Category: Capitalism

Sapitalism Essay

Capitalism is described as an economic and political system in which a country’s a trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. This form of government was dominant in the west and took off after the fall of feudalism, which was wiped out by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Capitalism, sometimes called free market economy or free enterprise economy, dates back all the way to the 16th century in European Middle Ages when merchants became more involved in the production of goods. The development of capitalism grew along with the English cloth industry. Merchants began capitalism by making profits from having ownership and control over the productions.

Another factor that contributed to the rise of capitalism was Europe’s increase in precious metals and inflation in the prices for those. Pay for the employees involved in the precious metals industry did not increase, this economic inequality was emphasized by saying that wealthy people were more righteous than poor people. By the 18th and 19th centuries capitalism in England shifted from focusing on commerce to industrial capitalism. This industrial capitalism led to new classes of workers who worked in terrible conditions, this inspired Karl Marx’s philosophy. Marx knew that eventually capitalism would be overthrown, and this was somewhat right. Although, capitalism is not completely gone there are fewer countries today that still have this type of government than there were a century ago. One way that capitalism is accurately represented and critiqued is in the readings “The Cherry Orchard” and “The Good Woman of Setzcuan”.

Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard (1903) was the last play that Chekov wrote and arguably the best in terms of the underlying meaning. The three-act play is set in1900’s Russia and is about the social change happening on the brink of the Russian revolution. The characters in this play range from the poorest or poor to the richest of rich and swap social classes throughout. This play easily relates to modern times across the world and even in America with the constant shifts in modern social classes. The abolishment of serfs was the leading cause of the Russian Revolution, that started in 1917 (History.com). During the revolution the Bolsheviks seized power and later became a communist party. Communism and capitalism are very similar because both economic systems focus on how to distribute and allocate goods and services. The biggest difference is that capitalism uses democracy to accomplish this and communism uses massive state-run economies. In “The Cherry Orchard” capitalism is critiqued when Ranevskaya loses her estate and Lopakhin defeats her and uses capitalistic views to become the owner of the estate. Chekov ‘s play is an example of the failure of the feudal system in Russia, the same system that failed and led to the rise of capitalism. When the orchard was owned by Lyubov it represented the feudal structure that was cut down by Lopakhin. This scene represents the rise of individual capitalism.

Brecht’s “The Good Woman of Setzuan” is a drama that was started in 1938 but not finished until 1941. Brecht was living in the United States in exile due to the Nazi rule, eventually, Brecht fled Germany to avoid persecution (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). This drama has heavy influences of Marxism that Brecht commonly shares ideals from. “The Good Woman of Setzuan “is set in China and is about a woman that must adopt an alter ego in order to get payback for the people that took advantage of her. This reading presents the overall question of if it is possible to survive in a capitalist society, but also do that while being a good person. In almost all of Brecht’s drama he pushes the audience to think and comprehend the work, he also frequently encouraged the audience to take social action. Throughout the entire story, there are small hints of capitalism especially when Shiu Ta buys cabins that she promised to house homeless people but ended up being converted to workhouses. The simple act of Shen Te taking on the alter ego of Shui Ta is capitalism. She exploited those who took advantage of her and used goods and services to do it, but when brought to trial by employees the gods overseeing the judge let her off with what she has done, therefore condemning capitalism. Brecht designed this play to get the audience to be involved with the effects of greed and capitalism.

Overall, in both “The Cherry Orchard” and “The Good Woman of Setzuan” there are many insinuations of capitalism. During the times that both readings took place, capitalism was already on the rise. Also, in the countries where both readings took place capitalism was beginning to be a lot more prominent. Both readings took place during revolutions where money and services were prominent because those countries were evolving into more modern socitities. Even though in “The Good Woman of Setzuan” Brecht focuses on getting the audience involved in thinking about the effects, he still uses the characters to portray that just like Chekov does. In each reading, the characters represent capitalism by their words and actions, and it is up to the reader to interpret that and understand what Brecht and Chekov were trying to represent. The biggest similarities as to how capitalism is criticized in both readings are the way that the authors portray the characters. In each story, there is a relatively poor character that they focus on and follow the story of how that character rises to power, each by using capitalism. Another way that the readings are similar in terms of criticizing capitalism is by the choice of actions each author gives to the characters. In “The Cherry Orchard” Lopakhin partakes in capitalism by buying the land and using it to make money. This is like Shen Te in “The Good Woman of Setzuan” when she gets the money to buy cabins meant to be used o house homeless and then turns around and makes money off of the poor workers who she placed in those cabins.

Who Won the Cold War? Essay

The Cold War A hot war has physical fighting. In a cold war, there is not. The Cold War refers to the time after WW2 when there were tensions between the USA and its allies and the USSR and their allies. USA Capitalism vs USSR Communism The Soviet Union and the USA had different ideologies (a system of ideas and ideals). The Soviet Union was Communist after the Russian Revolution of 1917 (a forcible overthrow of government in favour of a new government). This was a division between the ‘East’ and the ‘West’ – between Communism and Capitalism. In the 19th century, there was an industrial revolution and economic boom, factory owners became rich. In capitalism, anyone can open up a business – this is known as a ‘free economy’ where the economy is loosely controlled and guided by whatever people want.

There was a large division of wealth, but the majority of people had a high standard of living. In Communism all businesses are owned by the government. The economy is controlled. The standard of living was all fairly low: the money was shared equally. Under Lenin, he called for a ‘world revolution’, where the Workers united against the Capitalists. Both sides used propaganda in the form of posters and newspapers against the ‘threat of the West and Capitalist’ and vice versa. Russian Revolution of 1917 In February 1917, the Russian Royal Family was deposed (removed from power) and executed a while after. They were replaced with a new provisional government. In October 1917, the Bolsheviks (a Communist group) seized power and Russia became Communist. The Bolsheviks were led by Lenin who returned to Russia through Germany after Russia became a Republic (without monarchy). From 1917 – 1922, Western Powers like the USA, Britain and France sent money, troops and weapons to opponents of Communists in Russia.

This became a civil war between the ‘whites’ (non-Communists) and ‘reds’ (Communists; the traditional Socialist colour). At the very end, the Reds won. Lenin declared the creation of the USSR [Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]. The Western intervention made the Communists fear future attacks from the Western Powers. Meanwhile, the Western Powers were afraid of the spread and influence of Communism in other countries – predominantly the East. During the civil war, the Reds Had agreed to a peace treaty with the Central Powers; they withdrew from WW1 to better focus on their civil war against the Whites. The peace treaty was known as the ‘Brest-Litovsk’: the Communists left the agreement made between Russia and the Allies before the revolution to be in war against the Central Powers; the Communists ceded all of its Baltic States to become German Vassals, recognised the independence of Ukraine, as well as the Southern Caucasus. The lands were never ceded as the Central Powers were eventually defeated. Brest-Litovsk’s harshness by the Germans were cited against them by the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles.

The Russians were seen as cowards and betrayers. Stalin’s Regime After Lenin died, Joseph Stalin succeeded him. He ruled with an iron fist and executed many powerful Bolsheviks that could oppose him. His government was very secretive and led many other countries in the West to distrust it. Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: 1939 Nazi-Soviet Non-Agression Pact Before the Axis Invasion of the Soviet Union, the Nazis and the Soviets were actually in good terms. On 23rd of August 1939, the Nazis and Soviets promised to not declare war on eachother (non-aggression pact). Secretly, they also promised to share Eastern Europe – Poland would be divided, the Baltic States would be given to the Soviet Union. Learning from WW1, this was vital for Germany incase of a British Blockade. In this sense, Stalin was co-operating with Hitler – which the West did not trust.

However, this did not last long. Operation Barbarossa On the 22nd of June 1941, a surprise-invasion was made by the Axis into the Soviet Union. The pact was broken. The USSR and the Allies cooperated against Hitler. The Russians had a ‘Scorched Earth’ policy. When they saw the Germans would capture a territory, they would completely torch anything valuable and infrastructure: food, railway, supplies etc. This slowed down the German’s progress, as they had to repair any damaged railway: significantly limiting the rate of supplies they could send to the frontline.

Main Views and Beliefs of Max Weber and John Maynard Keynes

This short paper will focus on the studies and the beliefs that intellectuals such as Max Weber and John Maynard Keynes devoted their lives to. Theorists and sociologists alike have played a very important part of our everyday modern lives. There works and achievements have allowed us as a civilization to effectively understand how to properly communicate with our environment and society in unisons. The works of Max Weber and John Maynard Keynes have propelled our society and in turn, allowing us to learn and become adaptable to the changes that come with modernization. Accompanied alongside these advancements we have also gained a better understanding of rationality, economy, capitalism, bureaucratism, and how they all go hand in hand to keep our society up float. Examining how these different actions work together gives us a better sociological understanding and a deeper dive into what actions guide our everyday interactions.

Max Weber was a German sociologist. Weber devoted his life’s work to studying capitalism and bureaucracy (Mitzman 2020). He authored and published numerous works that range from politics, ethics, religion, and society. He taught us about social class, capitalism, and the iron cage which talks about being born into a certain environment and economic status. A well-known theory that he constructed was the bureaucratic theory, this theory explains how hierarchies work and how to properly organize processes to get the maximum output without falling victim to favoritism. A sentence that stood out to me came from one of Weber’s known works titled ‘The Spirit of Capitalism and the Iron Cage’ Weber talks about how Protestants and Catholics had different views when it came to working and earning wages (Weber, 2018). To me, that sentence was very powerful because it states that the spirit of capitalism is a method to want to work harder until success is achieved in a manner that could be different from everyone. Another well-known academic is John Maynard Keynes. John much like Max Weber had a purpose in life that was bigger than himself. Keynes was a British economist who devoted his works to study the economy and from a young age, he showed promising talent when examining economics and how it correlates with capitalism. John’s studies changed how we view the economy as a whole and its fundamental principles. On the other hand, Keynes shared in Weber’s beliefs as well by stating that capitalism is a functional process that allows workers to earn income. Throughout his works, John came up with a process called the Keynesian theory which states that the government should intervene when needed to aid the citizens and to help with the economy when a situation arises. Max and John believed and approved of capitalism, they believed that it aided the citizens in allowing for wages to be earned and in turn granting a stronger economy.

In regards to capitalism, rationality is also a big driver in everyday decision making and effectiveness. Weber states that rationality is when someone has control of his or her actions by producing ideas that correlate to that said action. Weber stated that not everything in life can be explained using rationalization (Weber, 2018). Keynes like Weber believes that people are human beings and that they can choose to either be rational or not rational (Keynes, 2018). He sheds light on that statement by stating that there is a collective rationality which is when someone follows a sept of steps that are abided by the masses. On the other hand, he says that people can also choose to have individual rationality, which means that an individual can choose the most effective way to his or her decisions. Ultimately it is up to the person to dictate how they wish to act on an idea, situation, and action.

When it comes to the consequences that arise from capitalism in correlation to using it as an acceptable means to modernity, Weber and Keynes believe that the good outweighs the bad in this situation. Effectively and correctly establishing capitalism aids the workers, citizens, company, and overall wellness of the economical margins. In fact, Weber says that attaining success is a process to attain eternal salvation and to have a fulfilling and successful life (Weber, 2018). So, when it comes to Weber and Keynes adopting capitalism will bring a new era of modernity and of advancements.

Weber goes on to state that rationalities are ideas and actions that go hand in hand to possess a perceived outcome. In regards to America and Americans as a whole, there are two different kinds of social actions in play that determine societal behaviors. The first action that Americans are exemplifying is called ‘goal rationality’. This particular action states that there is a specific idea or goal to be achieved that leads to a known result. An example of goal rationality is when someone purchases groceries intending to make dinner using the groceries. The second action is value rationality. This rationality is best described as the value that the action brings to the induvial in question. These rationalities when used properly allow a seamless relationship between an idea and an action. An example of this is when people are wanting to purchase the latest iPhone or latest device. This purchase then becomes valuable to the person but those individuals never take into consideration the future consequences such as e-waste and how that action is harmful to the environment around them.

In conclusion, social theories devise a path to understanding how people and the environment go together to achieve a better grasp of how society works as a whole. Max Weber and John Maynard Keynes achieve this by examining how different things such as religion, economy, and politics play a role in our everyday lives and without their works our society would not work as John and Max intended but in regards to our current political environment, I do ask myself if capitalism actually functions the way it was intended by Keynes and Weber?

Influence of the Capitalist Economic System on the Living Standards

The aim of this assessment will be to focus on evaluating how the capitalist economic system has impacted the living standards, and whether it has delivered a widespread improvement. Since a capitalist economic system is frequently referred to a system which discusses private property, markets and firms, as well as explaining how a country’s industries and trades are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state, it is important to see how it affects living standards. Similarly, living standards have been linked to a capitalist economy quite a lot throughout the years, and that is because living standards refer to housing quality, material comfort, job security, education, friends and family, as well as social aspects of a person’s life, which ultimately is what capitalism is about.

Throughout the years a concept called specialization has been discovered. Specialization is when a person focuses on his productive efforts on only a few tasks, which is frequently in line with their skills, education and interests. Linking to Adam Smith, who was very certain that specialization and the division of labor is the reason for economic progress, shows that by individuals focusing on a narrow range of tasks will ultimately increase productivity within the workplace as total output increases due to the individual being good and efficient at what they do. This allows the businesses to cut certain training and not waste their time or budget on teaching everyone the same thing. Specialization has been widely adopted by most countries, and shows a widespread improvement in living standards for those involved in the economic exchanges due to having a lower production cost for the producers and manufacturers, which could mean that more goods are produced at lower prices. This would impact consumers due to prices for good being lower, which would ultimately lead to more goods being bought by them. Similarly, specialization would affect living standards if there is a surplus. Surplus in economics is frequently referred to as money or good which are left over after a goal or requirement has been met, and it is relevant to living standards because if there is a certain amount of money left over from trading between countries, they may wish to invest the money surplus back into the country, which could increase wages or living standards, depending on where the money is being injected into. This advantage can also be linked to global competition within countries and economies as producers would want to have the lowest costs possible, whilst maintaining/improving the best quality of goods/services to attract more customers, which would maintain low inflation.

Another major improvement to living standards through capitalist economies has been innovation. Innovation, a process of translating an idea or intention into something that creates value, has majorly contributed to economic growth worldwide due to higher productivity, leading to more goods and services being produced, which grows the economy. By having capitalist economies, we are free to explore and produce new technologies which furthermore grow our economies. For example, Switzerland, which has a capitalist economy, is presented as the most innovative country in the world, followed by Sweden and the USA. Innovative countries are frequently referred to as rich, but that is simply because innovation drives economic growth through becoming more productive and efficient, making prices for goods and services fall, rising the worker’s wages, and ultimately leading to a better materialistic happiness, which is the core of living standards. If we compare Germany’s constantly growing economy to the economy of Ukraine, for example, it is clear the standards of living are totally different which could mean that the correlation between innovative countries and living standards is very high.

In 2018, 180 countries have been counted as capitalist economies, or mixed-capitalist economies, which leaves only 15 other countries which have not declared themselves as such. In the last 3 centuries, we have managed to decrease starvation, and 72 countries have achieved the Millennium Development Target of halving proportion of the chronically undernourished. As more countries adopt capitalist economies, the link between that and improvement in living standards grows to be almost undeniable. The prevalence of undernourishment – which measures the proportion of people who are unable to consume enough food for an active and healthy life – has declined by 10.4% in the last 25 years, which shows that due to growing economies we are able to increase people’s quality of life and most importantly living standards. This is a strong indication that the improvement in living standards is indeed widespread which could be due to the three basic institutions of capitalism (right to ownership, freedom of contract and constitutional government), which is what makes it different from all the other social and economic systems, leading to us being able to provide economic freedom, consumer choice and economic growth. Furthermore, capitalist economies intend to make a profit, to then reinvest it into the economy, so essentially the very core of capitalism is to grow the economy, which leads to continuously improved living standards.

Although capitalism has shown to improve living standards, has it really? One of the main issues of our society right now is the damage to the environment and global warming caused by overpopulation and production of goods and services. Due to capitalism being a profit-maximizing system, it encourages entrepreneurs from all around the world to invest in technologies, which supports manufacturing for profits. By trying to increase productivity and efficiency, we use more natural resources such as coal and affect the greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere more frequently, as that will bring us a higher profit. Capitalism requires endless and continuous growth to remain stable, raise living standards and so on, meaning that production never stops. Production is dependent on consumption, and without sufficient consumption there wouldn’t be a production cycle. This vicious cycle ignores the fact the we live in a finite planet, so once we use all of our resources, there is no more, which contradicts whether the capitalist economy is the right one to use. As the core belief of capitalism is to be able to trade and operate freely, by putting limitations on what firms can do would cause an uproar, as well as having to reduce profits due to the environment. For example, the Chinese and Indian markets seem to be ignoring climate change issues, however their economies are growing drastically. To put it simply, capitalism doesn’t preserve the environment due to market competition to cut costs and use their profits, which damages the environment further. Although world hunger has been reduced, when it comes to the environment the living standards are decreasing very quickly.

Equality is another issue which we still face, no matter how much time has passed. Inequality is a rising problem in capitalism as some individuals are capable of taking advantage of what capitalism produces. Today, 8 people own as much wealth as 50% of the global population, which highlights the world inequality today. Inheritance is also an issue which irises when speaking about world inequality, as it leads to a different class of education, monetary capabilities and the opportunities available to certain people. This leads to a higher percentage of obesity, imprisonments and teenage pregnancies in countries where that may be particularly suffering from inequality. For example, in 2017 194,377 babies were born to women between the ages of 15 and 19, which was a 10% decrease in 2016. That is only a 0.06% of the population who have had children between 15-19 years. Africa, on the other hand, has an 18.8% of adolescent pregnancies, between the ages of 10-19. The figures portray how much inequality in the capitalist world affects those who are not capitalist, and shows that a communist economy, per say, would do far greater in giving people equal opportunities and ability to live the same as others.

Lastly, there are two types of market economies that implement capitalism – liberal market economies (US, UK, Canada) and coordinated market economies (Germany, Japan, Sweden). Coordinated market economies rely more on non-market forms of interactions in relationships with others, such as industrial relations, training and education, corporate governance, interfirm relations and relations with employees. Although the USA, for example, has done exceptionally well in growing their economy throughout the years, they have also damaged the environment and affected living standards negatively far more than Sweden for example. Unlike the USA and other liberal market economies, countries such as Sweden are collaborative and prefer strategic interaction between people and companies. People do not want to compete as much with each other, but instead try to learn from one another, whilst ensuring that our quality of life and living standards are increasing, as well as tackling issues such as global warming, inequality, supporting the rule of law and promoting education, instead of having profit-maximization and productivity rise being the end goals. By implementing a coordinated market economy, we may still hold all the benefits of capitalism, and then spread them around the globe, as well as reducing the issues mentioned above.

To conclude, a capitalist economic system does indeed deliver widespread improvement in living standards, but for the majority only to those who are born into it and are privileged to maintain a traditional capitalistic lifestyle. Income growth has undoubtedly increased, but at the utter cost of damaging the environment, expanding inequality and promoting inheritance rather than fairness. Although capitalism has helped some countries overcome extreme poverty (e.g., India) and worked for expanding their economy, the traditional way in which we see capitalism no longer works as there is too much at stake. The most successful countries in innovation, free market, widespread equality and improved living standards (e.g., Sweden) do not use a typical capitalist economy, but mix it with socialism and promote coordinated market economy. Ultimately, there are 2 types of capitalism, one of which (coordinated market economy) will and has delivered a widespread improvement in living standards, and will continue to do so in the future, whereas the other type (liberal market economy) has helped economies in the past, but is now majorly affecting living standards of our future generations, as well as promoting issues which we simply cannot maintain any longer.

Evils of Capitalism in the “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair

Immigrants flock to America in search of the American dream; a dream that promises success to everybody who works hard and makes an effort to succeed. In the novel ‘The Jungle’ Upton Sinclair illustrates that capitalism is flawed as it leads to corruption, exploitation, and power in the hands of the rich.

Corruption, ‘dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.’ Examples of this in Upton Sinclair ‘The Jungle’ is exemplified multiple times. For example in chapter 10 Connor, Ona’s boss was using Ona for his pleasures, He was bribing/using her family as leverage. He knew that if she would follow his demands, she would be fired and she and her family couldn’t afford it. Esscapilay with Jurgis injured and being unable to work. Another example would be when the meat inspector is inspecting the meatpacking factories. He was either bribed or distracted as the workers would put the bad meat (parts of the cattle that should not be eaten) into the mixer and sell it as normal. Another example is when the meatpacking companies would advertise halal meat, but in reality, it was normal a mix of cattle and pig (not halal).

The Exploitation of workers is an action that is repeated over and over again is The Jungle. According to chapter 1 if the workers are late to work they don’t get paid. On the other hand, if you don’t show up at all then you lose your job, there’s no job security. For example, once Jurgius was waiting at the front door for two hours due to some miscommunication. That was until one of his bosses sees him. His boss is anxious that Jurgis is not working. Instead of firing him, the boss gives Jurgis the job to clean up the slaughterhouse. The worst job, he needed blood and guts of the cattle that were not used in the meat. All of this not including terrible working conditions. The workers are expected to work from sunrise till sunset, 6 days a week with one day break per week. At the time in America there were a lot of diseases, so a high chance of sickness. Especially when you are in a space with dead animals. Your set up to fail. You get sick due to the working conditions, you skip a day and you get fired. It’s a system that sets you up for failure.

At the time there were very few middle-class citizens. If you are rich you’re really rich, on the contrary, if you are poor and struggling you really were. This leads to no distribution of power. The few rich citizens would have an excessive amount of power. They would be the ones who own all the major industries and meatpacking industries. In chapter 5 page 35 “Here was Durham’s, for instance, owned by a man who was trying to make as much money out of it as he could, and did not care in the least how he did it; and underneath him, ranged in ranks and grades like an army, were managers and superintendents and foremen, each one driving the man next below him and trying to squeeze out of him as much work as possible.” In this conversation between Tamoszius and Jurgis, Tamoszius clarifies to Jurgis how the meatpacking industries work. As stated by Tamoszius factory owners are only troubled about making money and not at all for the workers. They don’t care about their situations, the conditions they work and have absolutely no empathy for them.

“The city, which was owned by an oligarchy of business men, being nominally ruled by the people, a huge army of graft was necessary for the purpose of effecting the transfer of power.” In chapter 25, page 151 The narrator is speaking. The narrator vividly portrays why Jurgis choose to become a criminal. He day the corruption in its politics, how it was all rigged for the rich men. At first, Jurgis and his family saw America as a place of opportunity freedom. A country where citizens had a say in their government and country. But now he came to the realization that cash controls everything.

The Jungle was written to illustrate the evils of capitalism in America. In the novel The Jungle, the author Upton Sinclair shows the numerous ways the capitalist system exploits the working class. The novel outlines how the capitalist system gives great power to the wealthy few. The Jungle shows the many horrific actions that occur as a result of capitalism. These including horrific working conditions, corruption, prostitution, drinking while working, and child labor. Workers are exposed to horrific working conditions where they are exposed to injury, exhaustion, sickness, and eventually death. Just to survive, citizens and families must work dreadful jobs, make their children work, and prostitute themselves. Under the eyes of the capitalist system, dishonesty, cheating, child labor, and prostitution become the standard.

Ghost Genre as a Tool to Symbolize Capitalism Critique in The Signalman of Dickens

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an eminent writer, journalist and social critic of Victorian era. He was brought up by middle class family in destitute poverty during British industrial revolution. These things had everlasting impact upon his memory. He is one of the literary canons who wrote a magnanimous amount of literature on varied topics. He wrote blatantly about social and economic disparities and stratification. He pinned menace and drawbacks of industrial revolution.

Sigmund Freud has been a celebrated neurologist and thinker of 20th century. He is credited for developing the field of Psychoanalysis in which dialogue is held between patient and doctor. Freud in his essay the interpretation of dreams argued that our actions are controlled by our unconscious.

According to Chambers Dictionary, Tropes a figure of speech, properly one in which a word or expression is used in other than its literal meaning. Words are used figuratively, which decorates the text, make it more readable, colorful, and dramatic. It is certainly true that perceived presence of figurative language enhances points of dramatic and emotional intensity (Bennett and Royale 79).

Desires, feelings, and emotions which remain unfulfilled do not vanish with passage of time rather pack in our heart which is called by Freud unconscious. We cannot know about conscious directly, rather through indirect channels. First and foremost indirect channel for expression of reality is dreams along with others parapraxes and jokes. According to Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams, “dreams are symbolic fulfillment of wishes that cannot be fulfilled because they have been repressed”. These wishes even cannot be uttered openly because they have been forbidden and to speak against them is conceived violation of social taboos, so they come out in dreams in very strange form, sometime in shattered while often far different from reality (Klages, 64).

Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams suggested that dreams represented unconscious desires, thoughts, and motivations. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic view of personality, people are driven by aggressive and sexual instincts that are repressed from conscious awareness. While these thoughts are not consciously expressed, Freud suggested that they find their way into our awareness via dreams (Tyson, 18). For Freud actions, thoughts, beliefs are predetermined by unconscious which is called ID. Unconscious leads to fulfillment of suppressed desires. Afterward Jacques Lucan moves Freud’s thought further along in a direction where it questions the idea of unconscious material preexisting. Jacques Lacan established relationship among the real, the imaginary and the symbolic. He narrates real is a polysemous concept, which is understood in relation to others. Following Freud’s metaphor of the navel connecting the dream to the unknown, the real can be understood as located in the navel of dreams (Goulimaria, 140).

Signalman (1866) is a short story that contains ghost and supernatural elements. A Victorian era was beamed with ghost stories genre and were extremely popular among masses. These stories are equally popular today as they were in Victorian era because human’s mind pleasures when scared. Dickens has emphasized on gloomy, dark and shadowy environment to aggrandize mysterious and horrifying effect. In The Signalman, character Signalman is living in far off railway station in complete solitude and loneliness. His job was to change that signal, to trimmed lights and interact with other stations through telegraph. Apparition is a troop in this story, which appears like dream to him. Signalman believes upon these specters, but at same time they happen to like dream. Signalman was a person who was not guided by rationale, rather temptations, but narrator was a character of wit. He didn’t believe upon his stories. Signalman was perplexed in himself, he couldn’t demarcate between real and imaginary, because he was guided by unconscious and unconscious is determined by your unfulfilled desires. He was residing in gloomy and destitute environment and had quest to break this box. To come out of this boredom, this specter was a ray of hope.

When first time Signalman watched narrator, he didn’t respond him truly, because he conceived him similar specter as he used to watch on the brink of whole. Some mysterious thing used to appear on opening of cave waving hand to Signalman and saying ‘Halloa! Below there!’ Every time this apparition was followed by any incident, in which someone died mysteriously.

Literature Review

Alessandro Vescovi in his article, compares Charles Dickens’ two short stories The Bagman and The Signalman. He elucidated similarities and differences among both. He points out that both stories have similar environment of uncanny and mystery. In both stories, character of ghost have domineering effect upon individuals, they influence human actions. Both stories have similar characters, Signalman and Bagman’s uncle, both try to avoid accusation of being implausible on account of their elusiveness. Bagman’s uncle narrates a story of an adventure that happened one night to the narrator’s uncle. The story of Signalman is quite of another tenor: a railway employee works entire day in deep trench by the mouth of tunnel, where sun never shines (112).

Vescovi then explains differences between both stories. In the Bagman, there is no discontinuity between the main narrator and the Bagman’s story, which is direct discourse, with frequent hints to gentlemen who form his fictitious audience. The Signalman on the other hand presented a writing narrator, who demands a reader rather than listener and in which narrator and Signalman are bifurcated from very start of story.

Appearance of ghost is a protest by working class, against their hectic and drab daily routine. Person like Signalman had to work 24/7 to earn livelihood. In capitalist system, worker works in alienation and estrangement, as he and his work was considered commodity and chattel. They had no moments of pleasure and enjoy. This is protest from Marxist point of view against hegemonic and cruel system of capitalism.

In this paper Vescovi evaluates, Signalman’s cause of death was his loneliness, but to my research interpretation, Signalman’s inability to demarcate between real and imaginary was his mistake, which arrived him to dig of death. Train driver keeps on signaling and saying: “Below there! Look out! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!” But he was conceiving its similar specter as used to be prior in his imagination. It can be explored from another aspect: it’s ironic that a person could not comprehend the signal which was alarming him, where he had been working for twenty-five years. This is the point Carl Marx highlight; difference between the man and the work (119) from sociological point of view, elements of social stratification and discrimination are also found in this story.

From the very start of story, when narrator standing on the upper edge of tunnel waves hand, while Signalman is much deeper in the trench. Narrator moves down to bottom to reach Signalman. According to my research, this societal polarization and discrimination added to his alienation, who derived a philosophy student to world of imagination (120). In an article by Seed on the topic “Mystery in Everyday Things: Charles Dickens’ Signalman” he argues that language used in a story is archaic. Narrator in very start of story says to Signalman: “Halloa!’ Which in modern times is no more used, instead we use “Hello”. In my opinion, this difference of language show transitory period through which Great Britain and Europe was passing during these days, period of industrial revolution.

Dickens has sustained suspense and horror throughout the story by different anecdotes via plot and characters. When narrator first time comes across Signalman, his is not welcomed by Signalman and he takes him for someone else. Signalman is shown a student of philosophy working at station to alter railway signals. Later on by every time ghost appearance is followed by any incident and they were its repercussions. My paper determines its causes who dragged signalman toward tragic death. It was Signalman’s quest to reach reality which dragged him to death. It was his journey from vision to hallucination, specter and then apparition. He was determined to know real nature of these supernatural things (43). In an article by Alberto Boschi on the topic “A linguistic approach to the signalman by Charles Dickens” argues story is written in first person narrative and one of protagonist is narrator of the plot. Tzveton Todorov defines it “narrator-character” or “represented-narrator”. This technique suits Gothic and horror genre because it creates strong ambiguity in the text. This technique has been implied by Dickens in the story when narrator at start of story announces: “Halloa below there” and Signalman is unable to understand him what he is saying. This clearly shows ambiguity and entanglement in story (20).

According to Boschi, Character of signal is persistently shown odd and queer. He behaves frivolously when he encounters narrator first time. He does not treat him mannerly, even on second visit he says he did not took him a human but a specter. Signalman in conversation with narrator looks toward light several times and stands up to open the door, when even no one is knocking. In my opinion these all instances shows anxiety, fear and quest of Signalman. He is not satisfied with his lot. He is in perplexed between conscious and unconscious unable to recognize whom to follow.

Another aspect highlighted by Boschi, The Signalman is a text which is rich of verbose to show mysterious and strange events. Many words are used which add in supernatural environment. Words like dark sallow man, solitary, dismal, crooked dungeon, gloomy red light, barbarous, forbidding, and deadly are used to show bleak and haunted place environment (27).

Trope of train is very important in the story. Metaphor of train is used very figuratively. It has multi layered connotations. According to Boschi, train is a destructive element which has only aggrandized man’s miseries. It has rendered dehumanizing effects upon lives. Industrial revolution, invention of train and other discoveries have deteriorated man’s peace and comfort. These things have just created material of discontent not peace. But in my research “Use of anything is not good or bad, thinking makes it so”. Train has not aggrandized our discomforts, but we ourselves have made their bad use. Train driver kept on alarming make signalman to be aside, but he was in his dreams that’s why he was unable to demarcate among oblivion and reality (34).

Work Cited:

1. Goulimaria, Pelagia. Literary Criticism and Theory. Routledge Oxon, 2015.
2. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today. Routledge Oxon, 2006.
3. Bennett, Andrew, and Royle Nicholas. Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory. 3rded. Dorling Kindersley, Pearson Education, 2009.
4. Klages, Mary. Literary theory: A Guide for the Perplexed. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011.
5. Vescovi, Alessandro. “The Bagman, the Signalman and Dickens’s Short Story Dickens: The Craft of Fiction and the Challenges of Reading Biblioteca di Anglistica: Collana di Testi e Studi”. AcademiaU, January, 2000, www.academia.edu/893959/The_Bagman_the_Signalman_and_Dickenss_Short_Story/ Accessed 20 January 2019.
6. Boschi, Alberta. A Linguistic Approach to the Signalman by Charles Dickens. dpace.unitus, 31 March 2006, dspace.unitus.it/bitstream/2067/157/1/aboschi_tesi_i.pdf/. Accessed 20 January.
7. Seed, David. “Mystery in Everyday Things: Charles Dickens’ ‘Signalman.’” Criticism, vol. 23, no. 1, 1981, pp. 42–57. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23105012

Materialism, Loneliness and the Problem with Capitalism

As a wise person once said, shopping is cheaper than a therapist. Is that statement actually truthful though? Every year thousands, maybe even millions, of Americans fall into the dangerous cycle of materialism due to loneliness. Buying unnecessary and trivial products hoping that they will make their life just a little bit better. Later on, they realize the purchase of those items only gives a short, fleeting feeling of satisfaction. As the high they experience from the purchase dies down, they inevitably repeat the cycle. Rinse and repeat. It wasn’t always as bad as it is now, and we can describe what doomed the American people to the lonely life of materialism. Materialism is inarguably linked to loneliness, and American society only amplifies it by contributing to it. They have big companies that are dedicated to creating targeted advertisements that encourage a life of consumerism, as well as having an immense capitalistic culture that promotes never being satisfied with what one has.

The United States has perfected the science that is advertising. This plays a vital role in how materialism is viewed by the public as something to strive for. According to Holly Petrovich in ‘Advertising and Consumerism. Yay or Nay?’, “Advertising is a vital part of an individual business success and the modern economy as a whole, but consumers need to be aware of the incentive that exists behind it”. Petrovich is not wrong. There is an estimated 229 billion dollars in profit that the advertising industry makes yearly by specifically targeting ads to certain people. For example, a seventeen one year old male is more likely to be into video games than the average person and the advertising industry is more likely to push those kinds of ads on him to make a profit. In other words, advertisers have an incentive to hook the targeted audience to their product, and keep generating profits from it. This is harmful because it can lead to unnecessary purchases and a materialistic outlook when purchasing items. Rhianne Segger said this best in her article ‘Advertising as a Central Form of Ideology in Capitalist Society’, where she noted: “Consumer products were now not about their usefulness. Instead, the commodity becomes a symbol to represent another’s identity or uniqueness”. These advertisers are smart and know the public doesn’t buy products for their practicality, as much as the way they present it in their ads.

Advertising plays a considerable role in dictating how a person perceives a product. This goes to extreme levels where now the public finds comfort and tends to buy products as a means to fill a void. Tine Faseur, Verolien Cauberghe and Liselot Hudders say this in their article ‘Social Threat Appeals in Commercial Advertising’, where they state: “…Adopting alternative advertising techniques such as threat appeals. In particular, commercial marketers try to evoke fear by emphasizing the risk or loss of opportunity of not using their product or service”. These ‘social threats’ can be anything from being scared of smelling bad because one is not using deodorant to missing out on a child’s graduation because the family car wasn’t fast enough. These social threats can be convincing enough to the general public to buy their products. Many times, the item could be used for good use, other times advertisements manipulate the use of the product. According to Rhianne Segger, her article ‘Advertising as a Central Form of Ideology in Capitalist Society’ states that “consumers were told that to increase on the social ladder they needed to buy more than just ‘regular’ products”. This occurred with Grey Goose vodka, where they made adverts making the vodka look as elegant and high class as possible, yet in a taste test, most of the subjects couldn’t tell the difference between the fifty-dollar vodka and a fifteen-dollar vodka. So why did Gray Goose become such a successful vodka brand? They feed off of the people’s insecurities and sell them something ‘guaranteed’ to make them feel more elegant.

The feeling of happiness and elegance doesn’t last long though, if anything the cycle only leads to a life of loneliness. It’s almost like an addiction where if one is unsatisfied with their life, buying these redundant products give us a weird sense of accomplishment. Especially in an era where loneliness is rising at an unprecedented and incredible rate, materialism only festers further. Rhianne Segger also said in ‘Advertising as a Central Form of Ideology in Capitalist Society’: “However, we are merely imitating the ideas and lifestyles from someone else, hence, why we are vulnerable to manipulation”. Segger is essentially saying that materialism is an appealing way to show off one’s individuality, but buying endlessly hoping to find some sort of ‘own self’ through it is a grave mistake. Consumerism is advertised to us in an alluring way, as a way to be self-expressive, yet problems come to us when in the long run we only feel worse. This can be seen through ‘Social Threat Appeals in Commercial Advertising’, an article written by Tine Faseur, Veroline Cauberghe and Liselot Hudders, where they mention: “Previous studies have shown that especially low self-esteem individuals pay more attention to social threat appeals and are more vulnerable to social rejection”, fundamentally saying those who are less social are more likely to be affected by advertisements encouraging consumerism.

The United States has also a marriage to the economic ideology that is capitalism, where the freer the market the freer the people. This sounds good in theory, in practice it’s harder to tell. Capitalism although known to many as the idea of the free world, is known to exploit anything to make a profit. As stated by Segger in ‘Advertising as a Central Form of Ideology in Capitalist Society’, she says: “It is clear that our capitalist society is shaping our culture, and identity, as there is no aspect of our lives that isn’t being used in the theatre of the brand”. In our society, capitalism doesn’t care how it belittles self-esteem, personhood, or individuality. As long as there are profits to be made, capitalistic power houses will make that profit. There’s also a fault on the public of falling for these Ideas, the fault though being incredibly minor. Capitalism conditions persons to fall more into the vicious cycle of materialism by use of exploitation by the companies who are at the top. Companies are like vultures who prey on those who are insecure and looking for easy solutions in their life. It was best said in the article ‘Social Threat Appeals in Commercial Advertising’, written by Tine Faseur, Veroline Cauberghe and Liselot Hudder, where they report: “In today’s cluttered advertising environment commercial marketers are constantly searching for ways to attract consumers’ attention”. These ads tug at the self-esteem of the viewer which is exactly why the advertisements are so successful. The insecurity of the population plus well-targeted ads do not mix, but that’s the issue with capitalism as well where anything is a free game.

The answer is yes, materialism and loneliness are two peas in a pod and undoubtedly linked together, only fueled by targeted advertisements and a harsh capitalistic system. If we let materialism continue to make its way into our culture in more obvious manners, there is no doubt that this problem will only get worse. We can only solve the problem together, by being self-aware and rejecting materialism.

What Is the Public Good: Informative Essay

According to Adam Smith’s Theory” Wealth of Nations,” ideology is the exact same in I believe. He stated “Rational self-interest in a free market economy leads to economic well-being” In other words, there was little to no government involvement and we as individuals were given the opportunity to have a free market so we can become balanced. We as individuals will be willing to work out of pure happiness and as well as be able to work as an entity. Therefore, being of the opinion that capitalism is the ideology that is prominent in promoting public goods through order, power, and justice.

Order

Order by political definition “refers to an existing or desired arrangement of institutes based on certain principles such as liberty, equality, prosperity, and security also often associated with the rule of law and with conservative values such as stability, obedience and respect for a legitimate authority”(Magstadt, 2017, pg6). Unfortunately, people mostly relied on the security aspect of order versus the equality and prosperity which is seen in capitalism. Providentially, capitalism is not against a lawless society and believed that it can be helpful in the hands of people. We as individuals need a lot fewer rules to abide by in order to have an abundance of prosperity, let alone for society but as a vital force.

Power

“Political Power can be defined as the capacity to maintain order in society”(Magstadt, 2017, pg 21). As far as power, the ideology is the belief that there should be little or no government involvement is needed in society. In society, it belongs to each individual versus the government. I myself can argue that fact that what this does is have tons of huge corporate companies take advantage of others knowingly because “capitalism opposes high taxes”(Magstadt, 2017, pg31) So, in reality, these large companies are coming up with “ justifiable” reasons to be capitalist asking for more tax cuts and find various way to discover loopholes in order to steer clear of taxes or any other vast expenses.

Conclusion

Actual capitalism encourages the public good of the people by empowering them to flourish individually without the government interceding and providing success. Capitalism is the type of ideology that has the most influence in today’s world. Per Adam Smith “ The free economy is an adaptable and flexible system, which can withstand the shock of the new and cope with whatever the future brings”

References

1. Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage
2. https://www.adamsmith.org/the-wealth-of-nations
3. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Smith.html

Similarities between Capitalism and Socialism: Compare and Contrast Essay

There is an ongoing debate about the two economic systems namely, Socialism and Capitalism. The main difference between these two is the ownership of the assets. In Capitalism, assets are owned by private companies, while in Socialism they’re owned by the government (Pettinger, 2017). According to Tejvan Pettinger (2017), capitalist societies’ income depends on the market forces of the economy while socialist societies are more into the redistribution of resources. There are a lot of controversies that circulate these two economic systems, and numerous people have voiced their opinions on the said debate (Hayek, 1996). One of which is the famous scientist, Albert Einstein. He is known as one of the world’s greatest scientists. He has received numerous science degrees from both American and European universities (Nobel Lectures, n.d). Aside from his achievements in the science world, he has also made a fair share of contributions regarding social and political issues. Einstein heavily opposed the concept of capitalism, and he made it clear in the article he made for the Monthly Review. In the year 1949, Albert Einstein wrote an article titled, “Why Socialism?”. This article contained his personal thoughts and arguments about the economic system, Socialism. This economic system was his proposed solution to capitalism. Einstein has made a series of agreeable points while defending his claim. He made points that can really persuade people into considering the idea of Socialism. Although Albert Einstein has made some remarkable points in his article, “Why Socialism?”, he failed to structure his paper in a clear and concise manner.

“Why Socialism?” revolves around the idea that capitalism is bad, and the way to solve this problem is through socialism. In the first part of the article, he enumerates a few points that relate to why he believes that the whole society should be given the opportunity to state their thoughts on Socialism. He claims that Socialism’s goal is to overcome the predatory phase of human development, and it is focused on social-ethical ends. He believes that science is not capable of reaching such ends. Einstein also reminds his readers that science and scientific methods should not be overestimated, especially when talking about human society. He further explains that humans are solitary and social beings. As solitary beings, humans are expected to protect themselves and the people around them, while as social beings, they attempt to feel accepted in the society they live in. The reliance of humans on society gives them the right to talk about societal matters. As the paper develops, Einstein talks about the different downfalls of Capitalism. He believes that Capitalism is a source of evil. He talks about the unfair treatment that workers get. Workers, who produce the goods sold by the owners of the means of production, do not get paid for how much they produce, but rather, they are given an amount that is considered as their minimum needs. He then goes on to express how Capitalism mainly benefits the rich and not the underprivileged. Einstein also explains how the means of production are all privately owned, and the owners are able to dispose of them whenever they please. The production of goods and services is done for profit and not for use. Therefore, workers can always be unemployed depending on how many workers the firm deems fit since the owners only require a certain number of laborers to reach their profit-maximizing quantity. Einstein further explains that one way to solve this problem is through the establishment of a socialist society. This would entail that every single person has equal rights on property as it is owned by society. All members of society would be granted livelihood. However, the author ends by stating that Socialism is not a planned economy yet. There are still some problems that revolve around the idea.

Albert Einstein starts his paper off with the question, “Is it advisable for one who is not an expert on economic and social issues to express views on the subject of socialism?”, and the first paragraph of his paper ends with his answer to that question. This misleads the readers into believing that his response, agreeing that even people who are not experts in certain fields should be given the chance to express their opinions on Socialism, is the thesis statement of the article. His answer to the question serves as the main topic of the first few paragraphs of the article, but it does not apply to the succeeding paragraphs. Einstein believed that individuals, despite their status, should be allowed to express their views on socialism. His first few lines talk about historical facts about the science of economics. He talks about how economics was heavily influenced by events in the past and the “predatory phase” of humans. Although he did not really define what this “predatory phase” is, it is clear that Einstein refers to capitalism. He believed that the only way to overcome this phase is through socialism. He then develops his paper by talking about how socialism is directed at a social-ethical end. He reminds the readers that they should not overestimate science and scientific methods. Einstein states, “We should not assume that experts are the only ones who have a right to express themselves on questions affecting the organization of the society,”. He proclaims that experts should not be the only ones who have the capability to have discussions about this problem as it is a concern of the whole society. He then goes on by recalling a personal experience relating to humans being hostile toward each other. Einstein had a visitor that questioned him about why he opposed the disappearance of the human race. He believes that this question was brought about by the hope that was lost. Einstein goes on by explaining how man is a solitary being, one who takes care of his own existence and those around him, as well as a social being, one who requires attention and affection from other humans. This puts into words how humans heavily rely on society, which means that man’s expression of his thoughts can influence those around him.

The second half of Einstein’s article talked about why capitalism was not a good thing. In order to back this up, he states, “The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evil,”. He elaborates on the relationship between the workers and the owners of the means of production. The value of these workers does not depend on the value of what they produce, but rather on the minimum wage. The owners of the means of production have full power over the laborers which means that they have control of the number of workers they want to hire and the number of workers they have to let go of. Workers are in constant competition to work hard since capitalism is not generous toward those who lack skills (Amadeo, 2018). Einstein then opens up the topic of private capitalism. Private capitalism brings inequality to society as the rich benefit from it more than the underprivileged. He shares that private capitalists control the main sources of information, which makes it difficult for other members of society to express their thoughts regarding the said problem. Furthermore, Einstein develops his paper by noting, “Production is carried on for profit, not for use,”. He relays to the readers that the reason why these owners of production produce goods is for their own benefit. If businesses are not in the right financial position, they can cut back the number of employees that they have (LWO, 2016). As mentioned previously, people compete for jobs, and this competition is what Einstein considers to be one of the worst evils brought by capitalism. He supplies this claim by mentioning, “An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career,”. With these problems revolving around Capitalism, Einstein believed that there was only one way to solve these problems, and it was through a planned economy which will eventually lead to socialism. In this economic system, society has equal rights with regard to the means of production, and they would be distributed fairly. This system would guarantee work and livelihood for all of the members of society. Socialism paves way for workers to not be exploited anymore as they own the means of production (Amadeo, 2019). Einstein then reminds his readers that the planned economy is not yet socialist. In order to fully achieve socialism, society must first fix socio-political problems.

Albert Einstein gave out a strong message regarding socialism, but the structure of his article made the messages unclear. He talked about how each member of society should be given the chance to express their views regarding socialism. He made points that persuaded readers into sharing the same thoughts with him. Einstein also gave his opinion on the capitalist system. He expressed the evils that the system brought, and he gave examples and explanations for each point he made. However, Einstein could have improved the structure of his article more by arranging his thoughts properly and establishing a clear thesis statement in order to make the readers know more about the article. He could have made “Members of the society should be able to express their views on socialism, and capitalism brings inequality to the society,” as his thesis statement. Overall, ‘Why Socialism?’ expressed a great message regarding economic systems, capitalism, and socialism.

The process of writing this journal article critique was quite challenging. Mainly because there was a huge struggle in trying to understand the article given. It took a series of analyses and a few videos before I was able to fully understand or at least get a gist of the article’s message. However, when I finally understood the article, it was easier to write about it, and the words flowed more freely in comparison to when I wasn’t able to get the main idea of the article. Overall, it was an experience that was without a doubt challenging, but at the same time, it was an experience that taught me a lot about writing a journal article critique.

References

1. Amadeo, K. (2018, December 29). How Capitalism Works Compared to Socialism and Communism. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from https://www.thebalance.com/capitalism-characteristics-examples-pros-cons-3305588
2. Amadeo, K. (2019, January 17). 8 Types of Socialism. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from https://www.thebalance.com/socialism-types-pros-cons-examples-3305592
3. Hayek, F. A. (1996, May 01). The Use of Knowledge in Society | F. A. Hayek. Retrieved January 25, 2019, from https://fee.org/articles/the-use-of-knowledge-in-society/
4. Nobel Lectures (n.d.). The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1921/einstein/biographical/
5. Pettinger, T. (2017, October 28). Capitalism vs Socialism. Retrieved January 26, 2019, from https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/capitalism-v-socialism/
6. Retrenchment – what? when? how? (2018, November 19). Retrieved January 27, 2019, from http://lwo.co.za/retrenchment-what-when-how/?fbclid=IwAR3_0RN8dA0bhXCEIOmiKORHozYm8A3Hy1btxZArmLoGbHDvPMK4KuXbys8

Compare and Contrast Essay on Economic Systems: Capitalism, Communism and Socialism

Socialism is a leftist political ideology that developed out of the attitudes reflecting the exploitation of workers in capitalist systems. The socialist ideology critiques the idea of capitalism as being held on the basis of competition, and selfishness. It argues rather that humans are societal, and that economic rivalry weakens and threatens “the cooperative and community-oriented nature of humanity” (Mintz et. al, 62). The political ideology of socialism emerged out of various revolutionary movements, advocating for a better distribution of wealth, income, and power, for a more equal society, where a sense of community and solidarity could be forged. In this essay, I will be looking at the origins of socialism, tracing its ideology back to its early beginnings, while looking at some important socialist works that have influenced modern socialist thinkers. I will also be looking at the historical conditions under which socialism emerged, and finally, which countries it prevailed the most in.

Before 1800, the development of socialism was limited exclusively to England and France. Socialism consisted of a few isolated thinkers, as well as scattered revolutionary movements, such as the Diggers; an extreme left-wing movement of the English Civil War (1642-1651) led by Winstanley, who pressed the laboring class to find uncultivated land and work communally on this land. During the French Revolution (1789-1799), the Equals, a movement led by Babeuf advocated for equality and the demand for common ownership. However, one of the basic fundamental works on which socialism is based on can be traced back to the 16th century with Thomas More’s Utopia published in 1516 (69). Discussed in his work the idea of common ownership for a whole society. The classic English writer “condemned the evils of pride, envy, and greed” (63) on which capitalism is based on. More was the first to argue that private property leads to a greedy society that seeks only to serve its own interests. More imagined an ideal world where everyone could pick out of the common good, and where money would no longer exist. Many thinkers of the 19th century were influenced by More’s idea of a utopian world. More influenced socialist utopian thinkers of the early 1800s, such as St. Simon, Fourier, and Owen. All three of these Enlightenment thinkers were “keen observers of their environment”, fearful of the power of the state, and wished to solve the problems of society through communal societies. In 1830 England, socialism acquired the character of a working-class political movement when middle-class workers were given the right to vote. Indeed, Chartism was passed in 1832, which was historically the first large-scale independent political action taken on by a socialist group.

After the 1800s, building off on the ideas of utopian societies came a more modern socialist school of thought. The socialist ideology shifted towards revolutionary movements that gradually rose to reflect the conditions of life of the working class. Indeed, rather than envisioning an ideal life through the development of visionary schemes, as Utopia suggested, more modern socialist thinkers desired now to take concrete political actions against the growing inequalities between the rich and the poor. Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Frederick Engels (1820-1895) were the founding fathers of this new wave of thinking that gave rise to the communist revolutions of the 19th century. Marx and Engel’s argued that socialism must be based on a theory of history, where the dynamics of a society can be understood in the way it produces its material goods (historical materialism), and a theory of the existing social order. Moreover, Marx and Engel argued that slave-owning, feudal, and capitalist systems, led to “the exploitation of a subordinate class by a smaller, dominant class” (63-64). In other words, Marx and Engels were convinced that incomes attainted by the bourgeoisie (rich) were based on the exploitation of the proletariat (working class). When Europeans started to gain the right to vote in the late 19th century, Marx and Engels saw a possibility that the working class could achieve to take control of the state and establish a socialist system through elections.

In 1848, Marx and Engel wrote the Communist Manifesto, which today may be considered the most influential socialist piece of work to have ever been written. This political pamphlet basically outlined Marx’s and Engel’s theories on capitalism, the working-class struggle of communal production of labor, and the struggle between the rich and the poor. Marx and Engel stressed that power relations and capitalist economic systems give rise to high inequality, and therefore don’t have their place in society. Indeed, they rather placed importance on the idea that humans should be seen as products of human nature capable of social and creative qualities. Moreover, they argued that eradicating the capitalist system to shift towards an economy devoted to human needs would increase production, and therefore, material abundance would prevail, and everyone would meet their basic needs. Marx and Engel stressed in their Manifesto that capitalism would never fully thrive, due to the fact that the lion’s share of a society’s capital was detained only by a limited group of people, and therefore, capitalism could not meet the maximum of human productivity, which would eventually lead to crises of unemployment and depression. According to Marx and Engel, these consequences would lead to the intensification of conflicts between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats, to the point where the vast working class, which expanded at a rapid rate, as the result of industrialization would organize itself into a revolutionary front to overthrow the bourgeoisie and the capitalist system. The working class would then establish a system based on collective ownership of the means of production. These social and economic features of an ideal society reveal the true essence of socialism, which was outlined in the Manifesto. This piece of work marked a turning point in the history of socialism. In Europe, the 19th century was a time of great change; England and France had established tenacious capitalist systems. The publication of an essay of that much depth set the bases for modern socialism, and had great significance for the years to come, particularly in terms of its influence on the division of the capitalist West and the communist East.

Communism, and democratic socialism, are branches of the political ideology of socialism. Communism holds a more extreme interpretation of socialism. Indeed, communists believe that all private ownership should be replaced by collective ownership, where everyone is free to take what they need. Communism prevailed mainly in the Soviet Union before its collapse, in China, and Cuba. For much of its existence, the Soviet Union classified itself as socialist and longed for the monopoly of the term. However, due to their strict prohibition of private enterprises and repressive civil society, the Soviet Union would be considered communists. China’s lasting communist regime is another example of a communist country. For more than 70 years, the Chinese government-controlled a substantial part of social and economic activities in a repressive manner. With the emergence of economic relations with the West, the Chinese economy has turned more to a free-market system, but initially, the country had very strict laws regarding economic activities. Another key member in the communist sphere is the Republic of Cuba. The Cuban Communist Party, formerly known as the Popular Socialist Party led by Fidel Castro allied themselves in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Popular Socialist Party of Cuba became an important player in the Cold War, as key members would provide links to Russia that helped consolidate the relationship between the Soviet Union and Cuba while intensifying the United States’ fears of the development of communism in Cuba. For Cuba, creating the communist party represented an extensive battle to secure its independence from imperial powers. The party rejected capitalist exploitation and political oppression by the United States (Sweig, 2009).

Democratic socialism emerged post World War II in most Western countries but has been challenged in recent years by the worldwide phenomena of globalization and neoliberalism. Democratic socialism envisions a more alleviated form of socialism where democratic means should be used only to achieve a socialist society. Democratic socialists reject dictatorships of the working class, unlike the communists. Moreover, they argue that in a social democratic system, fundamental rights and freedom of the population have to be respected. Democratic socialists advocate for some forms of collective ownership, consolidated with some public institutions, and cooperative enterprises where workers could have a voice in the business sector. This form of socialism advocates for government planning and regulation of the economy, through government provision, and subsidization, as well as the redistribution of income, through a tax system. In other words, these contemporary socialists envision a more mixed economy where governments would play a substantial role in the allocation of resources, as well as regulating the economy, and providing free or low-cost public services, such as health care, education, and child care, for “greater social and economic equality to achieve a meaningful democracy” (p. 67). Denmark and Finland are countries where democratic socialism prevails. Indeed, these two European countries have a wide range of welfare benefits, as well as the world’s best educational system, with no tuition fees. They are also the countries with the highest taxes in the world. Through these taxes, the Finland and Denmark governments allocate goods and services more equally amongst its population. Indeed, Denmark and Finland rank equality as the most important value of their countries.

In conclusion, the roots of socialism can be traced back to the English Civil War, and the French Revolution. The initial ideas about utopian societies have evolved and given rise to more revolutionary movements of the working class, where the struggle for equality and the division between the rich and the poor have been at the center of these conflicts. The ideas of Thomas More, Karl Marx, and Frederic Engel’s are still today, used as foundational groundworks for the socialism doctrine. Modern socialism fluctuates from communism to more democratic socialism and still prevails in many countries of the world.