Books that offer a criticism of Capitalism

[Broletariat]

I'm looking for books that offer a straight up criticism of capitalism, encompassing the exploitation inherent in a capitalist mode of production, the social issues caused by the class system etc etc. I only currently have a broad an abstract knowledge of such things and would like a more specific concrete criticism to offer.

[mykittyhasaboner]

http://marxists.org/

http://www.michaelparenti.org/index.html

[Broletariat]

I was hoping for something a little more specific, and maybe a brief rundown on what the book covers.

[el_chavista]

I'm looking for books that offer a straight up criticism of capitalism, encompassing the exploitation inherent in a capitalist mode of production, the social issues caused by the class system etc etc. I only currently have a broad an abstract knowledge of such things and would like a more specific concrete criticism to offer.A critique of capitalism is what Marxism is all about. This means checking from young Marx's economic philosophic manuscripts (1844) to Mészáros' Beyond Capital.

[A.R.Amistad]

Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States is pretty critical of the role of capitalism in the history of the United States

[ZeroNowhere]

Certainly don't start with Marx's 1844 manuscripts, though Lucio Colletti's introduction to Marx's Early Works, available for free on libcom, could be useful as an introduction to Marx's economic works.

Still, before making any recommendations, what do you mean by 'concrete'?

[RadioRaheem84]

Anarchist FAQ Section C on Myths of the Capitalist Economy is an excellent start.

Easy to read and comprehend.

[el_chavista]

Certainly don't start with Marx's 1844 manuscripts, though Lucio Colletti's introduction to Marx's Early Works, available for free on libcom, could be useful as an introduction to Marx's economic works.
I took a look at Colletti's and rather stick with directly reading Marx's at his 25:



(What is estranged labor?) First, the fact that labor is external to the worker, i.e., it does not belong to his intrinsic nature; that in his work, therefore, he does not affirm himself but denies himself, does not feel content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind.

The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself. He feels at home when he is not working, and when he is working he does not feel at home. His labor is therefore not voluntary, but coerced; it is forced labor.

It is therefore not the satisfaction of a need; it is merely a means to satisfy needs external to it. Its alien character emerges clearly in the fact that as soon as no physical or other compulsion exists, labor is shunned like the plague. External labor, labor in which man alienates himself, is a labor of self-sacrifice, of mortification.

Lastly, the external character of labor for the worker appears in the fact that it is not his own, but someone else’s, that it does not belong to him, that in it he belongs, not to himself, but to another. Just as in religion the spontaneous activity of the human imagination, of the human brain and the human heart, operates on the individual independently of him – that is, operates as an alien, divine or diabolical activity – so is the worker’s activity not his spontaneous activity. It belongs to another; it is the loss of his self.
source http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm

[flobdob]

You're gonna find no comprehensive book on this, but a few good introductory books are Naming the System (http://www.monthlyreview.org/books/namingthesystem.php) by Michael Yates (a general critique of capitalism from a Marxist/radical perspective), The Shock Doctrine (http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine) by Naomi Klein (a good Leftist, non Marxist, critique of capitalism in action in the last so many years), Killing Hope (http://killinghope.org/) by William Blum (a good leftist critique of US imperialist intervention) and War, Racism and Economic Injustice (http://www.oceanbooks.com.au/product/war-racism-and-economic-injustice/) by Fidel Castro ( a collection of talks by Fidel on modern day capitalism, and thoroughly recommended). I suggest you really take a look at some of the stuff that is linked to on the excellent Marxist Leninist blog's study guide (http://marxistleninist.wordpress.com/study-guide/) - it'll give you a solid foundation from which to get a real understanding of capitalism.

[ZombieGrits]

"Economics for the Rest of Us" by Moshe Adler offers a criticism of the neoclassical economic principles that most defenses of capitalism have their base in, while also explaining those principles in general.

I've not read it, since I've not found it for sale anywhere, but it's got a lot of good reviews and sounds really informative. Sounds to me like a good bet

[MarxSchmarx]

Um.... Das Kapital?

[Bilan]

^^
What Marxscmarx said.

Also, the accumulation of capital - Rosa Luxemburg.

It outlines (briefly) the key ideas of major political economists (Smith, for example) and Marx's ideas, and then explains the nature of modern capitalism.

[piet11111]

I just got the limits to capital by david harvey but have not yet started with it.

[Proletarian Ultra]

I'm looking for books that offer a straight up criticism of capitalism, encompassing the exploitation inherent in a capitalist mode of production, the social issues caused by the class system etc etc. I only currently have a broad an abstract knowledge of such things and would like a more specific concrete criticism to offer.

This is what turned me onto socialism/anti-capitalism. It's not Marx; but it's still good. The author is a Proudhonist...

THE IRON FIST BEHIND THE INVISIBLE HAND
Corporate Capitalism As a State-Guaranteed System of Privilege
by Kevin A. Carson

mutualist . org / id4 . html

It's so devastating because he starts from the premise that the free market is good and state intervention is bad. And he goes from there to show that capitalism is total bullshit. Carson also runs Mutualist Blog; most of his positive proposals are pretty thin petty bourgeois idealism, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

[piet11111]

I just got the limits to capital by david harvey but have not yet started with it.

its a better book then i expected :thumbup1: