KARL MARX

Being a dork that I am in high school, hearing my college professor drop a name
as peculiar as Karl Marx did not stun me as it should have. I remember him vaguely as
someone notable in economics who we might have had made a report on. What surprised
me, upon googling him, is actually finding out that he was not only a 'boss' of a single but
of many fields - history, political economy, philosophy, and sociology to name a few. The
fact that it has been more than 130 years since his death, yet his works still regarded by
intellectuals as something relevant to present-day society is what further astonish me.
In Karl Marx's most distinguished work widely known ideology Marxism,
obviously derived from his name, he broke down how politics, economics, history,
society and other social institutions are interrelated with one another and how they affect
individuals and social groups. Through this, he was able to expose the negative side of
capitalism. As capitalist societies become more and more closely acquainted in the
application of the profit-driven economic system, the pace towards self-destruction is also
sped up as phrased by Marx, 'Capitalism contains the seeds of it own destruction'. This
means that because of these greedy capitalists preoccupied with generating high profits,
societies become more stratified where there exist obvious injustice in the distribution of
wealth and therefore also of income, and unacceptable effects in the environment. This
led to Karl Marx proposing Communism as an alternative.
Communism is an economic and political system which main effect is the
abolishment of the class distinctions, excessive exploitation, oppressive social
institutions, and all other social inequalities. Here, the government has the power to plan
and control the economy as compared to capitalism where the investors are those who
manage the economy. Countries such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos and North Korea are
the

only

states

currently

have

communism

in

practice

(they

undergone

socialism/dictatorship before achieving communism). It is believed by Marx to be better

than Capitalism since it destroys all inequalities and exploitations. He may be right about
the ugly truth of capitalism but, communism has its own flaws that make nations still
reject the idea of communism as their economic system.

In a communist state, all people are required to work cooperatively in producing

the necessities of life without the existence of competition among themselves because
they get the same regardless of how hard they work. So what is an evident downside of
communism is that the people are stripped off of their freedom to live on however they
want it to live, they just take orders from the government, thus acting like puppets. Since
there is no class distinctions, all are equal and therefore, regardless of their occupation, as
between a doctor and a miner, they will receive the same amount of goods from the
government and live in the same type of house provided by the government. But what
really is affected by this way of life are the people. The people become limited as to their
capacities intellectually, physically, emotionally and socially.
It is the ultimate purpose of human existence, philosophically-speaking, to seek
happiness and happiness is sought through the activities we do which are all directed to a
goal; to an end which is again, happiness. Aristotle gives in his work, Nicomachean
Ethics a definition of happiness, that it is 'the function of man to live a certain life and
this activity implies a rational principle'. What sets apart humans from the other kinds of
things that exist in this world is reason. We are called rational beings due to fact that we
have the capacity as humans to act according to principles and taking responsibilities in
doing so. Then, it follows that in a communist society, its people whose hands are tied in
living the life they desire and in knowing by themselves their intellectual limitations
cannot in any way, be able to attain the ultimate perfection of human nature, that is,
Happiness.
Karl Marx's economic and political theories are still being considered until today
specially now that the capitalist countries of the world are experiencing economic turmoil
due to the lack of control of the huge and even small players in the economy. The
competition becomes more intense as time passes by. Communism would appear to be
the solution to this growing problem but no, it's just going to defeat the purpose of reason
and ultimately, destroy the dignity of a human person bestowed by a higher being.