•Comment
•A look
back reveals that we have been speaking of conflict between social
systems, rather than within social
systems. With the explosive expansion of capitalism in the 19th century we
begin to see the rise of much turmoil and attendant conflict due
to opposing tendencies contained within capitalism
itself.
•Trend
•Without going into explicit detail we find (according to
many investigators, including Karl Marx): that the
interaction of competition, technology, specialization (division of labor),
concentration of production in large scale
enterprises, and the taking and plowing back of profits into this interaction
produce opposing tendencies and periodic crises that
leave in their wake more and more workers competing for
jobs in fewer and fewer, but larger, firms that increasingly emphasize (percentage-wise)
the use of more machines and less labor.
•Result
•Low paid
wage earners exhibit discontent and hatred for a system that permits others to
live in comfort or luxury while they must live a life of toil,
subject to strict and frequently harsh factory discipline.
•Witnessing
these unfolding circumstances disillusioned intellectuals, bankrupt owners,
and others take the side of the workers, as an enlightened
vanguard, to mold them into a powerful opposition.
•Raises
question
•How should
such an unpleasant situation be corrected?