Dynamics of the Industrial Revolution. Capitalism: Genesis and Evolution
After the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in the late 15th century, the mercantilists firmly understood that the only way they get wealthy was through the international trade. Their answer to the question that marked the world "how to enrich" was clear and distinct; this discovery of the untapped tremendous amount of precious metals that only occured in America elicit the attention of the merchants in Europe ready to pounce on it especially France, Portugal, Spain, which could undoubtedly lead to a war between nations.
Commercial capitalism was limited to exporting precious metals (international trade); it was characterised by the predominant state intervention which must support traders with subsidies and fulfil its role as a powerful state (militarily and financially) capable of facing future crises and extending its power throughout the world. Traders fueled by this support proliferated and began to export more than import (except when it comes to the raw materials that needed to be turned into an end product). This process was summed up by Antoine de Montchrestien in two words: Political Economics. economics meant wealth which later became the economics science and politics was synonymous with the state through its intervention. the question "how to enrich" finally took on its full meaning with the mercantilists who became the first to answer it.
The mid-18th century gave rise to industrial capitalism, which adopted a broader conception of wealth. This industrial Revolution of Adam Smith advocates wealth but this time included the "Big Machine"; from production for use to production for exchange to that of accumulation. The big machine was composed of two main individuals: the workers and the capitalists. The main condition of the Industrial Revolution is that the state is no longer interventionist, it only intervenes to ensure peace, security and justice (police state). This new conception of capitalism was an abundance for some and a misery for others. Karl Marx has called primitive accumulation the transfer of poor peasants from the countryside to start a new life in the city as workers, their transfer was not a coincidence,,rich landowners used their control of state processes to appropriate public land for their private benefit. This created a landless working class that provided the labour required in the new industries developing in the north of England.
An important aspect of this process of change was the enclosure of the common land previously held in the open field system where peasants had traditional rights, such as mowing meadows for hay and grazing livestock. Once enclosed, these uses of the land became restricted to the owner, and it ceased to be land for commons. the workers which we called the proletariats were prisoners of the system, exploited by the greedy capitalists, forced to produce capital gain for them and receive a living wage (subsistence) in return. Adam Smith, Ricardo and the other classists urged industrial capitalism and consider that the wage-earners were not oppressed, but were simply creating the nation's enrichment and its development while on the other hand, Karl Marx was completely opposed to their ideas; for him, wealth is not equitably distributed between social classes and it is not a question of creating wealth but of exploiting the working class; industrial capitalism enriches the nation and impoverishes the greatest mass of the population, this accumulation of vast amounts of capital under the merchant phase of capitalism and its investment in machinery marked the development of the factory system of manufacturing.
Ever since capitalism came to be recognized as a new economic system, it has had vociferous critics. It has been accused of generating inequality, grinding poverty, debased and alienated work, destruction of community, more egotistic humans, and ecological devastation. The rejection of capitalism has often meant the rejection of its fundamental institutions of markets and private property. The question that many are asking is: How will capitalism end?
About the author :
Kenza CHANAOUI is a young Moroccan economics student. She is currently in her second year at CADI AYYAD University in Marrakech. She is president of the "our future" club at FSJES Marrakech, member of the orientation club at FSJES, an e-commercant, and a volunteer at Politics4Her. She is passionate about politics, economics, personal development and psychology. To her, being committed is not a choice but it is imperative, being involved is a moral and civic duty.
