(1) Discuss two weak points in the views of Karl Marx, and explain what’s wrong with them.
Karl Marx believed that socialism would become the normal economy for the world, that the state would fade away, leaving only the people. Marx also said that the individual would get to choose what type of labor he wanted to do, because no one should have that right taken away. The first problem I see with this view is that if everyday someone feels like moving to a different job how stable is the economy going to be and how much labor is actually going to be produced? If everyone sticks to one thing and becomes really good at it, they will more likely succeed in that trade. If your moving around to please your instant gratification your not going to be as good at a trade as if you would have stuck with one for a substantial amount of time. The second problem is if the state is gone who is going to plan the economy? Trying to get everyone on one plan would be difficult and a majority rules plan would not satisfy everyone, which is what happens with the state anyway.
Marx believed in the labor theory of value, which is when a product’s value is based on the amount of labor put into it. Marx thought that when you traded something it was of equal value, however this is not the case. When you trade something you are trying to get a better deal and we don’t value things based on the amount of labor put into it, it is instead based on how important it is to us. If everything was of the same value based on labor then we would have no reason to trade. When we trade, money for food, I value the food more because it is going to keep me alive, instead of the money which is a very powerful tool.
(2) What were Herbert Spencer’s views, as you encountered them in the reading for this week? Does he deserve to be called a “Social Darwinist”?
Herbert Spencer was a libertarian who did not support government welfare programs, instead he supported private charities. Many people had distorted Herbert Spencer’s image because of this and called him a Social Darwinist, which is the belief that rich people will thrive and the poor people will die in a free market society. Herbert Spencer does not deserve to be called a Social Darwinist because only supporting private charities is not the same as saying, “Let the poor people die.”