Analysis Of Capitalism And Inequality: What The Right And The Left Get Wrong

The soundbite criticisms of capitalism are legion, yet it’s harder to offer alternatives, aside from the vague notion of 'something else'. Despite the carnage of trying to socially engineer equality in the 20th century, nevertheless the myth persists that capitalist wealth creation is superfluous and money is readily available to a small number of elitists called a government under common ownership, who distribute, or simply print more paper. Ironically, the ones shouting the loudest against capitalism are often those dependent on the profits of capitalism to provide the welfare payments needed to keep them alive.

social theories. Additionally, he illustrates how these variety of perspectives typically structure the sociological theories as a whole in which we perceive them in society today. One of the most important and critical perspectives addressed by Peter Kivisto can be seen in chapter three of his book. In this chapter, Manifesto of the Communist Party, Kivisto expresses the battle and disagreement between two very distinct main classes within the class structure of capitalist. Kivisto, with the help of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, is able to identify such dissimilar and contrasting classes. These two classes involved the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Here, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels not only analyzed the discrepancies amongst the two conflicting classes, but the affectedness they had on alienation, low pay, and economic exploitation as well. Additionally, Marx and Engels elaborated in favor of the bourgeoisie due to the fact that they have constructed an assertive, creative, and extraordinarily beneficial economic system that is adequate for establishing the fundamentals for an insufficient society.

Marx’s findings from his societal analysis produced a body of work that showed an important relationship between the capitalist and the worker. The general idea of the connection involved exploitation of workers to obtain economic growth for the capitalist. The definition of this significant relationship generated a series of theories displayed within ‘Das Kapital’. Together, it communicates an idea that explains the formation of social stratification, which divides society into a series of classes ranging from rich to poor.

Perhaps the definition of failure has changed as in the last century capitalism has created wealth like nothing done previously in human history. At the same time, socialism has spent the last century subjecting millions of innocent people to tyranny and poverty. But somehow, its tenets live on in the millennial of the world’s richest countries. And what has followed is an arbitrary connection between the free enterprise system and declining rates of economic and social phenomena. So with the charges against capitalism more severe than ever before, we may as well present the facts.

Since the time we are born we are fed the lies of capitalism. We are taught that capitalism hurts no one and that capitalism is the only way. Johnson and Robbins have some very influential ideas about capitalism. Johnson writes about the complexity of privilege. He also addresses why some privileged people do not feel privileged through the matrix of capitalist domination. Robbins gives us a background on how privilege became what it is today. He addresses the anatomy of the working class by drawing attention to how they were mobile, divided, powerless, and anxious for a revolution. Through Johnson and Robbins’ eyes we can begin to see how the world is not the one we were taught it was.

“to a mere money relation,” (Marx and Engels [1848] 2013:35]. Marx, saw the tear down of the old as the only way for the bourgeoisie to survive. Periodically, a crisis occurred where productive forces threatened their conditions and bourgeoisie would have to bring in new productive forces and destroy the old. Marx believed that these changes to technology and productive capacity were the main influence on how society and the economy were organized. The bourgeoisie had to push for the modern world to quickly and continually develop to protect capitalists’ monopolies. However, constant development caused continual disturbances of social conditions by breaking down stable aspects of human life. Capitalist used their power to push the world to advance so that they could prosper with no concerns to the possible effects on the economy, which would have been most detrimental to the proletariat. For Marx, this showed that capitalists’ self-interest pushed economic progress, which led to societal progress but also risked crisis. Capitalism not only affected society through the creation and separation of social classes but also in influencing societal progress and social relations.

“Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains” (Engels and Marx). Peter Georgescu, author and chairman of Young & Rubicam wrote the article “Capitalists, Arise”. Capitalism is a political system famously known for letting individuals own things such as businesses and property instead of the government. In his article, Georgescu tries to inform the readers about the widening wage gap. He also explores the idea that big businesses need to improve wages for workers so that the standard of living can improve for everyone in capitalist America. He does this through tone, diction, and rhetorical devices.

Many researchers who subscribe to the works of Karl Mark concerning capitalism argue that inequity is not necessary and that inequity does not serve any relevant function. These scholars are rather of the opinion that injustice or inequality are but symbols of societal

Basirico, 2014). Sociologists like Karl Mark held the basic assumption that society is understood and composed by a conflict of power that forms its economic organization, in particular, the possession and ownership of property. Karl Marx explained that society consisted of two classes; the bourgeoisie who are the ones who had ownership and the means of production and the proletariat who were those that provided the labor for production. The conflict that exists is created by the difference in class structure between the wealthy and middle class. We see this difference in class in the article “Income Inequality is Costing the U.S. on Social Issues” by Eduardo Porter. “Over the last four decades or so, the labor market lost much of its power to deliver income gains to working families in many developed nations” (Porter, 2015). The middle class has fallen behind in its ability to maintain the social norms it enjoyed just a few decades earlier because income inequality has grown larger. “Today, (America), it’s still the richest, strongest and most inventive. But when it comes to the health, well-being and shared prosperity of its people, the United States has fallen far behind” (Porter, 2015). As taxes, inflation, and the cost of health care continue to rise, compensation has not. Many corporations are being called upon by politicians and the work force to finally raise the minimum wage to help families provide basic necessities. “According to Karl Mark, in any economic system that supports inequality, the exploited classes eventually recognize their submissive and inferior status and revolt against the dominant class of property owners and employers” (Laurence A. Basirico, 2014). The conflict that exists is not a destructive or degenerative effect on society; instead conflict becomes a constructive force. This occurs when

The subject of equity has ascertained that the economic prowess of a nation is insufficient as a measure of progress. The United States is among the worst in the matter of wealth distribution, and yet it is one of the world’s leading economies. The inequality situation has been worsening over the years and has been a keen campaign theme for the liberals in the American politics. The nation has thrived economically since the 1980s, and the levels of inequality have grown over the same period. The government through its public policies is a key factor in the growth of the economy as well as the level of inequality. The capitalistic market in the US is vital in the economic prowess of the economy. The key failure of the capitalistic market lies

In Capital, Karl Marx reveals the ugly truth that capitalism lays on the foundation of class exploitation. Without such exploitation, there is no profit to be made and capitalism will cease to exist. Capitalism, which relies on the reproduction of capital, creates and concentrates wealth to a small portion of society’s population while reproducing poverty and widening the size of inequality.

Oftentimes in society conflict arises between people over what is best for our economy and overall society. In modern day America, citizens and politicians alike debate with far-right ideas like Donald Trump along with far-left views like Bernie Sanders. Those in favor of the far-right are often in agreement with theories of the economist, Adam Smith, an inspiration to today’s capitalism. On the other end of the spectrum, the far-left have similar perspectives as those of the philosopher, Karl Marx who believe in socialism. To better understand why people, such as Marx are against our current economic system one must acknowledge that capitalism is an ideology that gives rise to inequality in the world, and human inequality is a result of

What is capitalism? Capitalism is like a long and extensive game of Monopoly. When the game starts everyone has the same amount of money, but the objective is for there to be one person on top, and that person controls the supply and trade of those services. According to Oxford Dictionary, capitalism is “an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state (Oxford, 2016).” Capitalism can be viewed as a monopoly and/or a free market. However, no matter how you view capitalism it involves unfair taxing, inequality levels that date back to the beginning of The Great Depression, and wealth fluctuations between least and most paid companies. Although, American capitalism has been known to guide

The specialised critique of capitalism found in the Communist Manifesto (written by Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels), provides a basis for the analysis and critique of the capitalist system. Marx and Engels wrote about economical in relation to the means or mode of production, ideology, alienation and most fundamentally, class relations (particularly between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat). Collectively, these two men created the theory of Marxism. There are multiple critiques of Marxism that attack the fundamental tenants of their argument. Several historical events have fueled such criticisms, such as the fall of the Soviet Union, where Marxism was significantly invalidated and condemned. On the flip side, Marxism has been widely supported in times of capitalist hardships. What viewpoint a person will hold towards Marxism is largely dependable on the economical environment in which they live. Further, it is also important to remember that Marx and Engels lived in a very different era than today’s society, and the concept of capitalism may have arguably changed quite a lot over time. Therefore, the principles found in the Manifesto may often have to be refurnished and reapplied to fit different economic environments.

Economic inequality has been a long-debated issue within the social sciences. The origin of the most recent debate has roots in Karl Marx’s works during the 19th century. Since Marx, the equality of distribution has become a heated topic in a wide range of social science from economic to social and political. Marx saw the growing inequality and poor working conditions in the beginning of the 19th century as a never-ending process of infinite accumulation of capital. This literature subsided due to the improvement of working conditions