The ideologies of Karl Marx and Adam Smith would be compared to that of socialism and democracy today; complete government control verses little government control. These two men were completely opposite in their ideologies. As history plays out, it is clear that Marx’s ideologies led to communist control and extremely harsh conditions for the people. Smith’s ideas, on the other hand, encouraged capitalism and growth in the western world. The Marx system supported government control over everything from land ownership and production to owning property and banking.
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This system would give all control to the state with no local or individual control and ownership. His ideas were supposed to establish democracy: “A government by the people ruled of the majority with representation of the people through elections. ” The Marx system was far from a democratic system and eventually led to the complete opposite, communism. In sharp contrast, the Laissez-Faire economics that Adam Smith supported and believed government should not interfere in the free operation of the economy.
It supported Free- enterprise with markets producing more goods and making them affordable to all. Capital goods and investments would be privately owned rather than state controlled. The belief of free enterprise would promote general well fare for all. The government would take measures to fight poverty by allowing the people to work for themselves which would create a stronger economy and get rid of mercantilism. His ideas and promotion of less government and free market led to capitalism and great wealth in the western world.
The biggest problems that came with capitalism were monopolies. Some government control was necessary in preventing monopolies. The Marx System and Laissez-Faire systems were intended to promote the well fare of all the people and establish a government that would support the people. Marx was viewed as controversial and Adam Smith was viewed as a great leader of economics that is still recognized as a force that shaped our economic system today. These two men have been studied by economists and leaders for many years and will continue to be studied.
A democratic system is intended to produce this type of government that allows free enterprise and less government control. When comparing the two ideologies it is easy to see that there were great extremes in beliefs of how countries shoe be run, how much control government should or should not have is still at the center of political debates today and will likely remain at the center of political ideologies. The importance of comparing the ideologies is to learn from the past and then make good decisions about the future that would be best for all peoples.
