Capitalism and the Great Depression

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Some people take capitalism for granted and don’t even know what it is exactly. Capitalism is an economic system in which industry is privately owned; where the private owner has a surplus of goods that they sell to a third party, thus creating a market. This system has unerringly been around for centuries, and is used by multiple countries throughout the world, including the United States. It has proven to be a quiet successful system, where the people have control over their own market and reap the most benefits. Capitalism began to strive with the development of mass production, which was “the method of producing goods in large quantities at low cost per unit.”1 The economy was booming, and it appeared as if there was no end in sight. However, capitalism and mass production both have their downfalls, and both were witnessed in the 1930s in the form of the Great Depression. The Great Depression lasted over a decade and was ended with much help from World War II. It can be clearly seen that changes needed to be made the countries’ economic systems, because their systems preceding 1930 produced problems. The changes in the work industry under mass production led, and contributed, to the crisis of capitalism in the 1930s.

To begin, many people did not know the consequences of mass production, or even the boundaries of it. Mass production needs an open market with a high demand, which was clear and present in its early beginnings. However, once the market becomes saturated, overproduction begins, and companies begin to lose money. As if they hit the top of the roller coaster and now the only way to go is down. This is where mass production begins to falter, and once this occurred in the economy, no one knew what to do. Mass produc...

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...minated their will to think, they would be able to work more efficiently, and with less misery it seemed. In a way, people themselves began to become a machine and in the bigger picture they were a part of the machine. Mass production began to mechanize people into working as one big machine. Once the machine reached its peak, it fell rapidly, bringing down the economy with it. Thus leaving workers with no skills and no hope in the greatest economic crisis the world had ever seen.

6. Letters on the Factory, Simone Weil

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Bibliography

• "Work, history of the organization of ." Encyclopædia Britannica.

2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2 Jan. 2007

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• Letters on the Factory, Simone Weil

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