How convincing is Marxs critique of capitalism Essay

How convincing is Marxs critique of capitalism - Essay Example The debate between these two intellectual groups is as interesting as it is engaging. In this paper, I tried to highlight the insights of Marx’s criticism of capitalism and also tried to reflect some counter criticisms of Marx’s arguments. My interest is however the political grounds of Marx attack on capitalism. Thus I started by exploring the foundational concepts that Marx (state and class) based all his arguments, the dynamics of class relations in this state (alienation, exploitation and imperialism) before finally connecting these concepts with the democracy argument. The concepts of class and state are at the heart of Marx’s criticism of capitalism. Marx used the two concepts to explain the fabrics of the capitalist society. Marx threw light on classification of the society he studied. He wrote: â€Å"Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature; it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: bourgeoisie and proletariat†. Marx identified two distinct classes, the bourgeoisie and proletariat, sharply differentiated by their position in the mode of production. The bourgeoisie is the capital owner (owner of property and means of production) while the proletariat is a class of those who work for capital owners and their labour is controlled by same. On the state, Milliband deduced, from Marx’s works, two views of the state. The first, he called primary view of the state, is rooted â€Å"in the famous aphorism of the Communist Manifesto: The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affair of the whole bourgeoisie† and political power is â€Å"merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.† The secondary view, according

Modern Germany in the span 1648 to the present day Term Paper

Modern Germany in the span 1648 to the present day - Term Paper Example Germany in dealing with its enemies to win a war makes them be the hammers as opposed to the Anvil. For example when France declares war in 1870, the Germans reluctantly places their army under the command of the Prussian King, this act is purely seen as a German cause (Heath pg. 78). After the victory of the war in sedan, Germany achieves unification and in November, the same year a deal is struck resulting into a single state under the Prussian leadership. In the arrangement, William I is extremely reluctant to accept the title of emperor of which Bismarck later convinces him and he proclaims the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and his s the symbol of French power and Triumphalism. The occurrences of this period are just a form of strategy as later an added twist of the knife comes in when victory is imposed by Bismarck of the Prussian troops through the streets and Germany becomes the hammer once more (Taylor pg. 76-9). The ancient German Reich gets reconstituted into a modern, comp act, national form in which the Reichstag comes back as a form of parliament. A meeting is held in Berlin of all the delegates elected all over the new nation. The Reichstag at this stage is only a legislative body that command very little control over the executive arm of the government. this makes Bismarck be the executive himself more than ever before and by an extent qualifies him as the first imperial chancellor. He commands the whole of the German empire that consists of 4 kingdoms, 5 grand duchies, 13 duchies, principalities and other free cities. This period marks the unification of Germany into a nation of federal in nature and with a strong central control making the story of Prussia be that of Germany (Heath pg. 128). Concisely, this is he period in German History where the country experiences a rise in nationalism in the face of Napoleon’s Conquest. Thereafter, Germany became united under the auspice of Prussia where Australia is left out. The country prospers fur ther through the growth in agricultural sector and an end to serfdom; such developments are followed by a growth of industry and railroads (Taylor pg. 224). The next face in the history of Germany is the duration between 1890 and 1945, which begins by the signing of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, which made Germany gain control of a strategic Island near its main seaports and gained agreement on its colonial holdings in Africa (Solsten pg. 59). This saw Germany turn its colony, Zanzibar to Britain. It is within the same period that the Rudolf Diesel engine is invented as well as the Kruger telegram sent. For the better part of he century after Bismarck’s fall, a political paralysis is realized in Germany as a result of the political system that he left in place. This is largely attributed to the lack of reforms that existed between the democratic Reichstag, the parliament of the new united Germany, which came in place through an election by universal suffrage, in the mix, is also the parliaments of the individual states (Heath pg. 223). Bernhard Von Bulow, the new Reich Chancellor announces the second proposal for a German fleet in which he expresses his belief on an expansionist German foreign policy. This is because he believed that political expansion was necessary for the sole reason of protecting Germany from other powers. He metaphorically uses, â€Å"the hammer and anvil, phrase as he speaks to his fellow citizens (Taylor pg. 72).