Marx and Moore
Marx and Moore
The biggest difference between the views of Marx and Davis and Moore resides in the issue of the distribution of resources. While Marx believes that there is an inequality in the distribution of resources between the bourgeoisie and proletariat classes, Davis and Moore theorize that inequality has to happen so that the most important positions are filled by the most qualified.
Marx perceives society made up as two classes, the powerful and exploitive higher class known as the bourgeoisie and the industrial wage earners that must earn their living by selling their labor known as the proletariat. The bourgeoisie is known as the private property owners and the proletariat works for the bourgeoisie. There is an inequality between these two classes because the bourgeoisie takes advantage of the proletariat by having them work in order to live. Marx believes that what make us human are our productive and creative abilities and when the proletariat works, they lose individual character because they are working for their lives. This causes the proletariat to be alienated while the bourgeoisie capitalist basically sits back and uses the proletariat’s work to its full advantage.
The proletariat is commonly alienated and this is harmful because alienation is only a disadvantage for the proletariat. Devalue in human life is in relation to how much worldly value is increased. As the worker produces products, the object produced becomes independent of the worker, since it is taken away once it is finished, such that the worker value decreases. The more the worker labors, the more the object that he produces will dominate his life and he will become less in value. The work the worker does is also imposed because the process of laboring does not enrich the worker’s life, it is done for others. There is a need of creativity in doing work but the work done by the proletariat is necessary in order to survive and is not an intrinsic characteristic. Thus, the proletariat faces two alienations: 1) from himself and the need to do conscious and creative life activity and 2) from other humans since individuals become more distant from each other.
Therefore, it can be simplified down to this: the proletariat is always working not for himself but for the bourgeoisie in order to survive, producing products that will not only be taken away from them but decrease their human value as well. If one is to assign a monetary value to a proletariat’s life, for example a hundred dollars, each time the proletariat works, a dollar will be decreased from his total value and in the end he is basically left with nothing. However, since the bourgeoisie is the capitalist, he gains from the products produced by the proletariat and increases