FREE ESSAY ON CAPITALISM/COMMUNISM

CAPITALISM/COMMUNISM

Communist vs. Capitalist
Andrew Carnegie's The Gospel of Wealth describes a capitalist society in which each man
works for himself in the race for independent wealth. In this caste society, progress is
defined as the continual accumulation of material wealth. An individual's organizational
skills lead to his success; his success acquires wealth, which in turn provides higher
social status than his working class counterparts. Carnegie defines progress as material
gain. He claims that over the years, wealth has been accumulated slowly through
generations. Does this accumulation of wealth truly define progress? Does this definition
of a capitalistic society include all members of the society? 
Carnegie has failed to include the working class counterparts to these so-called
successful men. Carnegie's definition of capitalism is one sided and does not recognize
the value of the disfavored members of its society. In reality, the only people who
benefit from Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth are the ones who were rich to begin with. In a
capitalist society, as Marx and Engels explain in their Manifesto of the Communist Party,
the wealthy continue to exploit the working class to benefit no one other than
themselves. By forcing the working class to work at lower wages, the wealthy will benefit
because their costs are minimized. However, while the wealthy continue to enjoy higher
paychecks, the workers continue to watch their own paychecks diminish. Therefore, the gap
between the rich and poor is only growing wider. Thus, we have class conflict.
Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels rationalize a society in which each man works for the well
being of the group instead of personal gain. The existence of the group is improved
because of a group effort to achieve a higher quality of living. This idea of Communism
also includes the abolition of class conflict: the wealthy Bourgeoisie versus the working
class Proletariat. The communists believe that the proletariat will eventually overthrow
the bourgeoisie and achieve a classless society where the free development of each is the
condition for the free development of all. In contrast to the capitalist society, the
state regulates each citizen's wealth. Instead of capitalistic birthright, the communists
have no right to inheritance or property. Communism takes on a new meaning of all men
created equal.
Communism is not what I consider the ideal economy; however, Marx and Engels give a
stronger essay than Carnegie does. They address each aspect of the communist values,
while also persuading the reader that the proletariats have every opportunity to abolish
castes. With such thoroughness, the argument takes on strength that Carnegie simply lacks
in his essay.