Capitalism And The Economic System Of Capitalism

Capitalism is a system where the sole goal is for private owners to gain profit. In the 1930s’ Dust Bowl, private owners, such as farm owners did not pay laborers enough money. In addition, minimum wage laws did not begin until 1938. Wages dropped so low because of the contradicting owner and laborer goals. Moreover, the stock market crash caused demand to drop and jobs to disappear. Overproduction also contributed to elimination of jobs. The wage gap between the wealthy and poverty further increased over time. Despite, the huge elimination of many jobs during the stock market crash, the changing seasons created some cotton and fruit picking jobs because certain plants are ripe for a certain period. However, laborers had to travel to other states or even countries to look for jobs only to face ostracization from the natives. In pursuit of capitalistic goals, the government promoted harmful DDT chemicals and nuclear weapons to keep the chemical and weapons industry alive.

In the late 1800’s America’s industry was on the rise, in this completely new era many factories were born and introduced to the American people. Many people also had to help build railways as well as many other ways to help transport or make goods, this would help build industrial America. But many people would face crucial conditions working in factory, it was unsafe for many people, even some young children who had to work faced a lot of injuries. Not only this, but many people would be out of work because the factories were taking over the work force. One of the most successful people in this time period was John D. Rockefeller, he owned 90% of refineries in America, he made his living by selling, transporting, and refining oil.

Capitalism is the best economic system for any country because it allows individuals to make their own business decisions, and be self-motivated, it confines the authority owned by the government. Capitalist countries are more technologically advanced and better educated as compared to socialist countries. Capitalism is different from socialism in many respects.

Economically, many of the business’ such as railroads and steel companies dominated the industry. Railroad

Although socialism may have better benefits, capitalism has it perks as well. Such as producers and consumers being able to own their own business. The upside of this is that no one other than the government can take the business away from the owner. This results in more rights for the owner. An example of improved rights of the owner could include the owner making their own regulations, deciding wages for employees, choosing how to insure their business, etc. Now the big picture that this focuses greater upon is that it greatly promotes self-interest, rather than government control.

Throughout our Communication Studies, we have examined the capitalist economy through a critical lens and as a result, corporations always appear at the forefront of debate, blame, and power. From a neo-liberalist economic standpoint, the typical “prosumer” is encouraged to create consumer-generated content, but what happens when you put your creative labour to the test? York University consistently advocates, “this is your time”; in other words, students are responsible for their own success and are held liable for any failures or mishaps they may endure. While contemporary technologies have multiplied and democratized opportunities for musical creativity, intellectual property law has been used to repress our right to free speech, which is guaranteed under the first amendment (Demers 2006). Therefore, the industry’s effort at convincing people that file-sharing is equivalent to thievery have turned an increasing number of artists into intellectual property activists.

The Industrial Revolution began spreading to America in the early to mid 1800s and industries began to develop, which changed the path of our country forever. William Kelly and Henry Bessemer created the Bessemer steel process in the 1850s and it cut the price of steel dramatically. John D. Rockefeller became a captain of industry in the oil industry with his Standard Oil Trust corporation that became a monopoly. Rockefeller was considered a robber baron because he used dishonest methods to become rich. Andrew Carnegie was a captain of industry in the steel industry. Carnegie tried to make his company the best by making the

American society is constantly evolving and changing, but has been consistently shaped by the American economy. The American dream of “rags to riches” drove production and allowed for the rapid rise of industry under the theory of Social Darwinism. The ideas of vertical integration, horizontal integration, and monopoly led to the expansion of railroads, the use of kerosene from refined oil to light homes, and the American domination of the steel industry. These recently introduced concepts and their repercussions are indebted to the businessmen who sought to manipulate and dominate the industry. Despite beginnings in poverty, determination and innovation led Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller to become not only captains of industry in their own time, but also legacies of American success.

Karl Marx and Max Webber both many had many philosophies of the capitalism and its effects on society. Their ideas helped pave the way and expand on theories of previous sociologists. Both men have a deep insight of socioeconomic class in the origins and development of modern capitalism. This paper will analyze the impact of capitalism on society as perceived by both men and the areas in which they agreed, disagreed, and expanded on the ideas of the other.

Due to the lack of motivation in socialism, people’s desire to be excellent and efficiently working employees decreases tremendously. This is because people will see no reason to work hard if they will not receive any more or less for their efforts or the lack thereof (“Socialism”). Therefore, a capitalist economic system is far superior to a socialist economic system in the sense that it offers rewards for effort whereas socialism does not. Although the capitalist economic system is a great motivator, it also enables an economy where businesses and people can compete against each other in attempt to be more successful than others.

The current issues of Capitalism in America is a grave concern to Americans. There is even a declared democratic socialist running for the Democrat nomination right now and garnering a lot of support. Specific issues this candidate is discussing that are facing Americans are issues of income inequality where the top .01 percent makes an average of 27 million per household whereas the bottom 90 percent makes an average of 31,000 a year, free college, and relations with harmful countries. This could all be related to the ideas of Karl Marx in the communist manifesto like a class struggle, or whom should own means of production, or relations with horrid countries.

The Industrial Revolution in Western Europe provided the context for economists and political writers of the nineteenth century to promote three different economic plans designed to meet the needs of workers and entrepreneurs. Capitalism was first proposed by Adam Smith as a reform plan for the existing economic system of mercantilism. The major tenets of capitalism included: free enterprise, competition at every level, and private property. Although there were many advantages including new inventions and rewarding excellence there were also disadvantages including how harsh people were treated where they worked and people making up others privileges. The economic system of capitalism was implemented in India with the British East India Company during the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. It was unsuccessful because it became corrupt, abusive of workers, and was ultimately replaced because of revolts. The economic system of capitalism did not address the needs of both entrepreneurs and workers because the workers didn’t ask to be abused like they were and the entrepreneurs sort of did because they got to run their business how they wanted to.

Concept of capitalism can be difficult to understand. It is commonly identified by economist and political philosophers as a system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated in the free market in exchange for a profit (Galbraith, 1952). The economical/social system determines the structure of production, the allocation of inputs and outputs, and consumption of goods. Capitalism remains popular in America because it values freedom, much like the people in our country. This is true because it allows individuals to set their own plans and pursue their own goals; in addition, one can decide what career they would enjoy most, thus creating an incentive and reward for achieving ones ambitions. In a free market, everyone

War is inherent in the development of capitalism- as well as a decisive phenomenon in the transformation of the history of humanity in its different stages: from the accumulation originating, going through the industrial revolution and the imperialist period, until now, in the era of globalization, and their interactions are multiple and varied.

Capitalism is when the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. Capitalism has mercy on no one. Each individual lives in a society where the mass crowd complain about how the big business are buying the smaller ones but just doesn’t grasp the idea that all this is happening because of the consumers themselves. Within a system just as there is pros there are also cons, cons that are costly in the end. One of the biggest cons that capitalism promote is wealth inequality. Wealth can be inherited, so some people can be rich just due to luck of their ancestors. The others that are not so lucky has to work hard for their earnings. So this becomes a problem because not only does it promotes wealth inequality, it also promotes inequality of opportunity. Capitalist societies are failing to create both equality of outcomes and equality of opportunities. Example of this is the Great depression which lasted from 1929 to the beginning of World War II, profoundly shook the world’s confidence in the capitalist system. The crisis began with the crash of the New York stock market and resulted in widespread economic damage throughout the world, including bank failures, massive unemployment, and bankruptcies. According to the article Capitalism it states, “In addition, the suffering that resulted from the Great Depression highlighted the vulnerability of the labor force. In the United States, 25 percent of workers lost their jobs, and bank failures wiped out many people’s life savings.”