What if the economy could be changed? The economy and the inequality could be changed but in order for a change the people need to change. What changes are needed? To start the people, not just the top or the bottom percents, but all need to actively participate. This means that the more the people receive the more they spend and the better off the economy. The Pitchforks are Coming is a speech on TED Talk. The speech covers a business and economical aspect of the TED Talk series. The speech was given by Nick Hanauer in NYC on August 12, 2014. Who is Nick Hanauer? Nick Hanauer is a Plutocrat. He is the top “.01 percenters”. He has “founded, cofounded or funded over 30 companies” Nick states that he is like many other plutocrats with, “a broad …show more content…
He states, “If we do not do something to fix the glaring economic inequalities in our society, the pitchforks will come for us, for no free and open society can long sustain this kind of rising economic inequality. He is saying that if they do not invest into the economy of their people then they will have consequences. The consequences will be the fall at the end of the rising of the economic inequality because no economy can rise economically forever. Nick wants to change the system of inequality because it is bad for business too. He describes a process as the feedback loop between customers and the businesses. He describes it as, “Raising wages increases demand, which increases hiring, which in turn increases wages and demand and profits”. This is the cycle that can save the economy from the fall of the economical inequalities. The middle class is the source of all grown according to Nick. Capitalism exist because of the reward for people who solve other people's problems. This is similar to Economic growth. Nick defines economic growth as, “the rate at which we solve problems.” This is good in theory but it takes more than one person to problem solve.this is best described by the quote, “It requires effort and investment”. It takes all of the citizens to take an active role in participating. The Entrepreneurs can offer the solution and the customers can consume them. This makes an effective cycle between the consumer and
At one point in time poverty was the general fact of the world. Man was always expected to live on the line of poverty, majority of the economic thinkers couldn’t see the world moving away from this standard but we did and have gained great affluence. As society has grown from this poverty stricken state it once was in, into an affluent one, the ideas used to run it have yet to change in some ways. In The Affluent Society, John Kenneth Galbraith explains how with great economic growth there should be growth in economic ideas as well.
He begins with a new economic sector, called the social sector. This quaternary section will be focused on society rather than the market and production. In this section, society will take full advantage of the permanent technological replacement of workers. Both mental and manual labour will be eliminated wherever possible. As society will still continue to rely on capital to exchange, families will be provided with a guaranteed income. Rifkin claims that if people are given living necessities, in return they will participate in community service work. This will provide individuals with true freedom, the freedom from necessity, as described by Engels. The second part of the solution requires a rationalization of production and societal sharing. For this new alternative, it is only necessary to produce for use, rather than increasing market value and profits. This will be beneficial for society because it diminishes one of the major contradictions within capitalism, proposed by Engels. The unpredictability of the market and ongoing production of commodities will no longer exist, because production will be rationalized and organized, just like the factory system. What people need will be apparent and will not be dependant on making a profit. In addition, wealth will no
Smith and Marx agree upon the importance of capitalism as unleashing productive powers. Capitalism is born out of the division of labour... that is, it is made possible by dividing jobs up into simple tasks as a way of increasing efficiency. By increasing efficiency, then everyone can produce more than they personally need. The extra produced can go towards the accumulation of capital, (machines, more land, more tools, etc) which will allow for even more increased efficiency and production. Both thought that this increased production was great. But Marx said that capitalism was only one stage... that every country must go through capitalism, to get that increased production, but that capitalism is unstable. It requires expanding markets and will end up creating a large gap between the wealthy and the poor, with more and more people becoming poor. Because of this instability, he thought that it would eventually collapse.
He gets on his feet just because of his father's money. These people are not equal, when it comes to society, they may have the same rights, but when it comes to what they can and can not do, there is a line drawn. Yes, you can't put all your value on money but, the lack of money can create a stopper in society. So yes, Nick was taught not to judge, that not all people have the things you do but, as he goes through the story he sees a change that he wants everyone to be in uniform because he can't stand the empowerment of money anymore. Nick states, “When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart”(Fitzgerald 178).
In the book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” from 1936 John Maynard Keynes says that capitalism was unstable and would rarely provide full employment. the government would need to spend giant amounts of money on public works, which would create new jobs, expand demand, and rebuild consumer confidence. He also says ...
The End of Growth, by Richard Heinberg, goes into deep discussion of the current state of the economy and the its future state when growth ceases. Richard Heinberg discusses current trends within the economy that predict our eventual result. The author makes it very clear that growth is important. As a society, and a planet, we depend on growth. However, certain types of growth, specifically economic growth, are on a path to destruction. He suggests that we find a different definition of growth and focus on that instead of growing from an economic standpoint. Throughout the book, Heinberg uses the image of a balloon to describe our situation. He depicts our society as a balloon that is getting pumped up to be too large and will eventually pop. In other words,
Nick begins the novel with wise advice his father once told him, “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”’(1). Nick starts off by reminding himself and informing that throughout the story, save your judgements to yourself and try to put yourself in his or her position. His words are also a reminder that in society today, people tend to judge too quickly and we need to remember that everyone is not in the same position as we are. There will always be someone more or less fortunate than us, and we must be grateful for what we are given.
In Marx’s opinion, the cause of poverty has always been due to the struggle between social classes, with one class keeping its power by suppressing the other classes. He claims the opposing forces of the Industrial Age are the bourgeois and the proletarians. Marx describes the bourgeois as a middle class drunk on power. The bourgeois are the controllers of industrialization, the owners of the factories that abuse their workers and strip all human dignity away from them for pennies. Industry, Marx says, has made the proletariat working class only a tool for increasing the wealth of the bourgeoisie. Because the aim of the bourgeoisie is to increase their trade and wealth, it is necessary to exploit the worker to maximize profit. This, according to Marx, is why the labor of the proletariat continued to steadily increase while the wages of the proletariat continued to steadily decrease.
According to classical Marxism, capitalism introduces a complimentary and contradictory relationship between wage labor and capital. This relationship is established through linking the ...
The capitalist is motivated by being rewarded wealth. Capital can only multiply by giving itself in return of labor power. This exchange is based on specified percentages. For example, after a long 12 hours of weaving the worker is only compensated two shillings. They attain residual wealth by taking advantage of workers. These workers are being compensated less than the value of their work. The workers endure great deals of exploitation. Workers put their labor power into effect to acquire means of survival which makes existence possible. The amount of commodities is based on the cost of life and the workers’ work ethic. Marx foreseen that class conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat would result in the collapsing of capitalism. The motivations of the capitalist and the workers create conflict because the capitalist attempt to uphold capitalism by advocating their principles, beliefs, and fabricated perceptions that prevent proletariats from rebelling. Once the two classes conflict with one another the cla...
Through out history money, wealth and capital have dictated a way of life to the masses. Wealth dictated the lives that the rich lived and the lives of the poor that worked for and surrounded them. In some cultures your class could never be escaped in life, you had to wait for your next incarnation, while in other cultures the idea of wealth transcended a life and allowed for growth from one class to another. This is the reality of a capitalist society that was first discussed by Karl Marx in the 19th century.
Economic growth focuses on encouraging firms to invest or encouraging people to save, which in turn creates funds for firms to invest. It runs hand-in-hand with the goal of high employment because in order for firms to be comfortable investing in assets such as plants and equipment, unemployment must be low. Hereby, the people and resources will be available to spur economic growth.
Marx observations of society led him to the realization that the people work every day for a poor salary; while the people they are working for, get wealthier. This created a ...
There were many theories that promotes and explains how the capitalist system works; however, Karl Marx’s Capital is the first one that can explain the imminent relationship between poverty and wealth, inequality and growth under capitalism. ...
In order for any country to survive in comparison to another developed country they must be able to grow and sustain a healthy and flourishing economy. This paper is designed to give a detailed insight of economic growth and the sectors that influence economic growth. Economic growth in a country is essential to the reduction of poverty, without such reduction; poverty would continue to increase therefore economic growth is inevitable. Through economic growth, it is also an aid in the reduction of the unemployment rate and it also helps to reduce the budget deficit of the government. Economic growth can also encourage better living standards for all it is citizens because with economic growth there are improvements in the public sectors, educational and healthcare facilities. Through economic growth social spending can also be increased without an increase of taxes.