Even though Karl Marx died long ago, his legacy cannot be ignored, especially when it comes to analyzing the rise and the outcomes of globalization. Free trade, economy going global, borderless manufacturing and entrepreneurship, and other consequences of the propaganda of the capitalist world and the dominance of this ideology nearly in every country of the world were all criticized by Marx. He believed that capitalism is the “unjust and self-destructive system” (Schuman par. 2). His point of view was that the globalization would inevitably lead to the concentration of wealth in the hands of relatively small groups of economic actors, and that will entail the emergence of the economic crises, unemployment, and, as the result, widen the gap between the rich and the poor. Moreover, his theory centered on the assumption that capitalism would impoverish the masses.
Marx was right in his belief that the rise of the capitalist system would inevitably lead to the growth of inequality in access to wealth. That said, in the United States, for example, three-fourths of the income goes to and is concentrated in the hands of the richest people, and the gap between the poor and the rich continually grows (Schuman par. 3). For the rest of the developed countries, the situation is nearly the same – 0,1 to 1 percent of the richest control the wealth that sums up to 90% of the rest society (Monaghan par. 2,8).
Moreover, the so-called bottom families become poorer as the wages melt because of the recent economic crisis. What is even more troubling is the fact that the openness of the world economy and manufacturing made it easier for the companies to hire workers from foreign countries if they know that the potential employees have the needed skills instead of training local people, thus leading to their impoverishment. This trend is one more argument proving the Marx was right in criticizing capitalism and globalization.
What Marx was wrong about, however, is his idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat. He believed that the working class would rule the political system. Of course, he was right that the working class would demand its share in access to wealth and economic equality. We can see it all over the world as the people take to the streets with the request of filling the gap between the rich and the poor, and these protests can be seen all over the globe from the most developed countries such as the United States and Europe to the developing ones located in Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Arab world. But in his ideal theory, the government would react to the demand by establishing a fair socialistic society where everyone has equal access to wealth. What we see in reality is that labor unions are weak and fail to be persistent in reaching their primary objectives while the government is firm and preserve their position in keeping most wealth in the hands of the relatively small group.
To sum up, what Marx was right about is his criticism of capitalism praising globalization, free trade, and openness, as he believed that their outcomes for the working class would be negative. On the other hand, he was wrong in designing the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat because workers lack unity in fighting for their interests and minimizing the gap between the rich and the poor while the governments are preserving it.
Works Cited
Monaghan, Angela.US Wealth Inequality – Top 0.1% Worth as much as the Bottom 90%.2014. Web.
Schuman, Michael. Marx’s Revenge: How Class Struggle Is Shaping the World. 2013. Web.