26 May 2022

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Industrial Capitalism and Karl Max Theory

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In a capitalist economy, workers are subjected to work for their employers as the materials and production tools belong to the employers. As a result of a capitalist economy, the wealth of the high-class increases due to the improvement of its functions and structure. The distinction between the workers and their employers led to the development of class and ranks; thus, the upper and lower class emerged in which the lower class depended upon the high class for survival. The dependence between the two classes led to the development of capitalism. This paper focuses rise of industrial capitalism and Karl Marx's critics of social and economic relations. 

Industrial capitalism is a situation where the social and economic systems of trade, industry, and capital are individually regulated and operated for a profit. The production processes are privately owned on capitalism, bringing about an uncontrolled economy (Reisman, 2019) . The resources and industries are owned by few people who are only interested in benefiting themselves. Capitalism in the US started around the 19th to 20th centuries; at that time, the country transformed from an agricultural society to an industrial economy (Hirschman & Mogford, 2009). The country developed an instantaneous growth of the industries, such as productivity, denoted by more rigorous and complicated labor divisions between and within the production processes. The phenomena led to labor manipulations, in which the industrialist replaced the traders, who were the main players in the capitalist system (Brayshay, 2020) . Craftsmen, conventional connections of artisans, novice, masters were all obscured. The industrial capitalism principles started challenging the ideologies of the industrialism of trade barriers and protective monopolies. 

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In any capitalist state, the properties are owned by private individuals and are protected by the law. Industrial capitalism has been challenged by theorists such as Karl Marx. Karl viewed capitalism as a continuous historical phase that would finally decline due to the recession and inner contradictions. Karl defined capital as the economic and social correlations between individuals rather than relationships between people and things. He argued that the capitalists seek to get rid of capital as a factor of production and supplement it with the workforce instead. Additionally, Karl asserts that capital was dynamic and would eventually wipe out the common laborers, thereby developing social conditions for regime change (LibreTexts, 2020) . Individualism of the operational and dispensation process developed a lower-class reliance on the upper-class restraining human liberty. The capitalist system is a repetitive crisis with a likelihood of causing severity. The system’s proclivity unravels and integrates the socialization process, which connects workers in the global market, developing the objective situations for revolutionary change. 

The rise of capitalism was facilitated by factors such as the difference in individual living standards, scientific management, high monopoly power levels, and conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption led to the rise of industrial capitalism as few people accumulated wealth; thus, they developed more in terms of structure and wealth as they had access to more goods and services. The difference in the ownership of goods and services created a difference in the social forms. The inheritance of social superiority and wealth also enhanced capitalism. According to Butler (2019), capitalism is influenced by people’s self-interests and social styles based on individual competition, strong desires for financial success, and high consumptions. The inheritance of social superiority and obligatory leisure made the individual born in wealthy families outmatch those born in poor families. As a result, people from poor families became servants to the individuals of the upper class. The difference is social classes led to the rise of the ladder from the low to high social class level; hence a social state called feudalism. Karl defined feudalism as the ability of the ruling class to regulate the tillable lands leading to a class society grounded on manipulating small farmers who worked on the farms under individualism and principles of money rents, labor, and produce. The normal workers who do not have any means of production, such as buildings and industries, have little or no power in the capitalist economy. High-class people also devalued the small workers as they were readily expendable during high unemployment on their perceived worth. Karl believed that the capitalist system contained the seeds of its ruination. 

Great monopoly made the wealthy people regulate the critical natural resources, which were very important in production, thus influencing the rise of industrial capitalism. The wealthier individuals owned critical natural resources such as petroleum and coal. In a monopoly society, the power is centrally located in a single presiding player's hands in a specific industrial sector. The formation of the strong sovereignties included the limitations of communications and transportations. Businesses were limited in the neighborhoods and villages where they were physically situated. Product shipping was done using boats, horses, or by foot which was expensive. The businesses enjoyed monopolies in their towns, and also, there were restrictions of price-fixing because people acquired products from the neighboring town in case prices went too high. The businesses were owned by board operations and families, which focused their attention on product qualities other than quantity. Resources such as petroleum in the US were controlled by people from the higher class, as they had the power to manufacture their goods. Also, the single corporations had for a long period-controlled trade in America and exercises monopoly. The monopoly of resources made some people acquire wealth, raising their living standards. 

The scientific management led to the rise of industrial capitalism in which the entire country recognized the importance of conserving natural resources. Scientific management ensures efficacy in industrial operations. The main opportunity for science discovery to correlate with a man’s work and other people entails enlisting his intelligence with what he is doing. Industrial capitalism ran up against labor ranks' resistance and was still devoted to workmanship and work integrity. Managing tasks broke the workers menacing resistance. The work management approach aimed to reduce work into distinct and routinized tasks segregated from the job's policy decisions. Capitalism monopolized information as it controlled the means of production. Workers were just allowed to perform small jobs that the management has planned. Karl regarded Taylorism to be grounded on the economic system. He argued that, for people to survive, they must be permitted to consume, and they cannot consume if they are unable to produce (New World Encyclopedia, 2020). Karl rejected task management and regarded it as a means of human oppression under capitalism which would strip the workers over their jobs. He argued that having labor divisions and specialization might have facilitated the workers' poor skills and even lack of passion. Specialization made workers more tedious to their work leading to alienation. He asserted that some labor corporations are due to technical needs while others result from social regulations (New World Encyclopedia, 2020). Karl believed in a communist society in which there is equality between human developments occurring in which individuals can fully express their nature in various creative work. 

The difference in the people's living standards led to the rise of industrial capitalism. The difference in living standards emerged as a result of upper-class people caring little about the lower-class individuals. It led to discomfort and clustering to the people at the lower-class. Capitalism was developed when people just cared about gaining their properties. The class division led to many people stay under the conditions of help due to their neighbors' extravagance. People who worked in the industries got little wages which could not sustain them, while their employers got high profits creating class division. Karl argues that workers are poorer than the wealth they produce, and the more they increase in their production, the more their range and power increase. He asserts that workers are cheaper than the commodity they create (Marx, 1964) . Karl Marx argued that class scuffles were the only way to end the difference between the industrial workers and their wealthy owners. He also argued that workers' socialist society would move towards shifting private properties to public properties, free education for all children, and shift industries owned by the industrial workers. 

Industrial capitalism has been illogical in the production, and the economic direction is undesigned, developing numerous contradictions and inconsistencies. Currently, the world has shifted into financial capitalism. The US has experienced the industrial age and impacted the country both socially and economically. The African Americans were considered outsiders and were not allowed to settle in certain areas, mostly in the north, and could not possess any property. As a result, black people become poor. Capitalism centered the resources to the whites developing a materialistic culture which made the US face a great recession in the 20 th century. 

In conclusion, the industrial revolution in the world was triggered by consumerism and control of the production process. Capitalism was facilitated by the unequal and unfair distribution of or wealth, leading to imperialism and counter-revolution fights against workers' cultural and economic exploitation and other phenomena like unemployment, economic instability, and social alienation. Factors such as the individual difference in living standards, monopolies, conspicuous consumptions are among the key factors contributing to capitalism. Karl Marx greatly criticized capitalism, arguing that it has led to inequality and limited individual potential. He maintained that capitalism derived wealth from a system of labor exploitation and concentrated power and wealth within a small portion of society, which regulates production. 

References 

Brayshay, M. (2020). Capitalism and the Division of Labor. In International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (2 ed., pp. 23-41). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102295-5.10453-6 

Butler, S. (2019). The Impact of Advanced Capitalism on Well-being: an Evidence-Informed Model. Hu Arenas 2 , 200-227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-018-0034-6 

New World Encyclopedia. (2020, August 26). Division of labor. New World Encyclopedia . https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Division_of_labor&oldid=1041343. 

Hirschman, C., & Mogford, E. (2009). Immigration and the American Industrial Revolution From 1880 to 1920. Soc Sci Res, 38 (4), 897-920. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ssresearch.2009.04.001 

LibreTexts. (2020). Economic System; The Marxist Critique of Capitalism. In Sociology. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/Book%3A_Sociology_(Boundless)/16%3A_Economy/16.01%3A_Economic_Systems/16.1C%3A_The_Marxist_Critique_of_Capitalism 

Marx, K. (1964). Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. New York: International Publishers. 

Reisman, G. (2019). Classical Economics vs. The Exploitation Theory. Mises Daily Practices . https://mises.org/library/classical-economics-vs-exploitation-theory 

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