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Karl Marx and Frederick Engels were friends who had the same ideology, which was even
published in writing, one of which was entitled The Communist Manifesto in 1848.
(History.com, 2009) Marx and Engels promoted the idea focusing on the welfare of the
proletariats, more commonly known as the working class. Their ideas gave birth to an
ideology called Marxism which discredits the idea of capitalism which for them, does not promote
equal opportunities for all citizens. Marxism focuses on the economy and the capitalist structure
of society. (Emergence and Influence of Critical Criminology, n.d)This ideology can be related
to Criminology which is the study of criminal behavior and social deviance, or the violation of
social norms.
In a usual economic setting, there are entrepreneurs or the owners who needed people for
their business to operate. For every person working, comes a compensation that shall be
commensurate to the nature of the work, the quality and the risks involved. Marx and Engels call
these entrepreneurs as the bourgeoisie who are usually perceived in the Marxist ideology as
people who prioritize their self-interests and frequently give less consideration to the welfare of
their workers. Proletariats merely sell their labor power", or ability to do work, in return for a
wage, which is otherwise known as the theory of alienation. (Ollman, n.d) Those who work harder
do not even own the raw materials or machines they use for work. The owners or the bourgeoisie
get much of the earnings, and divide the rest to the proletariats.
For Marx and Engels, the unequal opportunities given to society is the source of all crimes.
Because of the unfair practices of entrepreneurs, workers are motivated to get more than what they
receive through means that are contrary to public morals, which is also the reason for the existence
of social deviation. According to Marx, the source of Crime is capitalism where the proletariat
sell their labor to the bourgeoisie, without fair compensation. (Emergence and Influence of
In their writing entitled The Communist Manifesto (1848) Marx and Engels also
emphasized the industrial period as the time where manual labor was often disregarded because of
the emergence of machines doing the rest of the production of goods. (Marx & Engels, 1848) With
this comes the loss of jobs for majority of the Proletariats whose work were replaced by
machineries. This may have given rise to the rise of Marxism which sees industrialization as
something that is not in favor of the working class. The unfair compensation together with the loss
of opportunities for the proletariats due to excessive capitalism may have been the motivation of
the perpetration criminal acts. Social conditions have also been an inevitable reality for all
workers. The Marxism ideology contemplates with these social conditions as the source of crimes.
These crimes do not stem from pure arbitrariness but from the struggle of the isolated individual
against the prevailing social conditions. (Emergence and Influence of Critical Criminology,
n.d) Man naturally finds the urgency to provide for his family and himself, but the prevalence of
these social conditions, man oftentimes is deprived of the opportunity to work and receive
compensation which can give him and the rest of family a prosperous life.
Based on the stated ideas on Marxism by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels from different
sources, I personally believe that it could be detrimental for the society to be given completely
equal opportunities. There is no certainty that total labor equality would benefit everyone because
people might have the notion that everything would be served to them on a silver platter by the
government, who will then regulate all commercial activities so that no one is below or above
another person. The danger of depicting the human way of thinking and acting as determined by
the material productive forces tools and machines could drastically lessen the productivity of
all people. (Mises.org, 2010) People might have the tendency to have the mentality of not doing
any work because the government will not allow for them to be prejudiced. There could be a certain
laxity involved if capitalism shall be completely abolished. As for the bourgeoisie, Marx and
Engels may have exaggeratedly depicted them as evils when in fact majority of them actually give
opportunities for so many workers. What the society needs is not government intervention for
equality, but only laws that shall regulate all commercial activities and acknowledge the rights of
the proletariats.
Also, too much emphasis on inequality brought by capitalists could also endanger the mind
of men. According to Social Justice by Mooney and Young, many Japanese soldiers who are
also suicide bombers during the Second World War were in fact University Students under the
Humanities who were heavily influenced by the ideas of Marx. (Mooney & Young, 2005) They
were said to have been heavily influenced by the ideas of Marx, thinking that capitalism is purely
evil. Thinking that maybe the Americans were the source of inequality because of rampant
capitalism, the Japanese might have been convinced that the only way to savor their honor is to
die fighting these evil capitalists who make the most of what the labor class work for.
According to Marx, To effect social changes, the workers must, according to Marx, adapt
themselves to the slow, progressive evolution of economic structures because no social formation
ever disappears before all the productive forces are developed for which it has room, and new
higher relations of production never appear before the necessary material conditions are matured
in the womb of the old society. (Critique of Marxism, 1983) This could actually lead to slower
progress, which may prevent the society from moving forward towards innovation through a
healthy competition. If the workers could be competitive enough to match up with the other key
industry players, even if it is slow or at their own pacing, they can learn to be innovative, to explore
options and manage ideas on how they can improve given the competition that they have.
Bertell Ollman in his talk in China entitled Market Economy: Advantages and Disadvantages
(1999), most people work harder and firms have the strong tendency to innovate which causes the
advancement of society in general. (Ollman, 1999) This is true especially in a world where the
only constant thing is change. Society is constantly advancing and although some may not be able
to keep, the benefits that these advancements have for the betterment and improvement of
As a conclusion, the Marxist idea of the abolishment of Capitalism in order to prevent the
existence of crimes and social deviation does not allow the society to prosper. The world that we
have is not perfect, because there will always be changes and as human beings, we should always
learn how to adapt. Inequality is not synonymous to crime. Thus, what the society needs is not to
be given equal opportunities, but merely, the opportunity to work, compete and constantly value
the public policies laid down by the government. As for the inevitable unequal opportunities, the
promulgation of laws are important in order to honor the equal rights for prosperity that all men
have.
List of References
Confronting the Establishment: The Emergence and Influence of Critical Criminology. (n.d.).
History.com Staff. (2009). Karl Marx. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from
http://www.history.com/topics/karl-marx
K. (2010, June 29). The Critics of Marxism. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from
https://mises.org/library/critics-marxism
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm
N.A (n.d) Imagining Terrorism: Terrorism and Anti-Terrorism Terrorism, Two ways of doing evil
Ollman, B. (1999). Markey Economy: Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved June 13, 2017,