I arranged an interview with the head of philosophy at the Farnborough sixth form college, who had specialized Marxism in Higher education. The decision to arrange the meeting was initially to enhance my knowledge further in Marxist ideologies whilst seeing if my proposed arguments were relevant.
Prior to the interview I wrote questions surrounding my project, these first covering the causes of the financial crises, leading on to the relevance of Marxist ideologies and concluding whether my arguments sustained validity.
Steven Thomas had highlighted the The tendency for rate of profit to fall (TRPF) argument, which has enabled a greater understanding of Marxist thought. I intend to look further into this argument by exploring chapter 3, volume 3 of Das Kapital, which I hope to further my knowledge in.
Another interesting point Steven made was the establishment of Finance Capitalism, as opposed to industrial Capitalism which Marx based his fundamental ideologies on. This point had led into an in depth discussion in which a possible point was achieved for my essay. This being that the profit incentive for Capitalism is driving it into different developments, to ultimately gain more profit, depicted through the transition of Industrial to Finance.
However, Thomas did discuss a good counter argument in which I hope to explore further; this being that the Financial crises was not related to Capitalism's flaws but the lack of sustainable planning inflicted by Governments and Banks. Suggested through the US in which high credit output resulted in the collapse of huge banks, such as Lehman Brothers.
To conclude, the interview was a success and essential in the development of my project. Stevens high understanding and knowledge on Marx has enabled me to comprehend his theories and relative ideas on Capitalism. Ultimately, the most useful point he highlighted was that Marx believed there was something wrong in the 'gears' of the political structure, hence conveying the ultimate flaw of the system, which may correspond to the crises we have experienced.
Prior to the interview I wrote questions surrounding my project, these first covering the causes of the financial crises, leading on to the relevance of Marxist ideologies and concluding whether my arguments sustained validity.
Steven Thomas had highlighted the The tendency for rate of profit to fall (TRPF) argument, which has enabled a greater understanding of Marxist thought. I intend to look further into this argument by exploring chapter 3, volume 3 of Das Kapital, which I hope to further my knowledge in.
Another interesting point Steven made was the establishment of Finance Capitalism, as opposed to industrial Capitalism which Marx based his fundamental ideologies on. This point had led into an in depth discussion in which a possible point was achieved for my essay. This being that the profit incentive for Capitalism is driving it into different developments, to ultimately gain more profit, depicted through the transition of Industrial to Finance.
However, Thomas did discuss a good counter argument in which I hope to explore further; this being that the Financial crises was not related to Capitalism's flaws but the lack of sustainable planning inflicted by Governments and Banks. Suggested through the US in which high credit output resulted in the collapse of huge banks, such as Lehman Brothers.
To conclude, the interview was a success and essential in the development of my project. Stevens high understanding and knowledge on Marx has enabled me to comprehend his theories and relative ideas on Capitalism. Ultimately, the most useful point he highlighted was that Marx believed there was something wrong in the 'gears' of the political structure, hence conveying the ultimate flaw of the system, which may correspond to the crises we have experienced.