Question

Explain in a few sentences.

Why is Karl Marx considered to be such an important figure in the development of economic thinking, and what are the major strengths and weaknesses of his contributions? Is Marx analysis still appropriate today?

Answer 1

Karl Marx is best known not as a theorist, but as a revolutionary, whose work influenced the twentieth-century foundation of many communist regimes. Many who have had as much say in developing the modern world are hard to think about. Trained as a philosopher, in his mid-twenties, Marx turned toward economics and politics from philosophy. His later writings, however, have many points of contact with contemporary philosophical debates, in particular in the philosophy of history and social sciences, and in moral and political philosophy, in addition to his openly philosophical early work.

Historical materialism the philosophy of Marx's history is based around the belief that structures of culture are rising and falling as they tend to obstruct the development of human productive energy. Marx sees the historical process as taking place through a required sequence of development modes, marked by class struggle, resulting in communism. Marx's economic analysis of capitalism is based on his interpretation of the theory of labor cost, which involves the study of capitalist profit as the extraction from the oppressed proletariat of surplus value.

This tends to create a real equality process.
While the government system of Communism is known as communism, it places emphasis on human rights, with its framework encompassing equal roles of race, health care, and access to education. There should be equality before the law and social services, as Marx believed, where everyone has an equal position and opportunity without a dominant gender. This means that every person would be able to access the most important things they need, irrespective of what they do, wherever they live, or how much they do to provide better living for those who depend on them.

It provides social benefits.
If you look at the Marxist theory, it looks at society as a whole, which means that it recognizes all the social forces involved, including the power interests of various groups. It is useful in describing change in society, emphasizing the role of class struggle or conflict within society between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. It organizes society under capitalism in essence, where the bourgeoisie with the proletariat tends to maximize profit.

This decreases the debt level.
Under the Marxist ideology, societies must work together to achieve prosperity, where all people come together to provide for each other, with the help of the government to allocate resources as required.

It is trying to eradicate spirituality.
You would have the freedom to have your own faith under Marxism, but you would not have the freedom to practice it in an organized manner. Religion, as you can see, would ultimately place one group above the other in a superior role, which is contrary to the principle of equality of Marxism. It means that no organized religion, like Christianity and Judaism, would influence popular values followed around the world. Since Marx felt religion was being used to control people, Marxism would not allow people to be free to choose their spirituality.

It has a negative impact on the education system.
It is important to note that Marxist education implements one that is absolutely state-controlled, which means that it considers too much importance to the state's role in education, which means that the methodology of teaching, curriculum building, and examination system would be determined by the state, and it does not allow other educational agencies local or regional to have their say. Marxist theory on education sees economics at the root of all human activity, although this is not entirely factual from a scientific point of view, because economics is at the core of the curriculum

This limits entrepreneurship prospects.
If you're doing business under Communism, you'd actually work for the government, which means you're not going to work as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or independent business owner because it would all run through the government.