History - the Industrial Revolution - Essay Example

Life in the cities meant higher living expenses, working longer hours and extreme stretching of expenses. Their wife and children had to work for eighteen hours and the only time family came together was to sleep. They had no choice but to live together in one housing unit with other families to save on costs. Thus the life of the family at the start of the industrial revolution was unbearable because working families often lived in slum areas with unsanitary conditions. Children received little education, were often sickly, and suffered stunted growth. The mortality rate was great with 50% of children dying before reaching age two.
Another significant consequence was inequality in groups because women and children were paid less and were required to work more hours. Factory owners were happy to employ children because they could manipulate children easier than adults, often thru beatings. Children as young as eight years old were sent to textile manufacturing, coals and mines.
Workers during this time were locked up in a system where they had no control.

B. Discuss the relationship between the Industrial Revolution and the development of capitalism.

The industrial revolution led to the development of capitalism because of the laissez-faire attitude of the government. Laissez-faire is an economic doctrine that opposes government interference in commerce beyond the minimum necessary (Education.yahoo.com). Thus, during the industrial revolution, capitalism developed because the government allowed the wealthy, middle-class owners to operate according to its own economic laws, regardless of the safety of their workers.
This era created capitalism wherein a system of division is created between the class of wealthy owners and the class of wage earners. As industrialization occurs, companies become bigger which necessitates getting people to work for them, supervise them, and pay them according to the standardized practice (Industrial Revolution.sea.ca.)

C. Discuss how the rise of capitalism led to the development of communism.
I believe that the rise of capitalism led to the development of communism because, during the industrial revolution, the labor sector suffered the unjust economic treatment of capitalism, on which capitalists exploited labor. Capitalism created a class of society that differentiated the rich and the poor and made this distinction more visible in society.
During the industrial revolution, workers were depersonalized, degraded and treated as a commodity, and at this point, communism made sense. The time was ripe for the communist ideals of an ultimate good society benefitting everyone.

For instance, the dissent of employees was felt as early as 1811 wherein workers began to get angry with employers because of unjust practices. (The Industrial Revolution, sea. c. n.d.). Thus, the development of communism became a system of revolt and reaction of the workers against the capitalists. Under the communist ideals, the productive forces of society would be liberated from the capitalists’ reign, and the economy, fueled by science technology would be able to produce a super-abundance of goods that would allow everyone to have whatever they need (Marx’s view of communism).
1. Justify your choice of two significant differences between capitalism and communism.

Capitalism and communism are two economic systems in society that differ greatly in their objectives. The principal difference between these two systems is the way they address the resources or production. According to the article “Difference between…”2009, in capitalism, the means of production or resources are controlled by the private owner while in communism; the society owns the resources or the means of production. Communism abolishes private property, and all land and resources must be owned by the state and everything is shared equally by the members of the society. There will be equal wages for all, and all decisions will be done for the good of everybody. Communists put society above individuals and government runs the economy, controls the price mechanism and the source of production.

On the other hand, capitalism believes in private ownership of land and the means of production and every man has the opportunity to earn his worth. Under this setup, the major profit goes to the owner who owns the capital and resources while workers who are part of running the business get a small share thru wages. Every man who works in the business gets his wages according to the number of his labor inputs. Under this system, it is the capitalist who makes the decision on everything and has control over his business.
The main argument about these two systems is the idea of ownership of production, which I think are both set in extremes. I believe that while communism kills the motivations of individual enterprise that limits growth particularly in the advancement of science and technology; capitalism is exploitative and puts wealth and power in the hands of so few. Read More