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How is capitalism and the industrial revolution related?
i have a project...and need to write about how the industrial revolution lead to capitalism... so can anyone help me? thanks!
Public Comments
- I do not think that the industrial revolution lead to capitalism, capitalism dates back to Rome or even ancient Greece. Capital employed can create wealth. Industry creates greater capitalism by allowing workers to earn a wage for labor. This expands the market place which creates a need for more industry more capital. Prior to the Industrial revolution wealth was created by owning land and harvesting and selling crops from the land one owned. The majority the the labor on farms was in exchange for a percentage of the harvest. With industry person were able to sell their labor for a wage. As the demand for labor became great the wage the laborers earned increased. With good wages laborers were able to purchase goods which increased the demand for industry and feed the very system.
- Capitalism, as we practice it today , was "evolved" in Holland in about the 16th century CE....When the Industrial Revolution began it needed capital and the monied people of England wished to invest their money where it would grow (increase in value). So the money followed the opportunities and as the Industrial Revolution concept proved workable and more importantly, profitable, more and more capital flowed into these (industrialization) investments.... in short, money investments always seek out potentially profitable investment opportunities....
- Capitalism is an economic system, Communism a political ideology: You cannot compare apples with pears. Which instruments will replace the disastrous dynamic of the Capitalism? The capitalistic movement maintains, that only a "free" market can create a system which provides harmonious balance in society. The fact is however that "Capitalism" predominantly prefers the rich over the poorer and disenfranchised members of society - today in an especially glaring manner. Compensatory measures of the state and democratic decisions are increasingly being subverted so that global resources can be exploited shamelessly. Therefore, the difference between rich and poor classes and the differential wealth of countries becomes more and more unsustainable on a social basis. Today's bloated praise about the "free" market is particularly absurd: The majority of the world's population does not have access to what we in the wealthier nations consider to be necessary goods and services. Therefore, the unfortunate owners of capital (= the shareholders) are not able to obtain any profit from this majority of disenfranchised individuals. Therefore the "free" market is not optimal for the rich classes and countries... Social-democratic policy has tried to equalise the situation, but with its minority in the electoral process, it still can not prevent the rich making enormous profits at the expense of the poor.
