Marx, Weber and their Critique of Global Capitalism

While Marx and Weber had divergent analyses of capitalism, their evaluations of modern global capitalism have a common thread of thought. They both view the implementation of global capitalism, where subordinating individual needs and desires to achieve the end goal of accumulating wealth for wealth’s sake, as irrational and unreasonable. Because of that commonality, it is feasible to draw from both analyses to explain global capitalization today.

Karl Marx believed that the ultimate end of society is an imminent and significant, consisting of happiness, which can only be achieved via organized collectivism. Reality is controlled by financial necessity (historical materialism). In practical application, this theory means that the capitalist order must be dismantled, even by violent revolution as a last resort, because only through such annihilation can a healthier political, economic and social organization be realized. To establish this new format of society, the proletariat (the working class) must be organized groups (e.g. labour unions) and rise up against the bourgeoisie (the upper class capitalists) who take advantage of them. Marx’s analysis is the schism between the social classes -- the proletariat versus the bourgeoisie. In the end, the working class will triumph, which is the incarnation of universal socialism.

Marx is passionate, idealistic and strongly anti-capitalist.

Like Marx, Weber had a variety of interests, including politics, history, religion, law, administration, politics, sociology and economics. His analysis of capitalism is not as systematic or intricate as Marx, but his scope is more esoteric. He views capitalism from the social, political and economic viewpoints, using concepts and approaches avoide...

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