Today’s podcast is an article by Louis O. Kelso, “Karl Marx: the Almost Capitalist.” In the article Kelso identifies three critical flaws in Karl Marx’s theoretical framework, arguing that addressing these errors would necessitate rejecting collective ownership of production means in favor of widespread individual ownership. Louis Kelso’s critique identifies three fundamental errors in Karl Marx’s analysis that led him to reject capitalism and advocate socialism:
1. Labor Theory of Value. Marx adopted David Ricardo’s premise that only human labor creates economic value, dismissing capital’s productivity. Kelso argues this was obsolete in the Industrial Age, where machines increasingly generated wealth. Marx treated capital as “congealed labor” rather than recognizing its independent productive role, leading him to falsely claim capitalists “stole” surplus value from workers.
2. Misunderstanding Private Property. Marx blamed private capital ownership for worker exploitation and advocated state ownership. Kelso counters that private property is essential for political freedom, as state-controlled capital risks authoritarianism. Marx failed to foresee how democratizing ownership (via shareholder models) could align capitalism with justice.
3. Surplus Value Misconception. Marx viewed profits as theft from laborers, ignoring capital’s inherent productivity. Kelso clarifies that returns on capital investments are legitimate, not exploitative when ownership is widespread. This error led Marx to demand worker revolution rather than systemic reforms to broaden ownership.
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| Karl Marx . . . Almost a Capitalist? |
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Karl Marx: the Almost-Capitalist
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And if you want the playlists for previous videos:
Economic Personalism (The Book)
Economic Personalism v. The Great Reset
Socialism, Modernism and the New Age
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