In the world of social inequality where grows gap in the wealth of rich and poor people, law and justice morally obliged to overcome poverty by resolving conflicts of economic interests concerning fair distribution of goods. Every conflict reveals extreme approaches, needed to be reconciled on the ground of rule of law. In the political economy such extremes are socialism and capitalism. Judging capitalist and socialist policies, according to principle “audi alteram partem” I propose to compare and analyze legal foundations of both policies represented by socialism’s advocate Karl Marx and capitalism’s advocate Ayn Rand. Proponents of reason, practical knowledge and limitation of government, both influential philosophers propose different view on personal autonomy as the scope of individual rights and freedom to choose legal approaches to realize own interests.
Legal ideal of Ayn Rand is pursuing individual happiness by rational self-interest and growing private property, excluding physical coercion (and neglecting non-physical), preferring economic power to political power, motivating others to cooperate by money instead of gun, reward instead of punishment, and pleasure instead of fear [1]. She recognizes the only coercive monopoly of government on the use of physical force and claim fairness of economic distribution by free trade on unregulated market. In Rand’s view, government enacts objective laws by authority of consent of the governed, as an agent of their self-defense, aimed to protect human from physical violence. Objective laws are clear and reasonable knowledge, what exactly is forbidden and why, what penalty will incur crime [2].
Legal ideal of Karl Marx is community of labour, work for common good and equality of wages paid out by communal capital, pursuing unity of man with nature, consistent naturalism of man and the consistent humanism of nature in the form of society, where man produces man, himself and the other man, without self-estrangement of individual as the social being. By the free labour society produces man and man produce society; Marx claims that private capital is pernicious, unfree objectification of labour, loss the natural senses of reality for satisfying greed, delusional sense of having, alienation of life in form of private property [3]. In his view, law is production of confrontation between greedy capitalists and exploited workers: capitalist government suppresses community to defend private property; socialist government suppresses capital to defend life of community [4].
Taking to consideration that personal autonomy have moral dimension of ideals and legal dimension of will, the best way to describe difference between Rand’s and Marx’s legal approach lay in the sphere of self-enforcement, sort of Kantian categorical imperative, applicable to self and to every person – ideal purification of will by rejection of some thoughts supposed to be irrational. Marx restrains thinking of needs to have, his radical socialism (communism) attributes to each man identity of worker with predictable needs to be covered by unification of production and distribution. Rand restrains thinking of obligations to give, her radical capitalism (objectivism) attributes to each man identity of capitalist with predictable capacity to own and enjoy private property protected by unified security forces. Controversial totality of promoted identities reveals blind desire to avoid conflicts by simple unification, possible root of poverty. Good legal system must be compatible with all forms of freedom, including capitalism and socialism, providing subsidiarity of justice which mean that everyone is free to live by own rules if capable, but common rules help to avoid incapability and abuses.
References
1. Rand, A., Branden, N., Greenspan, A., & Hessen, R. (1967). Capitalism: The unknown ideal. New York: Signet.
2. Rand, A., & Branden, N. (1964). The virtue of selfishness: A new concept of egoism. New York: New American Library.
3. Marx, K. Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844.
4. Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1848). Manifesto of the Communist Party.
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