NO: Karl Marx, German philosopher and Friedrich Engels, German sociologist, argue that if people are left to their own self-interested devices, those who own the means of production will rapidly reduce everyone else to virtual slaves. Although the few may be fabulously happy, all others would live in misery.

Human happiness: contradiction in terms, utopian mind-set, or prosperity with purpose. Some argue humans cannot be happy for they are oblivious to the true meaning of happiness, while others believe it is an imaginary feeling full of perfect yet impractical ideals. Still others believe it can in fact exist, but only under a certain set of circumstances. The different meanings of human happiness from the eyes and viewpoints of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels will be presented. Additionally, an attempt will be made to clarify the issues, evaluate the evidence as well as examine

Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a distinguished Scottish political economist and philosopher. He was appointed professor of logic at Glasgow University in 1751, and then transferred in 1752 to the Chair of Moral Philosophy. His lectures covered the field of ethics, rhetoric, jurisprudence and political economy, or “police and revenue.” He first began writing about the general harmony of human motives and activities in his work Theory of Moral Sentiments, published in 1759. Smith moved to London in 1776, where he published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, which examined in detail the consequences of economic freedom (Chew, 1996). It was Smith’s creed that “happiness was equal in every lot, and that contentment alone was necessary to ensure it. He felt a man who was in health, who was out of debt and had a clear conscience could be nothing but happy”(Farrer, 1881, para. 3). Happiness was his goal of all desire.

The Communist Manifesto is itself propaganda. The document appears to be written for the working class, the proletariat, most of who were illiterate. With the call to the oppressed to overthrow the oppressors, yet being read only by a few of the advanced working class, it was propaganda at its best. In the struggle for social justice and a blanket of equality for all, the economics presented are confusing and contradictory at best. One other major piece of propaganda deals with the lords of the land—where do they fit into the picture and how will the state deal with profits of surplus, which is the same type of propaganda which plagues Smith as well.

Some topics in this essay:
Marx Engels, Communist Manifesto, Fallacies Smith’s, Evaluation Evidence, Propaganda Techniques, Hence Smith, Adam Smith, Contentment Human, Engels Smith’s, Agreement Personally, marx engels, industrial revolution, division labor, karl marx, human nature, adam smith, cultural identities, government intervention, communist manifesto, capitalistic society, perfect supply demand,