For the Profit of Few

Marx’s praise of capitalism is minimal. The only merit Marx places upon the system is its establishment of free trade, however he is unhappy with the rest as that free competition is “accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted to it, and by the economical and political sway of the bourgeois class” (60). Marx compliments the productivity of capitalism, as it surpasses that of previous generations and economic industries. However, it is the manner in which capitalism increases production and furthers itself that turns Marx’s praise to great distaste. He views Capitalism as having “drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation” (57). Capitalism has established a highly developed and ever changing means of international trade. However while Marx acknowledges that, he points out the problem with it: the exploitation of the working class. As production increases through machinery and improved technology, there appear no constraints on the continued exploitation of the working class, or proletariat. Anyone capable and desired for labor is used, regardless of age, gender and race. According to Marx, the bourgeoisie view the laborers as nothing more than an extension of the machinery they work with in their industrialized labor. Consequently the proletariat is stripped of its humanity, considered nothing more than mere instruments of labor, used ruthlessly and disposed of only when they can no longer work. Alongside that stands the lack of compassion that capitalism furthers. There is a disinterest in humanity as the small class of productivity and profit hungry individuals further displaces the working class. In the end, Marx identifies the worst aspect of Capitalism being that it “creates a world after its own image” (59); and what good is found in a world where the majority are oppressed for the profit of a few?