Das Kapital

Marx begins this final part with the “history of economic original sin” (873). Christianity has the story of Adam and Eve, who caused humanity to fall into original sin when Adam bit the forbidden apple. Similarly, the myth of the “economic original sin” suggests there are two types of people, the “diligent, intelligent and above all frugal elite” and the “lazy rascals, spending their substance, and more, in riotous living” (873).

Marx goes on to explain the historical reality. When feudalism ended, the former serfs became free to sell their own labor power, and over time workers also overcame the guilds’ restrictions on their labor power. Eventually, the old feudal masters and guild leaders were replaced by industrial capitalists. At the same time, workers lost “all the guarantees of existence afforded by the old feudal arrangements” (875). In the end, workers only experienced the “transformation of feudal exploitation into capitalist exploitation” (875). Marx traces the beginning of “capitalist production” mainly to the 16th century (876), although he also argues it began with the separation of agricultural workers—the serfs—from the land in the Middle Ages.