The Rise Of Corporate Capitalism

Near the last decades of the 19th century, America’s industrial economy skyrocketed. As these industrial leaders like Carnegie and Rockefeller not only lead the expansion through their respective industries, but revolutionized businesses while crushing free-market competition in the process. As

Industrialization is the influential reason why capitalist ideology became dominate by the 1900's. The rise of industrial America first started with Andrew Carnegie in 1865 when he was a manufacturer for iron and started selling to a friend who worked in a railroad business. Shortly after he built a steel mill where the Bessemer Converter was established to refine steel more efficiently. The Bessemer Converter caused steel to become the United States major industry while railroads stimulated the industrial economy by using iron and steel as resources. Railroad companies revolutionized American capitalism by adopting a legal form of organization of the corporation that allows them to increase private capital in astonishing amounts.

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the federal government was looking for a way to get the people motivated; motivated to work again, motivated to have a better life again, and then like an answered prayer we entered the ‘Gilded Age’. The rapid growth from 1865 to 1900 was brought on by the availability of money and resources. With entrepreneurs willing to take a risk with this money and new resources, extraordinary growth arose. Railroads were evolving everywhere and as a result the Steel industry started to rise. With this economic boom all people, especially the federal government, sought after means to sustain this sudden increase in the market. The United States government came up with a plan to promote industrial development

How did corporations become the most powerful “people” in the U.S? Brian Jennings answers this question in his recent discussion at Grossmont college. He outlined many court cases where compounding decisions led to, in his opinion, making corporations more powerful than citizens. These decisions have caused a ripple effect changing the course and design of the incorporated world. Corporations have progressed so far from their original purport that they are now doing the exact opposite of their initial goal.

Capitalism is good. In reading the articles, it seems scholars are either pro or anti-capitalism. The corporate American model of capitalism is built upon free enterprise and encourages competition. It’s also called the Liberal/Social Democratic model. Our economy, supposedly, encourages and rewards competition and equality. Yet the lack of competition and equality in our economy are issues scholars take aim at the most. George (2013) wrote in his editorial, “In the United States, income inequality has escalated since the 1970s while millions of workers and their families are suffering the devastation of long-term unemployment or work that is insecure and unstable….That is, the tenets of American corporate capitalism (ACC) might be in contradiction to compassionate organizing. ACC is an ideology that emphasizes, among other things, the pursuit of self-interest, competition, market exchange, consumerism, and using a profit/loss criterion to make decisions in organizations (George, J. 2013).” I’m pro-capitalism and I understand the views of those who are anti-capitalism.

The decades after the Civil War rapidly changed the face of the United States. The rapid industrialization of the nation changed us from generally agrarian to the top industrial power in the world. Business tycoons thrived during this time, forging great business empires with the use of trusts and pools. Farmers moved to the cities and into the factories, living off wages and changing the face of the workforce. This rapid industrialization created wide gaps in society, and the government, which had originally taken a hands off approach to business, was forced to step in.

Early industrialization was an excited concept for North America. It brought a long promise of new opportunity, big businesses, factories, and economic growth. The northern region got a head start in this development by jumping into founding larger factories and monopolistic corporations, quickly drowning out the southern attempts at maintaining home grown farms and local companies by placing large taxes on farmers to transport the materials they needed to be successful via the new invention of the railroad, forcing them to take out bank loans which, in turn, drove them to bankruptcy. Present day America is booming with prosperous industries, regulations to prevent monopolies, and protection for farmers to ensure

The Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the late 18th century, finally took effect in the United States in the years following the end of the Civil War. Industrialization had begun earlier but it was in the years known as the Gilded Age (1870-1910) that the process began in earnest in the United States (The Genesiss of Industrial America, 2007). It was during these years that individuals such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt made their fortunes. During this period the ground work was established that would allow the United States to eventually emerge as the world's greatest industrialized power in the years following the Second World War but this process of industrialization came at a heavy price. Labor in the United States was plentiful and competition for jobs was stiff. The result was the industrialization took place in a United States where wages and working conditions were unregulated. Millions of workers, including women and children, were forced to work long hours for low wages in dangerous factories and mines. The government's involvement in business and workplace regulation was still decades away as the industrial revolution began in earnest and there were very few work-safety regulations, no worker compensation laws, virtually no employee benefit programs, no government social security. The industrialists of the era were allowed to operate their businesses unfettered and the result was the largest expansion of business

Between the 1880s and the 1920s, American Capitalism was greatly shifted by the rise of industrialism. The American industrial growth changed significantly after the Civil War. Hand labor was replaced by machines which vastly increased the number of production. Business leaders were able to expand their companies due to investors who provided great amounts of money. However, large companies took advantage of the tremendous growth of the general population by forming trusts and monopolies that only benefitted their own productions. Inflamed by the economic inequality between the rich and the poor and the growth of manufacturers, railroads, and work force, social movements such as populists, progressives, women’s suffrage and labor movements helped make changes in the United States’ economic, political, and social systems.

The circumstances of post-Civil War society in the United States allowed major and small corporations to grow sufficiently in numerous directions. After the Civil War, America was adapting to the anti-slavery laws and corporation owners were learning of new ways to make their items as quickly as before. The new laws led to new ideas and responses of those who were affected by the laws. The people who were adopting these new ideas, helped to changed the functionality of companies after the Civil War. The abilities and demands of workers, the power of railroad companies, and the wealth of the owners of corporations increasing while the cost of items for sale decreased helped to impact the economy, politics, and responses of the citizens of America

When the goal of production (around the end of the 19th century) changed from being used for exchange to profit, the US began to become capitalistic. To establish a definition of capitalism, I shall establish it as when goods are produced to be sold; the revenues made are then used to be what you need with intent to make a profit in the end. Our capitalistic ways are effective in the US government because it small enough to allow the businesses to make their own decisions. As the US became industrialized, the need to mass-produce came into effect, and the boom in the labor market began. The problem with this is that the freedom of the markets allowed the businesses to move around as they liked; only when they were knowingly signing a contract were they forced to make a commitment. Markets dispersed power that kept the government from being able to say anything to the businesses that were making the most money in the market. The government decided to not involve itself when it came to the market, even though they knew that the bigger companies were overtaking the smaller ones. The wealthiest owners had the power in the markets and this allowed them to have more say as to what goes on in the free market. The government could intervene in this situation, but they do not because it would be too risky for them to put restrictions on the companies that right now have the power in the business world. The free

Throughout American history, the role of the government in the economy has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is because there are conflicting views about their responsibilities in these areas. As they are one component, that will have an impact on growth and the ability of private enterprises to expand. Yet, limiting their amounts of influence has always been a critical factor with many firms claiming that they can overregulate different areas. (Langran, 2007, pp. 4 10) ("Over Regulated in America," 2012)

Capitalism is defined as economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods. Also Capitalism discouraged local productuction and encourages unregulated growth of gigantic corporation that exploit local labor for profits elsewhere. And last, capitalism encourages corruption, economic disparity, individualism, hyper - competitiveness, and consumerism.

As the distinguished economist, John Maynard Keynes notes: “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of motives, will somehow work for the benefit of all.” At the core of the Robert Taylor homes is a functioning capitalist society. As in all capitalist societies, it is the role of the government to defend the economic interests of the faction that controls the means of production by suppressing anyone seen as a threat to its dominance. In the Robert Taylor homes, the Black Kings were the state that defended the means of production by suppressing any threat to their business through notion of hustling. Even though as a functioning capitalist society, the Robert Taylor homes were community plagued by severe destitution. The community suffered from many illegal activities in addition to the high rates of unemployment and welfare. Furthermore, the housing project was completely ignored by the municipal government. In this lawless environment, there was no independent police, and for many there was no steady income. The combination of these two elements increased the power gang, thus they were the enforcers. The people of the community had to compete amongst each other for resources. Those of the Robert Taylor community had to make the best use of what they had, and this is known as survival. What many come to understand, as hustling and other unethical activities, are known as survival to members of the Black Kings gang and the tenants

In 1868, the 14th amendment to the constitution officially declared those born on U.S soil citizens of the state, and forbade the states to deny any person “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (Berger). This amendment, originally created for newly freed African American slaves as a means to declare them as equal individuals under the law, has somehow been manipulated as a tool for large corporations (The Corporation). The Corporation, a 2003 documentary written by law professor Joel Bakan, examines the pathological character of modern corporations. The documentary analyzes the behaviors and economic influence of many common North American corporations such as Nike Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and Sears Co and the increasing awareness of the harm many of these corporations are causing both locally and nationally. The Corporation pleads it’s viewers to recognize lack of social responsibility, and hold modern corporation’s accountable for their actions (Bansal).