Great Books Mayukh Nair

End Term Assignment May 9, 2016

Karl Marx’s views on capitalism

The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx in collaboration with Frederick Engels, begins

with Marx’s examination of the bourgeois – the capitalist oppressors, and the proletariat – the

oppressed working class in service of the former. Marx begins with a scathing criticism of the

bourgeoisie, aided by their practice of capitalism, who have created newer classes in a society

already divided and have brought in a new kind of oppression and struggles for the poor and

weak, but simultaneously, they have now separated society into two camps of people: the

bourgeois and the proletariat. With the progress made along the ages – discovery of new lands,

the increase in trade and the movement of the society from a feudal one to one dependent on the

manufacturing industry – the bourgeois has been empowered even more and with the boost in its

capital has helped it crush all of the classes below it. Capitalism, Marx argues, has given the

bourgeois an unjustified ascension in societal levels and where exploitation used to happen under

the illusion of religion and political power, it is now done commonly without utter regard for the

lives affected. People who possessed valuable skills were now turned into wage-laborers, one’s

value is now measured in money, and familial relations are now cold and purely thriving on

monetary relations.

But, to further increase its might and expand its influence on society, the

bourgeois keeps adapting and revolutionizing the means of production. “Constant

revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting

uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones", as Marx claims.

The bourgeois therefore has forced countries into accepting globalization, resulting in ‘economic

imperialism’, where the societies which shun capitalist practices are consigned to the bottom of

the pyramid of wealth – hence the bourgeoisie “create a world after their own image”.

In its pursuit of greater wealth and power, the capitalist bourgeoisie have created vast cities

where they employ people and provide a means of income for villagers, thus making the

countryside dependent on the economy of the cities, tightly controlled by bourgeois, and

subsequently the dependence of barbarian nations on the capitalist ones.

With feudal relations replaced by free

competition, combined with the economic and political muscle of the bourgeoisie, through

recruitment from all the lower classes was born the proletariat, which toils only to see the fruits

of their hard work be enjoyed by the bourgeoisie and remains in shackles, unable to advance the

forces of production. Marx believes that this increasing disparity of income between bourgeois

and proletariat, combined with ever-increasing production, will eventually lead to over-

production. Labour can exist without capitalism, but capitalism cannot exist without labor – and

the proletariat have nothing to lose but their chains, therefore, the proletariat must come together

to seize the means of production from the bourgeois.

The persistent antagonism between the enslaved proletariat and the oppressive

bourgeois capitalists leads to the mass mobilization of the workers, aided by ever improving

means of communication, and workers’ unions are formed. Together, as a mass body, they are

better enabled to demand higher wages and better working conditions. The proletariat is now the

absolute majority, as the oppression of capitalism has eradicated all the other classes and made
them proletarians. The capitalists will support this unionization and enlighten the proletariat with

hopes of enhancing their own political motive, but will be too near-sighted to notice that they

will provide the means for the proletariat to become class conscious, be stronger, organized and

empowered to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Eventually, the proletariat will incite a rebellion and

overthrow the bourgeois, and shatter the class divisions by seizing the means of production and

abolishing private control over all property. It is their pursuit of profit that will create the

proletariat and lead to their destruction – thus capitalism has dug its own grave.

Mahatma Gandhi’s views on capitalism

In Hind Swaraj, Gandhi holds Western civilization as an evil force – in particular he terms

Europe as a satanic civilization – one which is dependent on industrialization as a means of

production. This industrial revolution which the West was adopting was breeding consumerism,

and as it endlessly kept producing more and more goods and pursued increasing profits, it

invoked desire to own material possessions in humans – desire, in particular, has been something

Gandhi had been firmly against as far as his beliefs were concerned. Gandhi felt that this

industrialization was a dynamic for the West to colonize and establish imperialism over other

nations. Gandhi does sympathize with the proletariat class, but where Karl Marx criticized the

bourgeoisie and their pursuit of money as their cause of suffering, Gandhi lays the blame on

mechanization and lifeless technology. "Machinery is the chief symbol of modern civilization; it

represents a great sin," Gandhi exclaims.

In Gandhi’s opinion, machinery is doing away with human labour, and is a cheaper substitute for

the capitalist who is driven by the hunger for profit. With the advancement in production

volumes that machines provide, human involvement is minimal now and man and his skills in
production is no longer needed, and this in itself is degradation of labour in society. Gandhi is

outraged by the replacement of human labour with mechanized operation, but he does realize in

the end, anything that a human uses in its task is a machine in itself: he therefore opposes the

craze for machinery, not the lifeless machine itself.

Gandhi believes that capitalism develops a greed for wealth and possessions in people – with

mechanization, people desire more and more goods, and he alienates from a life with simple

desires and wants. This desire is what drives people into competing with each other for greater

wealth, and in this pursuit of material desires immorality is bred. From here stems Gandhi’s

disdain for the Western civilization, which is heavily relying on machinery to seek more wealth

and leave itself in desolation, while committing immoral acts in its practice of capitalism.

Gandhi also discusses the cultural heritage of India and the shared history of the nation: it is our

diversity in tribal culture and the fabric of unity that defines us, and the beliefs that our faith and

culture instill in us that are far more valuable than the belief of creating wealth and desiring

material goods, which is what the Western civilization is trying to instill in us. Gandhi’s idea of

Swaraj requires Indians to not put their faith in capitalism, but to seek strength from our faith and

culture to create meaning.

Gandhi’s vision of capitalism is that it is somewhat like Midas’s touch

– everything it touches turns into something of material value rather than moral or emotional

value. He believes that India’s deep roots in its heritage and culture is what defines it as a great

civilization and it should not abandon them in the pursuit of the Western idea of ‘modernity’. He

is in deep criticism of machinery such as the railways (which he used in his travel across India)

and the printing press (which made his works accessible to the masses), but he rejects them for
how they alienate us for labour. In my belief, technological advancements, specially machines,

are not a bane as Gandhi believes but a real boon: they enable us to progress ahead in both

knowledge and quality of life, even if it is at the expense of promoting capitalism, but they

enhance life in a way Gandhi was unable to imagine in the era he belonged to, which is

understandable, as they helped us achieve independence to do greater things, which is what

Gandhi himself also wanted.