carnes@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP (Richard Carnes) (04/13/85)
Capitalism can be indicted on three main counts, according to the Marxian critique. The following is a summary of the charges rather than an attempt to argue the case. The three headings correspond roughly to periods in Marx's life (there was a fourth period towards the end of his life when he was preoccupied with the problems of the transition from capitalism to communism). Like all such schemata this is oversimplified and should not be pressed too far; it can be useful insofar as it helps one to understand the structure of the Marxist criticism. Bear in mind that not all who call themselves Marxists would agree with the following. 1. PHILOSOPHY. Capitalism is INHUMAN because it leads to the alienation of men and women from the creative activities that the human species is uniquely able to engage in. The good life for man consists of self-realization through the all-sided development of the powers of the individual, through the use of one's abilities. Capitalism stultifies this development. The substantiation of this charge is the theory of ALIENATION. 2. HISTORICAL MATERIALISM, Marx's theory of history. It holds that capitalism leads to an inescapable conflict between the "productive forces" and the "relations of production," resulting in a system which is inherently wasteful and fundamentally IRRATIONAL. It remains economically viable only by means that undermine long-term viability, and creates the conditions under which another system could perform better. Closely related to this critique are the theories of class struggle, technical change, and ideology. 3. ECONOMICS. Today many Marxists in the West say that Marx's economics is mostly bunk, although useful for understanding other aspects of Marx's thought. Samuelson may have been right when he labeled Marx "a minor post-Ricardian," if this is understood as referring to the specifically economic theories in *Capital* II and III (the first volume is not a work of economics, strictly speaking). However, this does not necessarily undermine Marx's charge that capitalism is EXPLOITATIVE, or "unjust" if you believe that he had a theory of justice. Tony Wuersch has shown in some of his postings how one may construct a Marxist theory of exploitation in capitalism without the baggage of the labor theory of value, the law of the falling rate of profit, and so on. If these charges against capitalism were rolled up into one sentence, it might be: ALIENATION PREVENTS THE WORKERS FROM PERCEIVING THE INJUSTICE OF EXPLOITATION. The term "injustice" must be hedged round with explanation, a task which I defer since the term will do for the present purpose. So I propose the foregoing as a framework in which to place the Marxian critique of capitalism -- I welcome suggestions for modifying it. Richard Carnes, ihnp4!gargoyle!carnes