Marxist theorists believe

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Marxist theorists believe

by gmatdriller » Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:50 am
Marxist theorists believe that the interests of the working class ultimately align with those of humanity in general. They claim that those who control the means of production are able to unfairly subject the working class to substandard working conditions and wages, while extorting the maximum possible prices for their products from consumers. Marxists therefore believe that if the working classes controlled the economic system, then __________.

Which of the following best completes the passage above?

A) The owners of the means of production could not be depended upon to charge as much as necessary for their
products to enable the owners to pay a fair working wage to laborers.

B) Market forces would cause the most successful commercial entities to monopolize the market.

C) Consumer goods would be less expensive.

D) The free market would favor producers who are able to provide the highest quality product at the lowest
possible price.

E) Communist methods of production and distribution would still not replace the capitalist system, despite its
costs to the working class.

OA is: C
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by paes » Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:49 am
C only.

... those who control the means of production.......
extorting the maximum possible prices for their products from consumers.


so
they believe that ...
if the working classes controlled the economic system, then

Consumer goods would be less expensive.

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by reply2spg » Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:39 am
Paes - I also selected C. I was between A and C. I didn't understand A fully, but understood that A is more about the dependancy of production owners rather than effect of working classes controlled the economic system. Therefore, I eliminated A.

But can you please explain A in detail?
paes wrote:C only.

... those who control the means of production.......
extorting the maximum possible prices for their products from consumers.


so
they believe that ...
if the working classes controlled the economic system, then

Consumer goods would be less expensive.
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by gmatdriller » Sat Aug 07, 2010 1:29 pm
I went for (A) initially, but OA is C.

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by showbiz » Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:32 pm
gmatdriller wrote:Marxist theorists believe that the interests of the working class ultimately align with those of humanity in general. They claim that those who control the means of production are able to unfairly subject the working class to substandard working conditions and wages, while extorting the maximum possible prices for their products from consumers. Marxists therefore believe that if the working classes controlled the economic system, then __________.

Which of the following best completes the passage above?

A) The owners of the means of production could not be depended upon to charge as much as necessary for their
products to enable the owners to pay a fair working wage to laborers.

B) Market forces would cause the most successful commercial entities to monopolize the market.

C) Consumer goods would be less expensive.

D) The free market would favor producers who are able to provide the highest quality product at the lowest
possible price.

E) Communist methods of production and distribution would still not replace the capitalist system, despite its
costs to the working class.

OA is: C
Confused between B and C. But C mostly because its the only choice left after B. Can someone explain C?

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by paes » Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:58 pm
reply2spg wrote:Paes - I also selected C. I was between A and C. I didn't understand A fully, but understood that A is more about the dependancy of production owners rather than effect of working classes controlled the economic system. Therefore, I eliminated A.

But can you please explain A in detail?
paes wrote:C only.

... those who control the means of production.......
extorting the maximum possible prices for their products from consumers.


so
they believe that ...
if the working classes controlled the economic system, then

Consumer goods would be less expensive.
I was also stuck with A.
The language of A is very clumsy. I am not sure what it is try to say.
The last line of the argument says : Marxists therefore believe that" here therefore is giving a hint that some contrast result is going to complete the argument and C fills this condition.
A does not look like a contrast result, so I selected C.

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by debmalya_dutta » Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:28 pm
My pick is C

Marxists therefore believe that if the working classes controlled the economic system, then___________

Interests of the working class ultimately align with those of humanity in general.

A) The owners of the means of production could not be depended upon to charge as much as necessary for their products to enable the owners to pay a fair working wage to laborers.

B) Market forces would cause the most successful commercial entities to monopolize the market.

C) Consumer goods would be less expensive. because Interests of the working class ultimately align with those of humanity in general.

D) The free market would favor producers who are able to provide the highest quality product at the lowest
possible price.

E) Communist methods of production and distribution would still not replace the capitalist system, despite its
costs to the working class.