Where does the Church come down on the question of socialism and capitalism?

What to read:
Early industrial society
Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England (excerpts).
Andrew Ure, The Philosophy of the Manufacturers (excerpts).
Marx’s Critique of Capitalism: From Alienation to Surplus Value
“Alienated (Estranged) Labor” section of 1844 Manuscripts
The Communist Manifesto (pp. 14-27)
Capital, vol. 1, pt. III, chpt. VII, Section II, “The Production of Surplus Value”
William Stanley Jevons, The Theory of Political Economy, chpts. III, VIII
The Church’s Response: Rerum Novarum (skim until you are confident that you get the main point)
(This is the link for the church response : http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html
Then answer these questions from the reading:
What is Marx’s argument?
What are the assumptions behind it?
What do you find reasonable/unreasonable?
What does Marx NOT talk about?
What does Marx see as right with capitalism and what does he see as wrong?
How does Jevons’ conception of value compare to that of Marx and others? How does Jevons transform the focus of economics?
Where does the Church come down on the question of socialism and capitalism? How does its point of view compare with political economy?

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