Capitalism Comic

Posted on February 9, 2012 by | 7 Comments

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7 responses to “Capitalism Comic”

  1. marisolguzman | February 10, 2012 at 9:48 pm | Reply

    This cartoon strip demonstrates the ignorance that capitalist/ owners have when it comes to their workers. Its truly amazing how there are people in this society who do act like this when it comes to their workers. I am pretty sure that the majority of the workers are aware that they are creating products at a low cost and they deserve more for the hours of labor they are putting into the product but since most workers need the job they will not say anything in order to keep their jobs. I believe that capitalist try to find immigrants to work for them so they can pay them low wages since many americans will not work for a low pay. That’s why in the cartoon strip the owner told the other man to shut up because he doesnt want the workers to find out that they are being “used” for a low pay.

  2. mwu103 | February 11, 2012 at 11:55 am | Reply

    This theory demonstrates the idea in one of Marx’s theories which illustrates the exploitation of workers in a corporation or business. The owner or owners of the corporations likes to take advantages of those who work hard for their living and careless of living conditions are. In the cartoon, it is assumed that the workers are those people with a low level of education and does not understand the truth behind the corporation’s schemes. The man who asked so many questions seems to be a personal assistant or something because the owner is basically telling him to keep his mouth shut even though he figured out the truth. The personal assistant goes along with it because he might not be affected by how the owners treat the workers. The workers are working every day to make ends meet and do not realize or probably does not have the time to acknowledge this important fact. This important fact is that these owners of the corporations have the “controller” of how much a person earns. Even today, some corporation exploits their workers without the workers knowing. This type of scheme is not something new in the economy; it has been played for centuries. Why? Simply because of greed and competition, owners of a business or businesses only care about their own well-being. They want to make as much profit as they can and they will do it in any means to gain that profit. Another reason is competition, as more businesses are increasing in the society, being able to catch the consumer’s taste sometimes becomes difficult or too easy. Competition makes people do silly things; sometimes these silly things will hurt others. When a business acknowledges its popularity in the society with its products and costs, the owner will increase their products to sell more to people. And this is where workers becomes exploited by their labor, they spend so many hours producing the products and earn very little amount to spend on one self. This is most often associated with immigrations coming to America to find “opportunities and the American dream.” But it is also associated with those who do not have a high level of education diploma such as high school dropouts, or college students with a bachelor’s degree.

  3. danacarpentieri | February 13, 2012 at 1:08 pm | Reply

    This is probably my favorite visual demonstration thus far. I agree with mwu103 that this demonstrates Marx’s theory of exploitation of workers. The man tells his worker to work faster. The worker is paid $25 per day. The man sells products in order to pay his worker. The products however are made by that same worker so it’s like he’s working for free and then some because the products he makes are exceeding the $25 per day mark. He makes $100 worth of product so the boss is actually making $75 off his worker. The boss thinks that just because he owns the machines he has the right to do this. He bought the machines with the product money. The cartoon ends because the boss sees that this person questioning him knows the unfair logic behind this exploitation of the worker. It seems as if the boss knows that his worker is either desperate or not smart when it comes to business practices.

  4. Nicole Hala | February 13, 2012 at 1:25 pm | Reply

    Thanks, Karina, for this fantastic comic — maybe the most straightforward explanation of Marx’s theory of labor exploitation. It even presents and rebuts the key counter-claim that the capitalist/owner is entitled to the “surplus value” (and profits therefrom) because he’s supplied the machines for the work. Marisol and Meng Meng, you’ve helpfully articulated the basic story.

    Meng Meng, you bring up the interesting question of education, suggesting that this state affairs is perpetuated due to lack of education. Education is indeed critical here, but it isn’t so simple. Marx’s idea of labor exploitation is based on the “labor theory of value” (shared by classical economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo) — but it’s a contested theory, which is not part of mainstream economics today. So even if this worker had a degree in economics, he might not be any more likely to see his predicament as a case of exploitation. Marx would add that it’s “bourgeois ideology” that blinds us to our exploitation and obscures workers’ real interests, which stand opposed to the interests of their employers.

  5. vjung1012 | February 14, 2012 at 11:49 am | Reply

    This comic shows the inequalities of the worker in a capitalist nation. This is shown when the owner tells the worker to work “faster”, on the products the worker makes, which profits the owner.

    The comic strip embodies the exploitation the worker receives from an skewed class/working system.

  6. noeherrerajr | February 15, 2012 at 4:43 am | Reply

    This is truly an excellent political cartoon. It most certainly highlights “worker exploitation”, which was one of the main reasons that Karl Marx disliked Capitalism. It all has to do with an individuals access to the means of production. When an individual owns the means of production, he/she is able to dictate the rate of production, what is being produced, and how they are producing it. Unfortunately for the workers, they are replaceable assets that can be hired or dismissed at will, and can be replaced by someone willing to work for a lesser wage if that individual possesses the same skill set.

    This political cartoon might have been produced many years ago, but it is extremely relevant in today’s society. Business owners, and those that have a close relationship with the owners of the means of production will always try to get the most out of their workers for the least amount of cost. It is unfortunately what Capitalism promotes, the ability to profit as much as possible while trying to achieve it at the lowest cost.

  7. nicole992 | February 15, 2012 at 8:45 pm | Reply

    This comic explains exploitation perfectly which reflects on Marx’s theory of exploitation of workers in a business. It starts off with a man working and an owner yelling at him to work faster. Another man comes along and starts questioning him about what he’s doing. Basically, the man asks him questions which lead to the conclusion that the product that the worker is making is actually profiting the owner much more. The justification that the owner uses for this exploitation is that he provides the machines so he “deserves” to get more of the profit. However, when the man asks him how he got the machines the owner replies that he sold products (that his workers made) and bought them. This essentially illustrates the continuous cycle of exploitation that capitalism supports because of greed and competition of businesses.

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