An essential role in studying the role of human labor in the development of the economy belongs to the developments carried out by the School of Political Economy. In his writings, Marx outlined man’s role as the primary productive force of society. The theory of Marxism has been an enormous success both in politics and in the cultural sphere.
It is possible to say that the concept of human exploitation by man is still popular today, regardless of how much people’s standard of living has increased with the introduction of modern technologies. Even because Marx’s original point of view is outdated, his theory of exploiting the working class is prevalent in our time, especially during the economic crisis. For a century, Marx’s theory has been the object of versatile, competent, and witty criticism.
The regimes that claimed to be followers and adherents of this theory were defeated, and the vocabulary of Marxism in the mass consciousness was catastrophically discredited. Indeed, capitalism is changing, but that is why Marx’s works remain constantly and invariably in demand — they analyze the essential fundamental foundations of capitalism, the basic principles. If the system lost these principles, it would simply cease to exist or turn into something not just different from its current self but directly opposite to itself.
In other words, the theoretical model of Capital is a political, economic invariant of capitalism, a description of the fundamental social relations based on its evolution. Therefore, the works of Marx’s contemporaries are becoming obsolete, just as the results of later researchers are becoming obsolete, and Capital remains fundamentally crucial as a primary source of analytical principles.