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[132] Cdew: Marx's starting point. Marx begins his presentation of economics by calling it “political economy”
as well as by introducing the idea of wealth and the commodity. Wealth is
referring to anything that enhances human life. This can be anything from
private wealth to public parks and beaches. While Marx uses wealth to begin
his examination of economics, most modern approaches begin with the idea of
scarcity. This is often examined through the allocation of scarce resources
or that there are unlimited wants and needs and limited resources that must
choose which goods and services to produce. Marx on the other hand begins
with people already having those things that enhance life. This is not to
say that Marx was more of an optimist than most of today's economists, but
rather that he believed using the commodity to explain wealth was the most
simple entrance into understanding political economy. Wealth comes in the
form of commodities, and in order to work up into money and capital Marx
believed it was simpler to begin at the point of wealth. I think it is easy
to begin with scarcity today since so many people relate more to what they
want than what they already have. This also allows for a belief that there
are things we can change in order to get what we want. When Marx begins
with wealth, it makes it seem that we are in a stopping place; that what we
have is all we are going to get. |
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