Karl_Marx_and_Incentive

Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, and revolutionary that lived from May 5, 1818 – March 4, 1883(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx). Karl Marx is considered to be the father of modern day communism and socialism. He wrote Economic and Philosophical Manuscript of 1844 between April and August of 1844 but his writings would not be published until 1932 in Russia well after his death (http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy /marx/section1.html). One of the main topics of his writings is what he calls estranged labor. This form of labor would be found under an economic system of private ownership where society is divided into two classes, those who are property owners and the property-less workers (Marx). Marx explains that estrangement or alienation of labor occurs when the workers feel alienated from the products they produce. Marx’s thoughts are that the worker puts everything he has, including his own life, into the product he produces yet the harder he works the more distant he will become because he does not own the product or get to enjoy it. Not only was the worker estranged from the product that he produced, he would also be alienated from other human beings and the human race. The worker’s labor would also become impersonal since there was no pay off in the end. Marx’s theories may seem to make sense in writing but when it was applied in reality this whole concept failed. Although Marx had a good concept about creating the perfect society, his theories failed because workers were not given any incentive to work. At first glance, Marx’s theories seemed to have been the answer for a perfect human utopia. Everybody worked hard to benefit society, there was no poverty, and everything was shared equally amongst all citizens. One would think that this image of a perfect world would be enough of an incentive to motivate workers but it wasn’t. Humans by nature are more apt to consume then they are to produce. Marx Strongly believed that man was inherently good, that they would do whatever it took to arrive at this great society. The problem with this way of thinking is that man is not inherently good and is really only looking out for himself and his interest. A person is most productive when he knows that the job he is doing will provide him with money that will keep him and his family safe (McKnight). The more knowledge a person gains and the harder they work, the more money they can make. That is the incentive that free-market capitalism provides. Marx felt that workers were becoming alienated because they did not own anything that they produced (Marx). Yet, in a communist nation, the workers did not own anything either. Everything was owned, operated, and run by the government. Goods were evenly distributed amongst the people, at least in theory. The only people to actually benefit from this form of government were those that ran the country itself. Since they worked for the state they were expected to get benefits and luxuries that the common people did not. This was an unfortunate byproduct of Marx’s teaching that he had not foreseen. Communism was supposed to eliminate poverty and every other social class but in a twist of irony the government had become the upper class that they sought to destroy. They controlled everything and the common man owned nothing. High party officials would also have access to goods and services from other countries that were illegal to the common person. The communist party’s incentive was to keep everything moving as smoothly as possible so they could benefit from the work of the commoner. Had incentive been put back into the hands of the workers, they would have been able to benefit from their hard work as well and not just government officials. The lack of incentive in a communist nation created a form of welfare that ran ramped throughout the country. Workers started doing less work or no work at all, and would depend on others to provide for them. The government would evenly distribute goods whether or not a worker did his part to earn it. Workers had discovered that no matter how hard they work, they would never advance in their jobs. They knew that they would get the same goods and commodities as every other person he worked with as long as he showed up and did his job, no matter how much effort was put into it. In the long run, this poor attitude would help contribute to a dwindling GDP (Gross Domestic Product). As more workers put in less time in producing quality goods and services, a smaller percentage of workers had to carry the majority of the workload. By providing some level of incentive to the workers, there is a strong chance that we would see a reverse in the attitude and work performance of those responsible of producing goods and services. This form of welfare system also led to a very low quality product. More workers were doing less work but factories still had to produce a certain quantity of product each day. In order to meet the state imposed quotas, products were inspected poorly or they would bypass quality control completely. This would have a negative effect on everything from building materials to military products. This lack of quality control would have a huge impact on the race to be the first country to put a man on the moon. The Russians finished products were causing unforeseen problems in their cosmonaut program. The imperfection in the goods used in their space shuttle program was keeping the Russians from getting to the moon in an industry that requires perfection. Had they had a better quality control incentive in place the Russians could have beat the Americans to the moon (http://www.astronautix.com/articles/whynrace.html). This incentive could have been in the form of highly trained, well paid workers that performed all quality control but socialism dictates that everybody is equal. There is no living creature on this planet that confirms to Marx’s theory that everybody and everything should be equal. The concept behind capitalism is the same as Darwin’s law of nature, survival of the fittest. In a capitalist society, its’ citizens are allowed to amass wealth and personal property but they need to work for it. Incentive is naturally created when worker are motivated to provide for themselves and their families with nobody else to rely on (McNight). Marx has a lot to say about estranged labor, workers being alienated from their jobs and estranged from those around them, but capitalist workers have the choice on whether or not they wish to remain as workers or if they will do what they can to better themselves and become property owners and business owners. Not everybody will take this incentive but the most important thing is that it is available if they choose to take advantage of it. Socialism does not give you the freedom to decide what you want to do with your life. Even though communism and socialism has done poorly in countries that embraced it, there are positive aspects to it. According to the website http://benefitof.net, some these benefits are that every citizen is equal and can keep a job, no competition, and an effective distribution of resources. In order to achieve these positive benefits, the citizens need to have a strong government in place. These leaders would put the needs of the people before their own. The downfall to this is that the citizens have very little say on who will lead them since they are selected amongst themselves. History has shown that the power of incentive is a strong motivator. The individuals that live in these nations are encouraged to work hard to earn a living which in turn provides to the countries overall growth which is measured by its’ GDP, the total value of all goods and services produce by a country. Many countries such as Russia, China, and Cuba have tried to implement Marx’s, and other economist, theories on socialism and communism but the result has been the same. Those countries that use free-market capitalism are the ones that are most prosperous. They have shown that by giving citizens incentives in the shape of hard work, competitive salaries, and owning businesses and property they can become financially independent and would not have to rely on the government for their well being. References Benefits of Communism | Benefits Of. (n.d.). Science & Tech | Benefits Of. Retrieved July 19, 2010, from http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-communism/ Karl Marx - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved July 18, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx Marx, K. (2008). Estranged Labour. Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (pp. 1-6). New York, NY: Evergreen Review, Inc.. Mcknight, A. (n.d.). The problems with Communism - by Amanda Mcknight - Helium. Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Retrieved July 11, 2010, from http://www.helium.com/items/279202-the-problem-with-communism Sarup, K. (n.d.). Democracy vs Communism: Lessons from history. Daily News from the news experts at NewsBlaze. Retrieved July 10, 2010, from http://newsblaze.com/story/20060427224243nnnn.nb/topstory.html SparkNotes: Karl Marx (1818–1883): Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. (n.d.). SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Retrieved July 11, 2010, from http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/marx/section1.html Wade, M. (n.d.). Why did the Soviet Union lose the Moon Race'. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved July 18, 2010, from http://www.astronautix.com/articles/whynrace.htm