Karl Marx with his expertise in politics was able to determine certain differences between capitalism and communism that later on defined boundaries between major super powers of the world. Capitalism, according to Karl Marx (1996) is the weakened method of analyzing democracy as it never pertains to the provisioning of democracy, no matter how much the capitalist describe their actions to be more of a democratic.
Most of the western countries are capitalist, i.e. the system of privatization. According to Karl (1996) this system is unjustified because it doesn’t provide the equality and same civil rights for all the citizens. The reason he stated for this argument was his approach towards the agents that bring the money to the society. He looked towards the low level labor force that most of times is relieved from their rights. The wages are too low and as the owner has been given the right to control, he just dictates his terms on this labor.
Thus when a person is involved in laboring, he usually is subjected to only his wage which is pretty low. The class system develops as a result and certainly the equality of the capital remains unequal with the owner getting all the benefits and laboring force getting nothing from it (Dahl, 2000). On the other hand, he believed that communism offers much more democratic rights to the people. Karl stated that capitalist countries often make certain claims that people can do whatever they want to do (Karl, 1996).
Also they can be sure of their requirements as well but Karl objected this notion in practical analysis. He stated that it is not what capitalism offers. Capitalism on paper makes everything to work according to plan but it doesn’t offer anything. Take example of United States, where the class system obliges various constraints on the people living. The social discrimination is high above the sky.
People work fulltime, part time but they are unable to bear their expenses, the health care is provided to those who are rich and have enough money to pay for the insurance. Large entities can determine their own policies and impact the government policy as well. What kind of democracy is this? Karl justified his argument by describing the practical approach rather than emphasizing on the voting system and allowing voters to vote for whomever they want (Wolff, 2003).
Capitalism has been there for many years now right from early to Middle Ages. The history analysis will prove that nothing was special about it as the same principle of democracy was only effective until the selection process (Dahl, 1991). After that process, the government or governing body was unaware of the lives the people are living.
Communism on the other hand has been a relatively new concept. The uniformity of power is the main essence of communism. Karl in his definition of communism, forced to view the role of the agent, i.e. the persons who work for an organization (Wolff, 2003). According to the communism theory, the workers are the owners (Wolff, 2003). They will get what they need and they will give what others need.
This is the social system which is based on no discrimination and with full civil rights. The people can do fishing in the morning and boating in the evening without ever being fisherman and boatman at all. They know that they will get what they need in the time of distress and they know what other people need and they give them that as well. This is the basic classification of communism and very effective mode of democracy which is absent in the capitalism concepts.
The exploitation of workers by capitalism is removed in the communism, as stated by Karl (1996). The socialist state can only remain dream if not worked out entirely. The formation of new man and woman is very important indeed in order to stay put. Communism doesn’t have anything of democracy in it but rather communism is the base of democracy. Communist states follow strict rules for justice but capitalist who follow the democratic rules are not effective at all.
According to Karl (1996) the human freedom is basic realization of the social state. Social class system is the alienation of the human beings from each other.
Marx also stated that human freedom is not about absence of restraints but actions with content (1996). People should not be dictated to what to do and what not do as the capitalist do, but they have the right to analyze their own ideas and generate the right path for them as they like. He argued that the important discrepancy in the capitalism is that they have made the main agent, worker, to become a victim of social class system.
The fair share of profit for the worker is out of question which leads to the economic downfalls. Marxism says that the conflicts arise because of the discrimination and the whole thing will move a capitalist society towards the communist society. Though there are various steps involved in the process. According to Karl (1996) the conversion is not that simple and is continuous with time and events.
When the conflicts arise, the productive property becomes common rather having a sole owner but still some class difference will continue to take place. This phase will make the capitalist society a social society. As the time will pass, this society will become a fully functional communist society. Therefore it is quite easy to state that the communism is naturally the best way of operating the society.
Soviet Union is the biggest state formed on the theology of communism. Various forms of communisms have been implemented at various stages though Marxism is the basic theory. After the success in World War II, Soviet Union emerged as a successful state by forming industries.
The main point, however, was the collectivization where Karl always emphasized (McLellan, 1971). At that period more than one third of the countries followed communism as the mode of government rather of it being a theory. Even after the fall of Soviet Empire, the countries that were present in Soviet Bloc still practice communism because they are well known with the benefits of being a part of a society that is fully functional and responsible for its dwellers.
The democratic states of the world, however, cannot agree with Karl Marx and his theory. Even if the things are seen practically, their point of reference will remain the same which is that they allow the people to choose whoever they want. This is the complete definition of the democracy regardless of what happens afterwards. If we critically analyze the situation around the world, the communist states are being tagged as fallen under the dictators.
The closer look will help us find the truth that the people are relevantly living a pleasant life, pleasant in the sense that every one of those comes under the same class system and has the same benefits and needs (Held, 2006). This is where the socially responsible society comes to surface. The true democracy can only be held when the communism is followed. Karl Marx has justified the approval of communism by some very important functional points which stand in front of all the democratic countries (Maguire, 1978).
Capitalism is only the searching and acquiring of the capital and its sources and it cannot be prevailed to be working as the sole mode of government in any country as it doesn’t offer the same kind of social and justice system in any kind. The capitalist governments only invest where they can have profits but not where the people need it. The largest entities nowadays belong to USA which can clearly describe the inequality in the uniformity of the capital.
A large population still is living a low standard life including the discrimination and racism between different races. How can this be called a democratic society where people are staggeringly behind their neighbors? Karl Marx was true in his believing because he was looking towards a system which is flawless and offers much more flexibility to its population (Maguire, 1978). The arguments of Karl greatly describe communism as the best way for democracy which capitalist states cannot offer.
List of References
Dahl, Robert A., 2000. On Democracy. New York: Yale University Press.
Dahl, Robert A., 1991. Democracy and its Critics. New York: Yale University Press.
Held, David., 2006. Models of Democracy, 2nd edition. Oxford: Polity Press.
Maguire, John., 1978. Marx’s Theory of Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marx, Karl., 1996. Later Political Writings, ed. T. Carver. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McLellan, David., 1971. The Thought of Karl Marx, an Introduction. New York: Harper & Row.
Wolff, Jonathan., 2003. Why Read Marx Today? New York: Oxford University Press, USA.