Impressions on the life and times of Karl Marx
| 1) Karl Marx lived in a time when technology was having an major impact on an individuals productivity and standard of living. What he saw was that while machines were increasing the standard of living, the workers that ran the machines were living at substance level. Believing that the cause was the territorial aristocratic nobles and their belief of territory at the expense of business, Marx termed territory accumulation as capitalistic. He thought that a state should be based on business and corporations instead of territory or individuals and that any threat to productivity should be eradicated. Threats to business were national pride or any other oaths or commitments outside of the business. |
| 2) Inventions like the printing press, gas lamps, electricity, indoor plumbing, and machine woven cloth were increasing the standard of living and domestic productivity while making money for the businesses that produced them. Marx saw that the biggest market for these items would be the common worker, yet the common worker seldom had the money to buy and considered many of the new inventions, luxuries. Visualizing a way for businesses to keep production up in the face of technological change that would require a business to buy the new machine to stay competitive, Marx hit on a plan to have state run businesses. |
| 3) If a nations priorities were based on business instead of religion, national pride, or individual rights, Marx believed that the average worker would reap the benefits of technology. Up to this time tithes and taxes to the aristocracy and church took up a large portion of the workers extra money, if that extra money were to go to buying the products produced by machines then the business could buy more machines. He figured that the cheaper that product could be made then the more would be sold of the product. If a workers loyalty were to the business instead of family, national pride or religion then they would support the state business and give their best work, which would ultimately result in a less expensive product that the worker could buy too. |
| 4) Marx defined territorial
aristocratic nobles with landed titles as capitalistic. He also saw
education as making workers dissatisfied with their lot and a potential
waste of time for many since all they would need to know is how to use
the new items. Except for a few skilled workers to keep the machines
running, education that might lead to individual dissatisfaction and strikes
was discouraged. A blind obedience and belief was required for a
business to keep up in the face of changing technology.
To make sure that the state's business was business instead of territory or anything else that would threaten the businesses productivity, any idea of individual worth would have to be changed. Threats to business were national pride or any other oaths or commitments outside of the business. The worker's first priority would have to be making money by working and family or any other activities outside of the business would only be allowed if they did not conflict with the business. Any sense of self worth, self confidence, or self discipline would be decided and defined by the state business. |
| 5) What this has led to in the present day is a country where the only real accomplishment that an individual can achieve is in the arts or sports. The art is technically perfect but sometimes lacks originality or spontaniousness since to not be perfect mean that the person may lose their standing and have to find another career field. New thoughts or philosophies that are discouraged since they may endanger the state. Education or knowledge of how the human body operates that may increase a individual workers worth is discouraged. |
| 6) Marx's state philosophy has resulted in a country run by people that often see no worth in natural products. Unless the item can be made by a company or mass produced it has no value. An example might be instead of farmers saving seed to grow next years crop, that the farmer would have to buy a special company seed. Problems with this philosophy gradually happen because of the strangle hold on education and new ideas, since the business is based on new technology to be able to build a new improved item that the worker needs to buy. Gradually the state business would have to rely on other countries for new ideas and machines. |
| 7) Eventually the lack of worker education and ideas will topple the business, and when the business does attempt to start education it will have rampet plagiarism because the workers are taught to work together at the machines pace. This means that any worker having a different pace from their peer group will stand out, since workers do not compete against their own work they have a natural metronome in the shape of a machine that will slow them down or speed them up. State workers are not used to the stop and go pace of education that required the individual to have their own motivation. State workers have never had to set their own pace, they have always had other workers or the state defining the pace. They have not had to compete against their own previous work, so they end up competing against others. The overall level of the peer group gradually deteriorates since anyone that sets a faster pace or a higher standard is messing with the type of flow these workers are used to. |
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| My interpretation of Marx, is that his ideas are
not self sustaining, and eventually the state company will deteriorate
that all self worth is derived from doing as well as if not better than the next worker. The workers do not attempt to better themselves because to do so would mean that the assembly line would not run smoothly, stay at the level of your peers, do not do or think differently than your peers. |
| During the time of Karl Marx the majority of people
in England were workers and their standard of living depended on the merchant
class more than the aristocracy.
Marx attempted to figure out have progress could continue in the best interest of all people. Technology was leading to increased productivity. Plagues, sickness, religion and family problems made machines seem to have greater reliability than people. - better investment Bottlenecks to business would have been nationalism or laws that gave individual people rights greater than the merchant. the laws of the country. He believed that a country's priority should be in taking care of businesses above the interest of territory or people. That taking care of the businesses would take - the rest would take care of it's self. |
| Ortes believed the nobles hoarded their wealth. Ortes seemed
to believed that the state which in Venice, Italy was the church would
control / run things better than capitalist or noble control.
Marx seemed to believe that merchants could control a countries economies better than territorial nobility. Land and care of --- People herding of ---- People programming of ---- People belief of ---- Reality Traditional control was vested to territorial Aristocracy of Nobles with landed titles in t Karl Marx was the |
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In Frames. or No Frames |
