YES: Adam Smith, free-market economist, states that if self-interested people are left alone to seek their own economic advantage, the result, unintended by any one of them, will be greater advantage for all. He maintains that government interference is not necessary to protect the general welfare.
NO: Karl Marx, German philosopher and Friedrich Engels, German sociologist, argue that if people are left to their own self-interested devices, those who own the means of production will rapidly reduce everyone else to virtual slaves. Although the few may be fabulously happy, all others would live in misery.
Individual Economic Contentment.
Human happiness: contradiction in terms, utopian mind-set, or prosperity with purpose. Some argue humans cannot be happy for they are oblivious to the true meaning of happiness, while others believe it is an imaginary feeling full of perfect yet impractical ideals. Still others believe it can in fact exist, but only under a certain set of circumstances. The different meanings of human happiness from the eyes and viewpoints of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels will be presented. Additionally, an attempt will be made to clarify the issues, evaluate the evidence as well as examine propaganda techniques used, and analyze each argument before forming a judgment.
Facts and Opinions.
Invention of machinery enabled one man to do the work of many was a fact Smith included in his argument. The very concept of the industrial revolution disgusted Marx and Engels significantly, as it contributed to the decline of the family relationship, moreover the decay of cultural identity. Furthermore, Smith noted in actuality productivity increased when labor was divided among many workers. This fact lead to the veracity of society being split into two factions, those who owned capital and those who were the laborers according to Marx and Engels.
In Smith's opinion, allowing people to create their own happiness, within appropriate moral and legal bounds utilizing free trade without government intervention, would benefit the economy in the process.
