Marxist View of the Capitalistic Mode of Production and Exploitation Essay Example
Karl Marx's view on the capitalistic mode of production highlights the exploitative nature of this economic system and points to its development as a necessary continuation of feudal societies many centuries ago. He demonstrates how the bourgeoisie take advantage of the labor power of the proletariat, creating profit and fueling the expansion necessary to keep profit margins at acceptable levels. Marx argues that this economic system, in which capital is the basis of wealth, sprung from the fall of feudalism when the means of production made obsolete the feudalistic relations of production, in which ownership of land was the basis of wealth. His claim, therefore, that capitalistic societies are exploitative class societies is true when one considers the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in our own modern economic system. Marx claims that societies which make use of the capitalistic mode of production are exploitative, and this claim is proven through his description of the needs of this system and the ways in which the bourgeoisie fulfill those needs. The capitalist mode of production requires exploitation because it relies on the profit created when labor is bought in one market and the product of that labor is sold in that or another market at a higher price. The difference between the cost of labor input and the revenue of product output is the surplus value, which according to Marx is directly related to surplus labor, which can also be defined as profit. Because the means of production, or the technology, machinery, and methods involved in production, are so far advanced, the old mode of production of feudal society is not a viable option for a member of the proletariat to sustain himself. Therefore, he his bound to the bourgeoisie and is dependent upon it to give payment for his capacity to provide labor. This dependency of the proletariat upon the bourgeoisie constitutes the choke-hold which the latter has on the well being