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Capitalism During The Industrial Revolution

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Socialism and Capitalism: Products of the Industrial Revolution
The economic systems of socialism and capitalism, often seen as enemies, were born from the same circumstances and conditions created by the Industrial Revolution. Leading up to the revolution, agriculture became a less common living as wealthier land-owners bought out farms, which forced many farmers and labourers to travel to the then developing cities in search for work. This, paired with new inventions to up productivity for manufacturing items, lead to the boom of factories and mills, and new jobs for the former farm workers. Capitalism would soon become the dominant economic system in western Europe in the 19th century, which happened to also be the time in which the ideas …show more content…
To those who believe in a capitalism (a notable proprietor of course being Adam Smith, who coined the term “invisible hand” to describe the phenomenon where the marketplace responds to public demand), the system was seen as granting freedom for the common people to choose how their money is spent, which vicariously affected which businesses thrive and suffer, and what prices go up and down. The idea of supply and demand is essential to this system. From capitalism, it’s easier for wealthy non-labourers to gain wealth in a seemingly exponential manner, while the working class struggles to make a decent living and often falls into a life of …show more content…
Despite this, many western societies use aspects from both of these systems when it comes to making decisions about how to run the economy. For example, in the United States, the distribution of goods is capitalistic (the marketplace not being completely controlled by the government but rather the demand of the people), while matters such as education are handled in a manner more comparable to socialism (students all receive equal education for free, and it’s paid for by the taxpayers’ money). This type of thing isn’t uncommon since the general public that isn’t extremely charged on this issue, no matter which side they might lean towards, tend to see that neither ideology is completely applicable to every situation, and thus a more nuanced approach to running the economy can lead to happier people and a wealthier

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