Chapter – 3
Emergence of Capitalism
and its Total Collapse
“Capitalism is a mode of production based on private ownership of the
means of production. Capitalists produce commodities for the exchange
market and to stay competitive must extract as much labor from the workers
as possible at the lowest possible cost. The economic interest of the capitalist
is to pay the worker as little as possible, in fact just enough to keep him
alive and productive.” —Mind Hunt
“To understand any modern society it is essential to probe beneath its
surface and illuminate its fundamental economic laws of motion, as Marx
did for capitalism.” –Excerpts from: “Death of Stalinism”
On the outburst of technological and scientific inventions in the field of
production of goods and services emerged widely and deeply from the
eighteenth to the nineteenth century. It was called as Industrial Revolution.
Major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a
profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural spectrums in United
Kingdom, European countries, and the USA.
The top 15 Inventions of Industrial Revolution that changed the world:
1. The Steam Engine by James Watt in 1769,
2. Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney in 1793,
3. The Steam Boat Service on Hudson River by Robert Fulton in 1807,
4. Locomotive Engine – Rocket- by George Stephenson in 1829,
5. Telegraph by Samuel F.B. Morse in 1836,
6. Sewing Machine by Elias Howe by 1844,
7. Improves and markets Howe’s Sewing Machine by Isaac Singer in
1851,
8. Transatlantic Cable by Cyrus Field in 1866,
9. Dynamite by Albert Nobel in 1867,
10. Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876,
11. Phonograph, Incandescent Light Bulb and Motion Picture by Thomas
Edison in 1877, 1879 and 1892,
12. Induction Electric Motor by Nikola Tesla in 1888,
13. Diesel Engine by Rudolf Diesel in 1892,
14. First Airplane by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903,
15. Model T Ford Car and Assembly Line by Henry Ford in 1908 and
1913 and
16. Nuclear fission by Sir John Douglas and Ernest Walton in 1932 and
then Enrico Fermi.
Allying the scientific inventions the capitalists produced goods in huge
volume for the accumulation of profit and wealth. These goods could not be
produced in village and cottage industries. The production of these goods
required ‘factory system of production’ in huge quantities and they had to be
distributed all over the world. The factory system of production required the
investment of enormous capital. It created a new class known as ‘capitalists’
from the feudal landlords and wealthy persons. They started gigantic factories
for the production of goods in mass.The above-mentioned inventions paved the
way for the ‘emergence of capitalism’ in England and other Western European
countries. To dump the overproduction they established colonies worldwide
Moreover, the term ‘capital’ implies not only huge machines and factory
buildings but also supreme ‘economic power’. With the help of this ‘economic
power,’ the capitalists can control all the political powers of any government.
They breed brutal economic power even to change or destroy the long
cherished and esteemed culture, religion and education of any society for
their monetary benefit and for their own survival in the business competitions
in other countries.
Working class at the mercy of capitalists
Since the working class is indispensable depending on the capitalists for
their wage income and to protect their ‘right to live’ they have to work for the
interest of capitalists and for their aim of maximisation of profit and
accumulation of their wealth. So the working class, the true representative of
society, will easily succumb to change their life values such as culture, custom,and conventions, method of education, norms of socio-political laws, life style
etc. for the satisfaction of few capitalists. Such capitalistic societies will not
represent the Just Society for which the people have been struggled for years
together.
After industrial revolution the mankind realised that they could not
establish an Ideal Society for which they have been dreaming for since the
genesis of civilisation. This is because of the fact that despite the abundant
volume of production of invented goods there is no justifiable system of
distribution. The capitalist mode of production is aiming at maximisation of
profit but not executing equality to establish Just Society. Both Socialist and
Capitalist Modes of Production have failed in the justifiable distribution of
goods and stabilisation of employment which is the exclusive object of
production.
World War I and II were fought with the scientific goods invented during
industrial revolution. All the world governments misused the inventions to
commit horrendous crime on mankind by killing millions and millions of
innocent people for their transitory victory. The nuclear fission and its
consequent invention of Atom Bomb by Albert Einstein and Robert
Oppenheimer, despite their objection of usage on mankind, were dropped on
Hiroshima by the Capitalist America killing millions of people in seconds.
Now not only Socialist and capitalist Modes Production but also Islamic
Mode of Production have manufactured atom bombs, the weapons of mass
destruction, and heaped them in their military arsenal. Can anyone even guess
such modes of production lead the mankind towards an Ideal Society in future?
Is this the object of scientists to invent nuclear fission for mass destruction
and the nuclear holocaust? Whither are we going?
It is the Capitalistic Mode of Production that has transformed the
wonderful scientific inventions into weapons of mass destruction during two
world wars and now the mode of production helps the terrorist groups day in
and day out to carry out terrorist activities and kill millions of innocent people.
In the same direction of capitalist countries many socialist, democratic and
even poor Islamic countries too marching on and on towards global destruction.
Neither Holy Bible, nor Holy Koran and nor Holy Bhagavat Geeta can stop
them by their divine preaching. All the countries desire to claim pride on
testing atom bombs, various forms of ballistic missiles. No country want to
put even one step forward towards the creation of an Ideal Society in the
midst of wonderful scientific inventions presented for the welfare of mankind.
The Capitalist mode of production is a way using capital to produce a
particular commodity as a sole proprietorship or Partnership or Private Limited
Company or a Joint Stock Company or Global Corporate Company. The
corporate companies in order to accumulate huge volume of capital issue
millions of shares to the public. But the public are allowed to claim stake only
less than 49 per cent and retain majority of shares, more than 51 per cent, to
exert control over the management of the company. The shares of these
companies are being permitted to marketing in the ‘Share Market’ for monetary
benefit without producing anything and thus induce the public to indulge in
gambling. The success of these corporate companies is determined by their
profit exploited from the consumers. To expose huge volume of profit these
companies involve various illegal and manipulative activities and even produce
destructive weapons like RDX, AK47 for distributing them to the terrorists
purely for monetary benefits. They also produce very harmful chemical goods
that will pollute the air, water and land. Moreover production of adulterated,
substandard and health hazardous goods are very common in these companies.
Only these companies have spoiled the Ozone layer in the atmosphere. Their
main purpose is to earn maximum profit by hook or crook at the expense of
human health. Moreover most of the terror outfits have invested their black
money in the stock markets and use the dividend received to carry out their
terror activities. Huge volume of black money is circulated in bullying the
stock price to translate it as the success of these companies and stimulate the
common public to indulge in stock market gambling. One day when the
artificial bubbling economy burst out most of the millionaires become slum
dogs and commit suicide. This trend is prevailing everywhere in the world.
Billions and billions of dollars are speculated in the gamble of stock markets
in the name of investments.
The mankind has been now puzzling and trembling for what to do in the
midst of total collapse of economic systems, nuclear proliferation, climate
changes, terrorist activities and ever spreading pollution. These are all horrible
consequences as we are following the chaotic and incompetent modes of
production of capitalistic and socialistic systems blindly for a long period of
time. Then what is the justifiable mode of production now left with us at last
to establish an Ideal Society? Is socialism a true alternative?
