Does Karl Marx's account of the workings of the market economy help us Essay

Does Karl Marx's account of the workings of the market economy help us tounderstand the causes and likely outcomes of the present global economic crisis - Essay Example s school, British literary critic Frederic Jameson, and German sociologist Max Weber all have researched and presented Marxist perspectives in their fields. Marx’s lasting influence has ensured his lasting place in the idealisms of people across time and space. In the face of the current financial crisis, people in Germany have turned to Karl Marx for guidance (Connolly). This is understandable, given the widely-held notion that laissez-faire capitalism, the subject of so much Marxist vitriol, is the villain and mastermind of the crisis. Thus, it seems that the works of Marx and other Leftist thinkers might have some relevance in creating a lasting solution to the problem. As Machiavelli famously said, â€Å"For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are more often influenced by the things that seem than by those that are† (Hacker 179). As educated citizens, we must resolve not to be satisfied with the superficia lities of the appearances, and seek reality. Analyzing Marxist theory and its impact allows us to understand what is beyond mere appearance. From the given facts of reality we can derive a normative prescription for the world to follow: steps that involve listening to the words eternal in their wisdom. Karl Marx, as alluded to before, left a lasting impact on many fields; of these perhaps the sociology of work in particular felt the largest effect. He accounted for the fundamentally political relationship between employer and employee, as well as the materiality of class conflict. This analysis remains pivotal in the sociological examination of work. Marx pushed forward the prospect of a sociological approach to work, which he delimited the scope â€Å"to the sociology of the factory†. Marx’s analysis provided the foundation of the relationship between home and work. Along with this came a description of exploitation irrespective of class (Grint 95). Although the crux of Marxist theory has been