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Comparison Of Marx And The Division Of Labor

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Another aspect that advances division and increases capital is economic competition between individuals. If there was no competition than innovation would not happen because people would not compete. Competition allows for producing more profitable and advanced products according to Marx. The greater the division of labor, the more a laborer accomplishes. Laborers compete to sell themselves as much as accomplishing the work of five or more laborers for example. The division of labor causes them to compete in such a way to maintain their position/wage. A laborer will work a greater number of hours or accomplish more in the same amount of hours in order to survive a capitalist based society. Therefore, the more a laborer works, the more they compete against one another. Even in society today, we are …show more content…

For instance, students compete with one another to be in the top 10% of their class and we are taught that this recognition makes us unique and standout. It is the same concept in work, we compete with one another to become employee of the month or to earn a higher salary by receiving a raise. Competition facilitates in the rise of capitalism through individuals who advance the products being made. Thus the process of modernization strengthens as does capitalism.
The use of machinery and employment of wage laborers creates large-scale industries. Marx believed that machines were some form of technology, therefore establishing a transition from feudalism to capitalism. Competitors eventually adopt similar tactics, and in order to gain an advantage over a competitor a business must increase their productivity. Rather than hiring more laborers, building a machine outdid the productive power of any individual. Thus, fewer workers needed to be paid. Marx believed that “steam and machinery revolutionized industrial production” (Marx, The Manifesto, 220). The result of machinery increased production but also decreased the necessary labor time a

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