Adam Smith Vs Karl Marx Essay Research

Adam Smith Vs. Karl Marx Essay, Research Paper Adam Smith vs. Karl Marx Being reared in the typical capitalist community in the United States, it is much easier for me to relate to the thoughts of Adam Smith. This is not to say that I do not agree with some of the precepts of pure Communism, but like the old adage says, “Communism looks good on paper, but in practice, it is completely ineffective.” Historically, this form of government does not tend to succeed because of many factors. Some of these include basic economic differences, individualism, and technology and how it advances or serves as a detriment to the state. My stance is clear: I believe that Adam Smith has the more credible stance. Beginning with the economic side of the discussion Smith takes a Western

approach in his thought processes. He states in so many words that workers are continually looking for the best job and the best wage. Marx believes that a wage-labor war will break down society and cause a downfall of the economic structure. The Capitalist belief is that each individual is continually exerting himself to find the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command (Smith 15). Smith says also in paragraph 15 that it is human nature for a person to better society while bettering himself. In Adam’s opinion each person has the right to the pursuit of happiness, and that each person has to take it in their own hands to advance within society. Marx disagrees by saying that when a person betters himself he does not improve but instead endangers society.

For example, when the bourgeois cuts employment because of technology, the bourgeois hurts society by “?instead of rising the laborers with the progress of industry, sinks them deeper below the conditions of existence of their own class” (Marx 49). “We Communist have been reproached with the desire of abolishing the right of personally acquiring property as the fruit of a man’s own labor, which property is alleged to be the groundwork of all personal freedom, activity and independence” (Marx 55). In the Constitution under which we live as Capitalist says that each citizen has the right to personal property, Communism goes against everything that the American society is based on, which in my opinion is wrong and unjust. “?Differences of age and sex have no longer any

distinctive social validity for the working class. All are instruments of labor, more or less expensive to use, according to their age and sex” (Marx 31). From this quote he takes away the freedom of expression that we live under in the United States. Marx makes everyone out to be the same with no one having special abilities or personalities. In my opinion Marx and Communism are wrong by saying that everyone is the same and no one is any different than the next. Being a Christian I believe that everyone is different and special, the lack of diversity in the population makes it difficult for progress to advance and to stay ahead of the competition. In Adam’s idea of society each person can do whatever they want to advance themselves and each person can pursue happiness in

whatever fashion they believe to be the best. Technology creates new and better ways to do things which allow society to grow and become more advanced. In the Communist Manifesto Marx says, that when the bourgeoisie upgrade their technology they in turn create less jobs. Marx says that jobs take fewer workers to a job when the bourgeoisie upgrade their technology because newer machines can do more work and allow for fewer people to do the same job. He goes on to say that all new technology becomes obsolete before it can be ossified, or used to it fullest extent. Smith in return says that new technology creates new jobs by expanding the limits of manufacturing and science. With new technology people can do things that they never could do or even imagine before and in turn creating