them from their humanity, and perpetuates inequality and oppression.

Question 14

What are the inherent tendencies within capitalism that Marx predicted would lead to its demise?

Answer 14

Answer: Concentration of wealth, growing class divide, rise of class consciousness.

This refers to the increasing power of the capitalist class and the growing awareness of the working class about their exploitation.