Karl Marx, a German philosopher and revolutionary socialist, believed that capitalism could be reformed and that inequality and exploitation of the working class should be abolished. In 1844, Marx wrote and published "The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844," better known as "The Paris Manuscripts" and then later in 1848 published "The Communist Manifesto." In these works, Marx argued that the strong relationship between capitalism and alienation was a result of the new struggle formed between the bourgeoisie and proletariat classes. Due to the problems caused by alienation and exploitation, Marx introduced the idea of socialism, that which he believed was a society that served the individual needs of man. .
Capitalism: .
Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production. Commodities are an important measure of capitalism because the economy is based on the accumulations of such items. Commodities are simply objects that satisfy human needs and wants. To determine the value of a commodity, it must be assessed for its usefulness known as the use-value. Commodities also possess an exchange-value which is measured in terms of money; it is the relative value of a commodity in relation to other commodities in the market. Because different commodities have different monetary value, use-value and exchange value, Marx suggests that deciding the worth of various commodities should be based on a commonality that all commodities have; product of labor. Hence, the value of a commodity in a market represents the amount of labor that goes into its production. In a simple exchange, people produce commodities to sell so they can buy other commodities to satisfy their own wants and needs. The only way this transaction is possible is through the exchange of money. Capitalists are motivated by the number of commodities in possession not by the amount of money exchanged.
