Question

Liberal Thought on Labor

Adam Smith, in Wealth of Nations (1776), provided the philosophical justification for liberalism, which we use more or less interchangeably with capitalism. Marx, almost a century later, analyzed capitalism in a starkly different manner.What did Marx, the theorist, believe to be wrong with how liberal thought portrayed labor? (Remember not to get sidetracked by whether or not socialist ideas are worth pursuing).

Expert Solution

Liberal thought in a way tends to misrepresent labor by significantly reducing it to a simple article of trade within the framework of capitalism.Liberal thinkers perceive labor as a viable factor of production that people can buy and sell in a market just like any other tangible or intangible resource. However, Marx contends that labor is different from other business resources or commodities since it is often concerned with the mental and physical efforts that human beings exert during production (Ian, n, d).Therefore, labor should be perceived as a passive production input but rather a force that adds value to services and goods that a business engages in producing

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