Essay: Review of Marx – Capital (chapters 3 – 6 of volume 1)

Karl Marx was one of the most exemplary and influential characters with reference to the evolution of the communist ideology in the 19th century. With the “Communist Manifesto” and the three volumes “Capital: Critique of Political Economy” he has created a new ideology, Marxism, which undermined western societies based on private property and personal wealth and instigated their destruction. Some of the most prominent countries in history, such as the Soviet Union, created political systems based on Marx’s ideology, with the intention of destroying capitalism.  In this first volume “The process of Production of Capital”, considered the most influential of the three, Marx criticises the values of western societies shaped by capitalistic ideals, by analysing the role of money, the relationship between labour and value, and finally the conflict between social classes. By reading this book the reader will be able to attain an alternative perspective of the western world, as it strives to explain analytically and critically the functioning of capitalism trough a socialist viewpoint.
This review will focus on chapter three to six of volume one: “Money, or the circulation of commodities”, “the general formula for capital”, “contradictions in the general formula of capital and buying” and “selling labour power”. In this pivotal part of the book Marx illustrates how the use of money, which he refers to as a commodity, has shifted from being used as a unit of exchange in the traditional society, to being used as a source for accumulation of capital in modern capitalism, which has ultimately led to exploitation of the proletariat in the modern society. In chapter three Marx introduces his view of money “as a measure of  Value” and as “standard of price” and their different functions. He describes the measure of value as the “incarnation of human labour” and the standard of price as “a fixed weight of metal”, most commonly silver and gold. Furthermore, according to Marx the circulation of commodities is the starting point of capitalism. Indeed he continues the chapter with his theory of “The means of circulation”, where he introduces the expression C-M-C, where C stands for commodity and M for money. Through the use of this formula, the author illustrates the exchange of commodities in the traditional society, where two steps are involved: sale (C-M) and purchase (M-C) (104-107). During this process, each commodity or labour is exchanged for money which is then used to buy a more useful commodity. No reflux of money occurs as no profit is produced. Moreover, in chapter four Marx introduces the formula for modern capitalism: M-C-M’ (where M’ stands for surplus value). Trough this expression he illustrates how modern capitalism aims to buy commodities to then sell it in order to produce surplus value, in other words: capital. Following this theory, Marx raises the problems of such system as he believes it has created an unfair society alimented by the development of an unequal social pyramid. As a matter of fact, chapter six emphasises on how due to social conditions the elite most commonly buys cheap labour in order to create profit and how the capital always relies upon the hands of the elite as the workers never have control over what their labour produces (112-114).
With this book, Marx has contributed to the creation of a new movement and philosophical theory, Marxism. It also has led to the creation of more contemporary theories and political movements such as Neo-Marxism. It is arguably one of the most influential and controversial books in history, as it created a wide division between social classes. It is my belief that it is a fundamental book to read in order to explore an alternative view of modern western societies. Nevertheless, despite I strongly believe that it successfully criticises capitalism of the 19th century, some of his theories contains certain inconsistencies and flaws. In addition to that, I do not consider his theories to be applicable to modern capitalism, due to various reasons.
To begin with, Marx in chapter three fails to clearly describe the starting point of prices as a measure of value. He describes money as “a necessary form of appearance”, meaning that society requires money in order to determine the value of commodities, such as cotton and corn. Nonetheless, he does not successfully explain how society developed his initial price (64-70). On the contrary, he explains how the initial prices of commodities were simply “imaginary” as individuals did not have anything to relate to in the process of pricing. It is only once the market has fermented that prices have a clear path, related to the standard of price, most commonly gold. However, in this theory, Marx did not take to account the complexity of markets and the possibility of inflation and deflation of the value of gold and other commodities. Nevertheless, Marx counter argues this flaw in his theory with the idea that in order for the market to work there must be a correlation between commodities, meaning that if cotton drops in value then also corn depreciates (67-74). Therefore, it is my opinion that Marx’s volume one does not offer a convincing explanation of the circulation of money as it does not take to account the complexity of the capitalist market. Indeed, in volume three he re-examines some of his theories raised in these chapters.
Moreover, it is my belief that Marx does not provide the reader with an accurate perspective of modern western countries. He criticises western capitalist countries by stating how the elite exploit the proletariat trough the means of M-C-M’(112-113). However, exploitation in modern western countries has significantly decreased thanks to a remarkable economic and industrial growth. This has led to significantly better working conditions and the creation of a vast middle class which had decreased the gap between the rich and the poor. In countries such as Germany, where the minimum salary is £6.80 per hour there is no indication of a significant proletariat exploitation nor class struggle (Beermann, Brencheidt, & Siefer, 2010). As a matter of fact, Germany is ranked 16th in the World Happiness Report published by the United Nations  (Elliwel, Layard , & Sachs , 2016).
Marx is very effective at illustrating the basic concepts of capitalism in chapter five and six, as it is my belief that the expression M-C-M’ accurately portrays the way in which capitalists (the elite) constantly strive to create more capital and profit through the use of labour. Indeed, nowadays exploitation has witnessed a symbolic shift to third world countries due to the regulations instituted in developed countries. Therefore, it can be argued that even though Marx’s theories of social exploitation illustrated in this book are no longer applicable to western countries, they can be applied to a more global scope, as major industries such as Nike have moved their infrastructures to third world countries, such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia in order to exploit the proletariat by paying them below the minimum salary and provide them with poor working conditions in order to create greater profit  (Bunting, 2011).
In chapter six Marx is also very effective at illustrating the way overtime labour has become a property. Since the workers most commonly do not own what they produce they are forced to sell their labour to others in order to make money to survive. This way Marx’s labour theory covered in chapter six describes labour to be a property who is never in control of the commodity it produces. Such theory can, therefore, be  used in favour of the exploitation theories. Nevertheless, It is my belief that such process it is not as unfair as it portrayed by Marx as the sale of the commodity produced it is no guaranteed for the investor. Therefore who buys the labour and commodity are putting at risk his own capital, risking to go in deficit or even bankrupt. In order words, the person who invest money in labour and commodities could loose the initial capital, while the actual worker has a guaranteed pay (72-74).
In conclusion, Marx’s volume one is a very complex book to read and understand. His rich and convoluted language makes the book quite inaccessible to the general public, especially to the “proletariat”. Marx theories require years of studying in order be fully covered and understood. Nevertheless, I believe it is a fundamental book to read in order to achieve an alternative perspective of the western world, which helps to question some of the ideals and hidden factors of capitalism. Nevertheless, despite the author successfully assess the way capitalism relies on the production of capital or profit, it is my belief that it is not a reliable source to evaluate the working condition of the western world, as exploitation is no longer an issue. On the other hand, it is my opinion that Marx is very effective in portraying the economy in form of expressions such as C-M-C, as it simplifies complex arguments and provides a peripheral explanation of the functioning of capitalism. Finally, in my personal opinion this book could also provide, to a certain and arguable extent, an explanation of how capitalism has led to the radical changes taking place in today’s society, such as the American elections, Brexit and the rise of the National front in France, as capitalism and modern democracy has failed to bring the population together and on the contrary has created great division trough discontent.
(Word count: 1582)