Socialism

Utopian socialism to Marx

Industrial Revolution

• Began in England around 1780• Shift to factories• Huge growth in productive capacity and output• Classical economic theory• Laissez-faire-unrestricted private enterprise and

no government interference in the economy• Free competition and the invisible hand of a

self regulating market

Utopian Socialism

• Socialism, the new radical doctrine after 1815, began in France, despite the fact that France lagged far behind Great Britain in developing modern industry.

• Early French Socialist thinkers were aware that the political revolution in France, the rise of Laissez faire economics, and the emergence of modern industry in England were transforming society.

Utopian Socialism Cont.

• Socialists were disturbed because they saw these developments as promoting selfish individualism and splitting the community into isolated fragments.

• There was, they believed, an urgent need for a further reorganization of society to establish cooperation and a new sense of community.

• Economic planning vs. laissez faire

Utopian Cont.

• Early French Socialists believed in economic planning. Inspired by the emergency measures of 1793 and 1794 in France, they argued that the government should rationally organize the economy and not depend on destructive competition to do the job.

• They desired to help the poor believing that rich and poor should be more nearly equal economically.

• Finally they believed that private property should be strictly regulated by the government or that it should be abolished.

Utopian Socialism Cont.

• Planning, greater economic equality and state regulation of property were the key ideas of early socialism.

• Definition of Utopian Socialism: socialism achieved by the moral persuasion of capitalists to surrender the means of production peacefully to the people.

Henri de Saint-Simon 1760-1825

• Proclaimed the tremendous possibilities of industrial development: “ the age of gold is before us!”

• The key to progress was proper social organization• Parasites (aristocracy, churchmen, lawyers) give

way to the Doers (scientists, engineers, industrialists)

• The Doers would carefully plan the economy and guide it forward by undertaking vast public work projects. Object: help the poor.

Charles Fourier 1772-1837

• Fourier believed that the industrial order ignored the passionate side of human nature.

• Social discipline ignored all the pleasures that human beings naturally seek.

• Advocated the construction of communities called phalanxes (1620 people) which would be self sufficient and would replace the boredom of industrial existence.

• Agrarian rather than industrial production• Early proponent of the total emancipation of women

Louis Blanc 1811-1882

• Organization of work 1839• Urged workers to advocate for universal voting

rights (suffrage) and to take control of the state peacefully.

• Blanc believed that the state should set up government backed workshops and factories to guarantee full employment.

• The right to work had become as sacred as any other right.

Pierre Joseph Proudhon 1809-1865

• What is Property? His answer was that it was nothing but theft.

• Property was profit stolen from the worker• The worker was the source of all wealth

3 Streams leading to Marxism

• French Revolution– Abrupt, total revolution– Success of Bourgeoisie

• British Industrial Revolution– Position of labor– “condition of Working Class” Engels

• German Philosophy of Hegel

Philosophy of Hegel

• Dialectics– Thesis vs. Antithesis=synthesis

• Historic change comes through the clash of antagonistic elements.

• History is a process of development through time, logical and deterministic, everything happens in sequence by cause.

• Hegel saw primacy of ideas that cause change, Marx focused on economic reality.

Marxian view of Historical Development

• Material conditions give rise to economic classes.

• Each class develops ideology suited to its needs.– Prevailing religion, government, law, morals reflect

the outlook of these classes

Class antagonism

• Agrarian Conditions produce landholding class• Changes in trade routes, money, productive

techniques, leads to rise of Bourgeoisie • Eventually Bourgeoisie and landholding class

clash– England 1642– France 1789

Development of Proletariat

• As the Bourgeoisie develops there is a corresponding development in the proletariat.

• According to Marx the Bourg. Is defined as those who own capital

• Proletariat does not own capital• Under competitive conditions the Bourg. Devour

themselves• The Proletariat then overthrows the Bourg. In a

revolution.

Results of Proletariat revolution

• Abolish private property/private ownership of capital

• Classless society results• State withers• Religion disappears

Marxist ideas

• Labor theory of value– Value of any man-made object depended on the amount

of labor put into it. Capital is the stored up labor of past times.

• Surplus value theory– The worker is paid less than the value of his labor (e.g.

product sells for $10 and the total worker wage is $3, according to Marx the worker has had $7 stolen from him)

– Capital therefore is accumulated surplus value that the prevailing system (gov’t, religion, law, education, etc.) has allowed the owner to steal from the worker.

Marxist ideas, cont.

• Workers must remain angry.• Union gains of higher wages were just more crumbs

from the owners table. Even if the worker is paid $5 (referring to the previous example) he is still being robbed of $5.– No Unions, No gov’t legislation (could the worker make

real gains through a gov’t committed to protecting the ruling classes interests?)

Ideas from Communist Manifesto

• The worker is deprived of the wealth he himself has created

• The state is a committee of the bourgeoisie for the exploitation of the worker

• Religion is a drug to keep the workingman quietly dreaming of his heavenly reward. “Opiate of the Masses”

• The working family has been prostituted and brutalized by the bourgeoisie

• The proletariat have no country