Karl Marx held that egoism was a strong force shaping people’s conduct; however, he rested upon the assumption that the inner and true nature of our selves is striving towards aligning with the community. Nevertheless, in search of their own benefit, capitalist societies embraced the “dog-eat-dog” greedy and selfish part of human nature. While residing on so-called human rights derived from selfishness, modern societies celebrate wealth accumulation and separation of individuals from one another. This uncontrolled wealth accumulation and separation of workers from products of their own labour led to a situation when creativity and open-mindedness for the benefit of the community are no longer welcome unless they result in financial profits. Workers became mere tools in the hands of business owners. These developments are a natural hazard to the society.
It is easy to explain economic recession from this position: uncontrolled capital accumulation of bankers and financiers led to a situation when the economy of the nation was trapped in a network of greed. Another part of the explanation is that people due to their selfishness and thrust to alienate themselves from others engaged in conspicuous consumption and accumulated loans and mortgages they could not afford paying.
While this position of Karl Marx deserves close attention, I am deeply convinced that humans like other animals are genetically programmed to be selfish and greedy. While we may seek ways to intertwine our efforts with goals and aims of the community, we do it because those efforts deliver pleasure to ourselves and thus satisfy our egos. By connecting ourselves with products of our labour we seek pleasure and satisfaction rather than think of the benefits this work may bring to the community we belong to.
References
Fieser, J. & Moseley, A. (2012). Introduction to business ethics. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Running head: ADAM SMITH OR KARL MARX PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 1
ADAM SMITH OR KARL MARX PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT …