Outline Marx's criticisms of Classical Political Economy Essay

Outline Marx's Criticisms of Classical Political Economy
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Outline Marx's Criticisms of Classical Political Economy
Classical political economy refers to a school of thought in economics, which was developed in the 19th century. The school was developed by various economic thinkers such as Adam Smith, Robert Malthus and John Stuart Mill. These economists also came up with theories of marketing economies that involved self-regulating systems. The development of the political economy involved various decisive stages (Backhouse, 2002, p. 68). These stages tried to determine and understand the economic frameworks that were used to define the basis of society. However, Marx did not agree with most of the theories that were applied in the classical political economy (McGrail, 2020d, p. 11). Thus, he criticized most of the economist arguments. Marx believed in communism and most of his critiques aimed at advocating communism as the main expression, which could be used to define the basis of the society
In his first critique, Marx argued that the political economy ignored the existing relationship between human estrangement and exploitation. Additionally, he believed that the political economy caused inequalities in society, which contributed to high poverty levels. The political economy assumed that all the classes that existed in the society worked toward one commercial purpose (Marx, 1969b, p, 89). However, Marx argued that these theories that surrounded the political economy defining the economic classes did not recognize the significance of the economic purpose of the working-class people. But, instead, they segregated people depending on their class. This resulted in the separation of classes where some became minorities.
Moreover, he believed that the economy did not recognize the experienced struggles that society was going through. Therefore Marx concluded that the political economy had failed in the discretion of the nature of humanity from superficial paradigm economic class system. Additionally, Marx argued that the economy was advocating the ignorance of the proletarian class and focused on the bourgeois class in society (McGrail, 2020c, p. 15). The classical economy termed human suffering and irrationality as natural occurrences which were beyond social control. However, Marx disagreed with the classical theory, as he believed it was the leading cause of the absurdity and inhumanity.
He argued that the development of the bourgeois and proletarian economic classes were the leading causes of the suffering. Furthermore, the classical economy led to the development of capitalism, which caused the pain of society due to the growth of different classes. Marx criticized the development of these classes as he believed they were the leading causes of class antagonism in labour-power (Rubin and Colliot-Thélène, 1989, p. 48). He also argued that the development of capitalism resulted in class struggles, which forced people to sell their labour to achieve capital for survival. This lead to the exploitation of labourers in different companies. "Capital is dead labour, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labour, and lives, the more, the more labour it sucks." (Marx, 1969, p. 257).
In classical political economy, exploitation of the laborers became a routine and this what lead Marx to criticize it sharply. He argued that the introduction of capitalism used all means to monopolize the minority bourgeois in exploited labour. The capitalist used this trick to enhance the effectiveness of their production processes, which earned them more profits and supremacy (Backhouse, 2002, p. 88). Additionally, Marx continued with his critics on the classical economy within the establishment of the capitalist division of labour. Exploitation in the division of labour targeted the proletarian class. On one point, Marx agreed with Smith argument on labor as the only natural resource that could enhance the productivity of an economy. However, max criticized the exploitation that existed in the division of labor (McGrail, 2020d, p. 12). He suggested that to gain high productivity, the capitalist could, in return offer the laborers with right working conditions and better wages. Marx supported his critiques on capitalism by saying that he had realized most of the proletarians were subjected to strenuous workloads at lower salaries.
On the other hand, Marx, at some point, criticized smith argument on labor as the leading resource in enhancing productivity. Marx argues that Smith statement pay much concern on the operation of the interior foundations of the economic system. But instead, he focused on the benefits that capitalist gain from free or low paying laborers (McGrail, 2020, p 13). In Smith’s statement, it is evident that he embraced exploitation as the primary way of making human productive. Additionally, Marx criticized Smith for accepting the popularity of high production theory, which supported inequalities in the division of labor and wages. Marx states that it was devastating to see most of the capitalists treating the proletarians like horses through overworking them.
Furthermore, he added that the capitalist never considered these laborers while they were not working. Considering Marx’s critiques, it is evident that he intended to establish a sense of pure communism in society. It is also clear that he liked fighting for the wellbeing of the community, for instance, he put tireless efforts fighting for labor recognition (Marx, 1969b, p, 52). In his arguments, he suggested that the application of communism in society could lead to effective economic systems. Communism dictates that no human being should be denied the chance of enjoying the fruits of his labor.
Marx continually supported his critiques, by saying that if people embraced communism, it would cover the whole importance of society, rather than a particular class of people. However, Marx stated that to achieve these people must remove all the inequalities that existed in society (Backhouse, 2002, p. 42). Removal of inequalities involved the abolition of the private properties owned by the capitalists and elim...