Test 2 Flashcards
what does a capitalist society depend on according to marx?
- a balance between wage earners and owners of capital
- the continued displacement of their money
- private ownership
what are homeless people and the opioid crisis related to?
examples of people who have lost their place in the economy due to the precariousness of the economy/ instability of jobs
what is a conglomerate
the situation that happens when companies purchase other companies
what is marx’s optimistic view on capitalism?
- capitalism socializes (teaches) the means of its own ends because he believes the society can survive without private ownership
- he believes workers will develop a class consciousness, form unions and rebel, progressing towards socialism where administration replaces all government/private ownership and we reach a sort of paradise
what are two examples of the result of profit maximization? what is a potential solution to this problem?
when capitalists try to maximize their profit margins, they can either alter their variable capital or their fixed capital. often, only variable capital can be modified, so they do so by laying off workers or finding cheaper wage labourers. this creates the two examples of robots/artificial intelligence and labour outsourcing where average workers are replaced with cheaper alternatives. a potential solution that some countries are offering is the idea of a guaranteed minimum income
what is primitive accumulation?
primitive accumulation is the text by marx in which he tries to explain the historical emergence of capitalism in western europe.
- explains how capitalism was started after the fall of the roman empire led western europe into a backwater, entered into the dark ages where the feudal system took over
- state power was weakened or dissapeared, the roman empire transitioned into a LOCALIZED SYSTEM
- only local authorities remained, some wealthy aristocrats, merchants took over positions of authority
- the empire was divided into smaller regions and the dark ages was characterized by the decline of literacy, collapse of a centralized state power, decay of trade and technology, militarization of the society
- the transition from a feudal society to a capitalist society was through the sacrifice of the peasant
- peasants had to be removed or marginalized because a majority peasant population is self sustaining -> this doesn’t work for capitalism which requires consumers
- EXPROPRIATION OF THE CULTIVATORS: peasants were forcibly removed from their land by means of buy outs, force or bloody legislation
- peasants were removed from their lands due to the ENCLOSURE MOVEMENT where lords restricted or closed off access to the common lands to put financial pressure on peasants, therefore forcing them to flee to urban centers
- this was driven by the motivation to use this land to farm sheep because of the expansion of the textile industry
- peasants were not ready for the transition to the urban centers and could not find work easily, they turned to vagabondage until it was outlawed and then they were forced to work in workhouses
- peasants in workhouses were ideal for capitalists because they provided cheap labour, allowing them to maxmize profit
- this change in system was characterized by the change in surplus extraction whereby before the surplus was extracted through charging rent and taking a cut of the crop to now selling the crop.
- selling the crop opens up new options for a mass market, class mobility,
- noted how colonies became a form of capital, because they introduce native populations as a workforce and because they are new economic spaces
why did capitalism emerge in europe and not asia according to marx?
- although asia was an advanced society, capitalism did not emerge there because of 2 things
1. the presence or absence of state power: in europe, state power was weak or dissapeared, whereas in asia state power was maintained (even as dynasties fell, new dynasties always replaced them)
- merchant profit: in europe, merchants were wealthy and powerful because they took over authority when state fell, in asia merchants were considered the lowest class and even if they were wealthy, their wealth was unstable or insecure because the state would always bleed them of their wealth through taxation
- capitalism can only emerge when merchants have enough autonomy
why did capitalism emerge in europe and not asia according to weber?
europe: because of the protestant reformation which introduced inner worldly asceticism. inner worldly asceticism is severe self discipline in living a frugal lifestyle while insisting on consistent work,. this religious legitimation enforced an attitude that allowed the accumulation of wealth in europe and drove the capitalist attitude or ‘spirit of capitalism’
asia: asian religions followed other worldly mysticism which emphasized meditation, isolation in order to attain inner bliss and transcendence. they viewed a life of economic devotion as polluting and distracting from spirituality so the economic mindset was disregarded.
explain what is meant by the bloody legislation of the expropriation of the cultivators
legislation that allowed, justified and perpetuated the following:
- enclosure movements which removed the common lands to be used to herd sheep. common lands were a form of social insurance.
- the common lands were areas that were collectively owned and then they were made into areas that were privately owned.
- the loss of the common lands then put peasants under financial pressure and eventually forced them to flee to urban areas
- once in these urban areas they were out of work and forced to beg for money
- vagabondage laws were then introduced, where beggars had to get licenses to beg or else they would be forced to work in workhouses
- this is described as a VIOLENT process in the transition to capitalism
define capitalism in marx’s terms
capitalism is a mode of PRODUCTION and DISTRIBUTION based on the production of commodities, wage labourers and machine based production in factories of commodities to be sold on a mass market, with pricing linking to supply an demand. cwmfmsd “commodities will make fun men sell drugs”: commodities, wage labourers, machine based production, factories, mass market, supply and demand
what are commodities? how is it different pre and post capitalism
commodities are goods and services whose function is to turn a profit RATHER than out of necessity
how is surplus value obtained in a capitalist society? how does it compare to how it was obtained before?
surplus value is obtained primarily by the wage differential between how much the worker is paid and how much their product sells for. the difference is that before, the surplus value was obtained by rent and taking a cut of the crop. it then shifted to selling the crop, and paying the worker. less than what it sells for.
what is the premise of supply and demand?
supple and demand is the balance equation that must be satisfied in order for profit to be made. the premise is that if the capitalist cannot make a profit, he must limit what he produces. the greater the supply or lower the demand, the lower the price of the commodity must be in order for a profit to be made
are factories unique to capitalism?
factories are not a unique aspect of capitalism. they existed before but capitalism changed the method of how they were used. capitalism utilized factories to increase the output of commodities by introducing day and night shifts.
how did the market change after capitalism?
prior to capitalism, there was only a LOCAL LUXURY market. after capitalism, the market became more accessible so it was opened up to the public or the mass and spread globally, creating the global mass market.
