11.21.14
Western Civ
Professor Webb
Extra Credit
The impact of Socialism & Communism
New modern philosophies begin during the industrial revolution. Some philosophies had an effect on society. The thought of ideology had an impact during the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution began in the 1760s until 1820s. The Industrial Revolution itself refers to a change from hand and home production to machine and factory. Industrial Revolution helped increase America’s growth. However, the industrial revolution truly changed American society. Socialism and communism was an ideology that appeared during the industrial revolution. Socialism and communism had both positive and negatives effects on society. Industrial revolution helped society in many ways. Before society had technology almost everything was handmade. The industrial helped people get more jobs. People started working in factories rather than the farms. Unfortunately children were working in factories as well, which wasn’t healthy or safe. Unlike society today; an unskilled laborer could make the same product as a skilled laborer. The skill of the worker became less important as did the quality of the product. (Kelly)The workers had no right and had to work long hours in filthy situation. Since children were working there was no mandatory schooling or healthcare. Socialism came into play as a reaction to capitalism. Socialism started as a way to protect human rights and safeguarding the sanctity of life. Socialism was enforced to help the children who weren’t physically or mentally strong enough to work in the factory. Instead of children working in unhealthy working conditions, they should have been working hard in school. School wasn’t as important as it is now. Socialism helped society and the economy. Socialism helped distribute the wealth more evenly. During the industrial revolution workers barely had any rights. Socialism helped workers received rights. People weren’t getting paid a lot of money, but once socialism came into play it helped decrease poverty. The idea behind socialism is to bring up the living standards of the poorest. Many social programs are based on socialism; food stamps, public housing, public health-care, public education. (Kannan) Socialism had a lot of pros but also some cons. Socialism was one of the reasons that taxes increased and bureaucracy. Instead of improving the living standards for all, socialism actually lowers the income of the richest to reduce the divide and make them fall close to the income levels of the poorest. During the Industrial revolution the government had control of the economy. People had no control for themselves. The government controlled the people, economy and how the society worked. After the socialism system, Karl Marx started leaning more towards a communism system. Social changes helped paved the way for communism. Communism appealed to the working masses as a way to create a government that treated all equally. Communism persuaded people to believe in that system for many reasons. Communism had some highs and downfalls. Communism was put in place so that everybody could be treated equally. Communism system helped society by making sure the majority of people were employed. Communism also enforced strict rules.