Why did Karl Marx criticize capitalism? Describe how he planned to correct
those shortcomings.
Modern socialists trace their intellectual roots to Karl Marx. Marx argued
that the few benefit at the expense of the many in a capitalist society where
individual freedoms are not restricted. While successful capitalists
accumulate considerable wealth, Marx postulated that the wages earned by
the majority of workers in a capitalist society would be forced down to
subsistence levels. He argued that capitalists expropriate for their own use
the value created by workers, while paying workers only subsistence wages
in return. According to Marx, the pay of workers does not reflect the full
value of their labor. To correct this perceived wrong, Marx advocated state
ownership of the basic means of production, distribution, and exchange
(i.e., businesses). His logic was that if the state owned the means of
production, the state could ensure that workers were fully compensated for
their labor. Thus, the idea is to manage state-owned enterprise to benefit
society as a whole, rather than individual capitalists.