Masters of Money vs The Father of Communism

"Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!"

I understand that reading that quote, you might be thinking "what the..." or "are we back in the 1800's?" and I would have probably agreed with you before looking into his views. However, whilst Karl Marx's ideas could be considered radical, confusing and downright strange at times, I propose that he actually provides an insight into the global financial crisis.

Whilst other theorists like Keynes and Hayek argued that the government should take control of the power of money, Marx actually proposed that the unfair regime of capitalism should be abolished. His sense of urgency and proposal that things cannot go on forever as they are can be related to the 21st century and could be an insight into the 2008 financial crisis. Described as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930's, the global crisis was a disastrous event which affected economies worldwide. It was the collision of capitalism and globalisation which created this disaster.

With the collapse of the Lehman Brothers, a global bank, the biggest financial crisis in 80 years began. This all links to Marx's theories: the US economy has simply been spending too much but also borrowing too much whilst the rest of the world depended on the US consumer for global demand. This selfish and immoral behaviour proves exactly what Marx was trying to say. With not only the impact on Europe and the USA, growth was affected in Kenya and Cambodia, proving that the selfishness of one country can create a global ripple effect.

Marx suggested that economic relationships are at the heart of everything. With bosses squeezing the workers to make a profit, and the same workers not being able to afford what the bosses are trying to sell in society. With ordinary people not having enough money to spend thanks to the distribution of wealth to those in power, it is no wonder that people felt the pressure to borrow more.



Some disagree with Marx, a particular favourite of mine that made me laugh is "everything is bound to collapse if you wait long enough". But unfortunately, as an ordinary person and not a member of the upper class, I do not share that specific opinion. It seems that viewpoints like that seem to excuse what we have experienced in society. We cannot allow global financial crises to happen just because someone thinks "oh well, it was bound to happen at some point". Others suggest that if capitalism is so disastrous, how could it have created such amazing things? We have so many things available to us - fresh food flown in from other countries and the widest variety of products. BUT it is important to look at the dark side of this society. How are these products readily available to us? Shops. Businesses. Organisations. Companies. What is the main aim of these shops/businesses/organisations/companies? Profit. Some argue that profit is one of the things driving the world forward. Whilst Marx appreciated that profit brings amazing things to society, it is also the basis for global crises.

Marx's theory of bosses v workers proposes that the capitalist bosses can exploit their workers for a small wage, going on to then sell the products in society for more than they pay their workers. Sound familiar, Mike Ashley? This theory could easily be applied to companies worldwide today. Debenhams was recently named and shamed by the government for paying less than the minimum wage to its staff as well as Argos and of course, Sports Direct. Since the government started this practice in 2013, more than 1,000 employers have been named publicly.

I will admit, when I first looked into Karl Marx and his ideas, it was refreshing to see his point of view, especially since he was considered revolutionary at the time of his writings. However, after I considered he started writing 150 years ago, it was scary to realise that his points could easily be applied to the world today.

Ending on a lighter note... whilst watching the Masters of Money documentary, it did make me laugh to see that Karl Marx's first home had been turned into a museum full of products with his face on available to buy. I wonder whether he would appreciate this blatant show of capitalism.