Due 11:59 pm, Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Instructions: Please write a five page (double-spaced) response to the questions that is posted below this paragraph. I want you to refer only to the primary texts of Smith and Marx in developing your argument. Any reference to Smith’s and Marx’s biographies or to other sources on Smith and Marx will lead to a lower grade. This is because I want you to develop your own ideas from the text, not from the ideas of others. You should use at least two direct quotes from the primary sources – one from The Wealth of Nations and one from Capital. You should put the chapter from which you took the quote in parentheses.
Here is the essay prompt.
Smith and Marx have different analyses of the impact of the rise of a capitalist market economy on the working poor. Write an essay explaining why the authors differ by focusing on their analysis of the wage labor bargain and their analysis of the evolution of work as a result of the division of labor and the rise of the machine age of production. After completing your explanations of Smith and Marx, explain which author makes the most sense to you. You can support your argument by discussing the condition of the working poor in capitalism today. (You can just state your considered opinion; you do not need to do extra research.)
First Warning: Please do not refer to Marx’s analysis of Communism or Socialism or Smith’s support of Capitalism. Any reference to these parts of Marx’s and Smith’s works will lead to a lower grade. This is a question about Marx’s and Smith’s different perspectives on capitalism and the working poor. Even if Marx’s alternative to capitalism is not that plausible, his critique of the impact of capitalism on the working poor could still be partially correct. The same warning is true for Smith. Even if you disagree with Smith’s support of laissez-faire capitalism, his analysis of the impact of capitalism on the working poor might be partially correct.
Second Warning: Smith and Marx do not disagree on all issues. Be aware that there are some similarities in their arguments.