Mainstream political economy already condemned capitalist exploitation before Marx

Evidence

As Foucault recounted, neither Marx nor Engels were particularly audacious when they characterized the capitalist mode of production as voraciously exploitative. As far back as the eighteenth century, David Ricardo, Adam Smith, and numerous other nonradical predecessors in the emerging field of political economy had expressed similar doubts and unease. Hegel’s economic observations of industrial capitalism were even more immediate to the studies conducted by Engels and Marx. In the late eighteenth century, with uncharacteristic brevity and specificity, Hegel recorded: “Complete mercilessness. Factories, manufacturing, base their subsistence on the misery of one class.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 77

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• XREF: Challenges the common claim that Marx uniquely exposed capitalism’s cruelty; ties to critiques that Marx’s novelty lay elsewhere.

Related

• Marx’s novelty was siding with workers, not recognizing class exploitation (similarity 0.87)
• Marx’s novelty lay in siding with the proletariat, not in analyzing exploitation (similarity 0.79)
• Political economy blinded Marx and Engels to industrial movements’ ideological nature. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Marx’s novelty lay in siding with the proletariat, not in analyzing exploitation #responds-to (0.75) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 77