Adam Smith vs. Karl Marx Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Adam Smith vs. Karl Marx - Essay Example Karl Marx was a political scientist and economist from Germany who lived in the years 1818 to 1883. He analyzed capitalism in a revolutionary and pessimistic viewpoint. Marx concept was that the capitalist set the means of production while the laborer created the value of the products. Marx argued that capitalist’s profits are as a result of labor exploitation. It implies that, workers are paid low salaries compared to the value they create on the products to create profits. He, therefore, disliked the organizations that were deemed as profit- oriented (Landauer 356).  Marx argued that labor exploitation is the struggle and future downfall of the capitalism practices. To Marx, the tension between the workers and capitalists will intensify over time as the business grows (Landauer 356). The growth of the tension is due to large outfits’ inherent efficiency and their ability to go through the ever-ending system crisis. Marx argument was that the world is moving to a sys tem of two classes. The classes are few capitalists that are wealthy and a mass of underprivileged, unpaid workers. He, therefore, predicted capitalism fall and society movement towards communism. Marx described communism to be a scenario in which the workers will own the production means. They will therefore not exploit their labor in return for profit. His thinking affected several societies, including the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the 20th century.  Application of Marx theory in real life situation has led to two main deficiencies.

The Harlem Renaissance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Harlem Renaissance - Essay Example The Renaissance is considered to have started in 1919 and existed until the mid or early 1930s.The influence of the Renaissance was felt on a scale larger than the United States as it is credited with having impacted on black writers from colonies in the Caribbean and Africa, that were French-speaking and living in Paris. The ideas and beliefs of the movement lived on for a long time after the movement ceased to exist. Majorities of African-Americans who were enslaved and lived in the agrarian south of the United States up to the end of the Civil War. After the civil war, the slaves were free to move and do as they pleased. The African-Americans started striving for political equality, participation in civic positions and self-determination in cultural and economic fields. Black congressional representatives made speeches that addressed the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and reprimanded the bill. This necessitated the Civil Rights Act of 1875. However, Democrat whites had regained power in the south leaving the African-Americans without representation in the congress. This allowed them to draft and pass bills that disenfranchised many poor whites and most Negros establishing white supremacist regimes (Ushistory.org, 2013). There was denial of the African-American political and civil rights through terrorizing attacks from lynch mobs and vigilante groups. A convict labor system also forced thousands of African-Americans into unpaid labor on plantations and in mines was reminiscent of slavery. Only a small number purchased land after the civil war. The African-Americans started migrating to the industrially emerging north from the agrarian south that had become increasingly difficult. However, the reception in the north was not a walk in paradise. Northerners were prejudiced against the African-Americans though the legal systems in the states were not as imposing on their rights as the south. White laborers complained of the flooding of the employment market by the Afr ican-Americans and lowering of wages. The â€Å"Negroes† segregated in urban slums by practice (Rau 7). Among these slums was Harlem. The neighborhood was a design for white workers who needed to commute to the city. Nevertheless, the project was overambitious, as the transportation could not cater for the populace. The district abandoned by whites, was sold, and rented to black real estate agents and tenants. The push of blacks from the city’s metropolitan area saw them move to the neighborhood en masse. The brightest black intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and advocates positioned themselves in Harlem bringing institutions, businesses, and a wide range of talents and ambitions with them. The neighborhood became â€Å"the Black Mecca† (Herringshaw 26). A large number of African-Americans joined the neighborhood during the First World War. The activities of the war created a deficit and demand for industrial labor while ceasing the migration of laborers from Europea n countries. This caused the Great Migration of thousands of African –Americans in the city and into the neighborhood of Harlem. After the war, African-American soldiers from units like the Harlem Hellfighters returned to a nation with citizens who had no respect for their accomplishments due to the virulent White Racism (Ushistory.org, 2013). The Renaissance started developing in the late 1910s. The â€Å"Three Plays for a Negro Theatre†