Question

Marx wrote very little about the communist society he sought. He preferred to analyze the present rather than speculate on the future. His few remarks on communism reflect his life-long focus on class. The communist society he envisioned would organize the production of goods and services as follows: the working people who produced the surplus would also receive and distribute it. That is, the social division between workers and capitalists would be abolished. Everyone who labored would by rights, also have an equal say in how much surplus was produced, who was to get it, and what was to be done with it. Isn’t this individualism? How does this differ from neoclassical thought? Explain.

Answer 1

The theories that Marx gave ultimately reflect what the individual gets at the end. However, these thoeries are different from the neoclassical theories because Marx has used an entirely different lens.

The neoclassicals focussed on the promoting the self interest of the individuals. This promotion of self interest gave leads to capitalism whereby everyone is fighting for their maximising their own share of profits. However, this leads to decline in the share of wages. Due to this, the workers are at the receiving end because of the race of profit maximisation.

However, Marx propounded that the toil of workers should also be taken into consideration and they should be given their due compensation. The share of wages should not be reduced to increase the cut of profits.

Thus, Marx's theories do not imply individualism. He does not wanted to increase the wage of one worker which will lead to decline in wage of the other worker. There is no competition. He proposed to increase the share of the worker class as a whole.

Thus, Marx's theories are very different from the neoclassical theories.