Peggy Little
PHI 445
Ashford University
The two competing economic systems are capitalism and socialism. In Adam Smith’s Capitalism, there are three vital concepts; the economy is driven by selfish desire for luxury goods, economic balance is achieved through a self-regulating invisible hand, and the government’s role in a nation’s economic system should be limited . In Karl Marx’s socialism, there are three main features; in a capitalist system, workers are alienated from their labor, in capitalism, there is a class struggle between the working class and the business owners, and workers must improve their situation by revolting against capitalist forces in society.
The Capitalistic system is good in some ways, but when we have a system of free enterprise, it leads to greed and selfishness. Ideally, greed fuels the economy; it undermines the value system that drives the economy. According to Smith, “It is not the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regards to their own interest” . It is the self-interest of the people causes them to trade. This trade drives an economy toward progression that creates great profitable living condition for the people in the economy. When greed and selfishness becomes an element that the marketplace determines as having gone too far, it will react and it becomes the critical factor in deciding what is hazardous to society. However, Marx argued that greed and selfishness is intrinsic to capitalism. The presence of extreme and obscene wealth and extreme and shocking poverty represents how capitalism has already gone too far. Marx would make the case that capitalism is a runaway train that has already gone too far in society.
When Smith said, the liberal reward of labor those enable parents to provide better for their children. He emphasized that given the nature that adults work and children are supported by the salaries of the adults. The issue is a hot topic since some companies believe that their business is entirely justified in the creation of industries using child employment. They are working at their own interest, minimizing costs, and maximizing their profits; companies are justified economically. However, it is argued that the only other option for the children working is starvation. The company is focusing on the efficiency of the industry, and not the implications of that efficiency; it is business without conscience.
Virtue manifested an effort of liberality and fairness that the greater part of a person is incapable, and even though it fails of absolute perfection, it comes to the point that it approximates towards perfection as expected. People desire both to be respected and to be respectable. In the ethical perspective, the desire for respect and esteem motivate people at work. People have their options to choose their occupations based on the level of respect, others choose to follow material wealth based on admiration, and some choose to follow what they consider as their calling in life.
Reference
Fieser, J., & Moseley, A. (2012). Introduction to Business Ethics. San Diego, California:
Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Skousen, M. (2007). The Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard
Keynes. Armonk, New York: ME Sharpe.
