Adam Smith vs. Karl Marx
Both Adam Smith and Karl Marx are considered two of the top twenty most influential people in the world for the millennium. They both are respected in their views for creating a perfect society where everyone is happy. Adam Smith, a brilliant Scottish political economist philosopher born in 1723, had the goal of perfect liberty for all individuals through the capitalistic approach. While Karl Marx, born in 1818, believed in individual freedom for society and logically criticized capitalism giving reasons as to why it was irrational and why it would fall. Figuring out what kind of state will ensure the greatest freedom or liberty of individuals was their main philosophical problem. They differed in their views of human nature, the social decisions made in the society, the role of competition, and the effects of the division of labor on human beings. Perfect liberty according to Smith, will allow a system of natural liberty to establish itself in which every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way. This self-interest produces a market and in effect produces perfect liberty. In Smith's theory of human nature, Smith
Also competition led to overproduction which led to lay-offs and periods of depression. The public then could not even afford the products they produced. His theory on the roles of the state is an approach that the wealthy stay out of the state and let the market do its own thing. Smith thought the market should be the main engine and focus on society and the economy other than the state. He assures the availability of goods people want, encourages an efficient use of resources and production, promotes innovations and productivity, and results in an unfettered market where more goods are produced and more wealth is created. Marx thinks that the market is just the market setting its own wages. Marx says that all injustice and inequality is a result of one underlying conflict in society. He believed in the 'invisible hand' concept, which converts the private interests and passions of man into the public good. He believed capitalism caused this conflict. Marx did not agree with Smith's passions of human nature and the phenomena of sympathy. They both wrote famous documents, Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" and Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto," which back up their theories for benefiting the society the best. Marx said that, because it was always in the economic interest of capita to take advantage of or exploit workers, nothing could persuade capitalists to change their ways. This would give an "increase of dexterity in every particular workman. He believed that these workers were getting mentally and physically drained. He urged workers around the world to revolt against their rulers.
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