Karl Marx: Das Kapital: From Capitalist Exploitation to Communist Revolution

by David Ramsay Steele, Louis Rukeyser (Narrated by)

Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital during the late industrial revolution, as Europe underwent a wrenching transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy. In this monumental work, Marx argued that capitalism is both inefficient and immoral, relying upon the exploitation of workers by owners of capital. Many modern ideas about profits, interest, monopoly, and the wastefulness of the business cycle find their roots in the Marxian view of economics.

The Great Economic Thinkers Series is a collection of presentations that explain in understandable language the major ideas of history's most important economists. Special emphasis is placed on each thinker's attitude toward capitalism, revealing their influence in today's debate on economic progress and prosperity.

174 min (2:54)

Genres: Economics, History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Politics, Philosophy

174 pages, Audio CD

First published April 15, 2006

Reviews

[bunnyhero]

i thought this was an audiobook of Das Kapital itself when i borrowed it from the library, with a really long introduction. it was only after the “introduction” was over and the book ended that i realized what i’d borrowed. guess i needed to read the description more carefully lol!

[Mintwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better than usual examination of Das Kapital--Steele has no apparent ax to grind, a welcome relief from the common, frothing pro-Marx or anti-Marx commentaries. He also includes commentary from and about Engels, Marx's longtime collaborator and posthumous editor.

Marx was among the first to correctly identify Labor as Capital. For that alone, he is worth reading. Unfortunately, he was also a moralistic prig, who dropped his chain of logic in order to pursue ideological points. As a result, his conclusions have turned out to be entirely wrong on every count, his predictions invariably failing to materialize.

Especially entertaining are the parts of the text in which Marx (and Engels) attempt to devise a system of exchange that does not depend on money, and end up reinventing money, but poorly. The influence of this scheme, and others equally hare-brained, can be seen in Soviet communism.

[Kolbrún Matthíasdóttir]

ég hata þessa isma ritgerð! (ágæt bók samt)

[Grehta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked - seizing the means of production
Disliked - the gulags

[Slava Bernat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an obviously biased commentary on Marxist ideas. I still enjoyed it because it's a good learning tool to compare ideas with criticism as you learn them. I'm sure Marx was right about many things but so are other economists, too. The ultimate test for any theory is precisely finding cases where it doesn't work and in its ability to explain away those cases; and also in making useful predictions. The biggest problem with this audiobook is that it leaves unclear how critical exposed limitations were to the very message of Das Kapital. I'll probably have to read the big book itself to understand. But this book was a useful primer.

[Miles Sterrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

The commentary was fine. I thought it was a bit opinionated - I would've preferred more presentation of facts with numbers and or references in a commentary, a bit less defensiveness, but it is short and sweet. Plus, I was looking to experience the unadulterated zealotry of Karl Marx. This commentary tempers that. Ultimately, I think both Mr. Marx and Mr. Steele are a bit optimistic as to humanity, and its ability to be good in large groups, if that makes any sense at all.

It is sometimes hard to remember that Karl Marx began writing this 50+ years before the Soviet Union (and he died nearly 40 years before the Soviet Union).

[Corey Florucci · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book claims to be Marx's Kapital, but it is far from it. There are sparse quotes and brief interludes explaining historical context, but the vast majority of this book is a refutation of a broad spectrum of Marx's assertions. Some of which refutations are laughably inaccurate.

Some criticisms of Marx are valid, such as Marx's clearly misjudged and insubstantial theory of value and its roots in the labor theory of value. It's easy to pick apart Marx, who claims value can only be created by living workers when there are fully automated factories in existence. You can make that argument, sure.

Many see Marx as a pioneer for a planned economy and robust government control aka Marxism, because of the obvious history of communism inspired by Marx's writings. The failures of such attempts leaving horrific memories and a clear reminder that communism should be shouted down and feared whenever mentioned. This book takes this approach to explaining Marxism, it is blatant propaganda. Discussion should be encouraged, especially in a book claiming to be espousing the views of Marx himself.

How can it be propaganda if some of the criticisms are valid? Well, for starters, this book claims to BE Karl Marx's "Das Kapital," though it is not even close. It is instead a criticism of the entirety of Marx's theories, though most arguments are cherry-picked strawmen. It becomes evident that this is propaganda when it makes invalid criticisms of Marx.

Marx made poignant, cutting, and genius criticisms of capitalism. This, in my opinion, is where Marx struck gold. Every book I've read by Marx begins with an eloquent description of the failings inherent in a competitive, unplanned, anarchic economy (capitalism.) I find it hard to argue with 99% of what Marx asserts there. Having been born into the exact state of capitalism Marx criticisms, it's hard to argue. This book, however, does argue, and quite a lot, with these criticisms of capitalism. Most arguments are laughable.

For example, Marx asserts that, due to the accumulation of capital/profits over time, large corporations are capable of becoming monopolies, and capitalism inherently leads to monopolies. This is boldly refuted in this book. However, as anyone with eyes can see, governments all over the world have spent a century breaking up monopolies and even still monopolies continue to dominate.

This book also asserts that wages do not tend to lower due to competition. Marx claims that, if the unemployment rate is high, wages can be lower because there is a large pool of labor to draw from. If a worker is demanding higher wages, you can simply fire him and hire someone cheaper. This book claims this theory to be false. Hard not to laugh out loud at such a refutation. For example, if capitalism lead to HIGHER wages, why the need for a minimum wage? Why the need to constantly increase it? Why the reliance on illegal immigrant labor for undesirable, unprofitable jobs? The answer is obvious, Marx was correct. Due to competition in the labor force, there will be those willing to work for less, which leads to decreased wages. It's an inherent flaw in an unplanned economy.

Marx also claims that capitalism leads to periods of boom and periods of bust. Periods of rapid profit and inflation, followed by periods of depression and deflation. This book, again, refutes this. In one, however, has lived for any time at all throughout any period in history, they have lived through exactly such periods of boom and bust. All of which were brought on by the inherent tendencies of our unplanned, capitalist economy. To argue against such a tendency can only be done in bad faith.

There are many such laughable refutations in this volume of propaganda. If anyone is looking to educate themselves on the theories of Marx, I'd stay far away from this trash.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text is a great primer on Marx and his economic theories and concepts. In a fairly unbiased way, Steele presents a number of Marx's basic concepts. Skillfully, the author points out where Marx and other economists agree, and where they diverge. I particularly liked how often Steele cites Marx's own words to illustrate his points. I loved that Steele touched on Marx's use of metaphor in order to voice some of his ethical concerns about capitalism. Thankfully, Steele teases out the historical and political departures from Marx's actual ideas in the formation of authoritarian Communist regimes. The atrocities of these regimes are often used to demonize traditional Marxism, rather than addressing Marx's claims in a rational discourse. Steele's treatment of the subject was a breath of fresh air...

[Blake Nischwitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was Das capital instead it was more of a cliff notes version. It explained in more clear English but it used excerpts from Das Capital and other works from the likes of Engels and other contemporaries. It felt like a good listen because it discussed other ideas as well as history of the Marx and his writings and the world that they were written in. It felt like a more rounded approach to Marxism economics because it didn’t hold it on a pedestal and it didn’t rally against Marx just for the sake of it. By the way I’ve not read or listened to Das Capitol in the pure form so maybe it was very different than this explanation.

[David Lilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was curious what Marx had to say about his economic theory. I found it mildly interesting, but then again, his theory has been completely disproved, in theory and in practice. Still it was worth the time to learn more about such an influential theory that has caused the destruction of so many lives.

[Aksel Henrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helt grei. Originalen er sikkert bedre men fyf den er lang.

[Vlad Stepanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does a decent job at explaining Marx's beliefs on Capitalism. He also refutes quite a bit of Marx's beliefs with good arguments.

[Emily]

The reader didn’t seem to hate communism which was a nice change from most Karl Marx commentaries

[Thiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little outdated view. Interesting overall.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super informative, and lays out both arguments of Marx and his critics in an easy to understand manner.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The arguments against Marx did not age well and absolutely didn’t hold up against economic superpowers and billionaires.

[Durgaprasad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karl Marx is one of the most influential thinkers in the last millennium. This book presents a concise account of Das Kapital.

[P.J. Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karl Marx believed that workers were being exploited by their capitalist employers; that they were being underpaid. He thought that the "surplus value" expropriated by bosses was too high relative to the value created by workers. To prove his point he had to assess the values of commodities, not a simple thing to do. Is the value of a commodity to be determined by the labor time that went into it? By its utility? By its scarcity? In the capitalist system, values were determined by market demand, how much consumers were willing to pay. If communism eliminated market competition, how then to determine values? This is only one of many complex problems raised by "Das Kapital," which predicts and calls for revolution because capitalism, says Marx, is wasteful and unstable and pursues money, not human welfare. Whether Marx proved his point is endlessly debatable. His predictions have had mixed results. But his book asks the right questions.

This audiobook is a good introduction to the economics of Marx and the historical impact of his book. It concludes that the ruthless Communism of the Soviet Union had little to do with him.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief commentary on Karl Marx' tome, Das Kapital. Although scientifically archaic, Marx's books and ideas have had an enormous impact on the world. Marx was a critique first and foremost, and a revolutionary second. He didn't put down a very firm foundation for communism but rather laid a powerful critique on the understanding of capitalism at the time.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting and informative little book that explains a bit about Marx, his beliefs and what he presents in 'Das Kapital.' It's nice that it tries to stay more or less neutral on the topic of communism and explain the information as it is.

[RJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

1) I'm a UofC econ guy, sorry, Karl.
2) Far too many holes in his logic, some of his points are good, but he makes strange jumps in my opinion.