Marxism And Economic Theory Essays - Economic Ideologies

Marxism and Economic Theory Human relationships have always been dynamic. Change and adaptability have gone hand in hand with the passage of time for human society. Systems have been developed to regulate, direct and control the resources of this society. The systems are referred to as governments and the resources as the populace or inhabitants and forces of production. A government must be dynamic in its nature reflecting the change in society. At times these systems have resisted the necessity to adapt with its components (Society) creating a deficit between the system and those it regulates. As the deficits develop, they cause instability, and could lead to revolution.1 Theories have been developed to explain the systemic phenomenon called revolution. This paper will discuss three modern theories and apply them to the English revolution of 1640. The first theory, developed by Carl Marx (Marxism), will address the economic evolution in English society. This theory will emphasize and explain how the shift from a feudal/mercantile system to capitalism affected English society. The second, called the Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) developed by Charles Tilly, will explain how the English organizations (the Crown and the Parliament) effectively obtained, amassed and managed resources. Samuel Huntington's, "Institutional Theory", will argue that the existing government at that time was unable to incorporate the demands and personnel that the socio-economic changes created. Marxism was formulated in the 19th century. Carl Marx and his associate Frederick Engels observed the socio-economic changes that were transpiring in Britain. England was the dominant world power and had the largest industrialized economy during the 1800's. The development of the factory and the institution of the assembly line created a large demand for workers. This demand was satiated by migrating peasant from the rural areas in England and Ireland to developing urban centers. As these urban centers or cities evolved using industry as the economic backbone for the population, a large number of factory workers were accumulated to operate the machinery in horrid conditions. These workers, which would be termed as the peasantry under a feudal system, were now the working class or proletariat. They entered cities with hopes of bettering their lives and survival. Though revolution never took place in England during this period, it allowed Marx to study industrialization, urbanization and imperialism. The theory of Marxism has three basic concepts: historic materialism, forces of production and relations of production. Historic materialism is defined as a society's past performance and present capabilities of satisfying the basic means of life. Humankind's basic needs of eating, drinking and shelter need to be met properly. The forces of production (technology, capital, the infrastructure of society, etc.) are important for the simple fact of who ever controls them controls the society. The last aspect of Marxism, the relations of production, deals directly with the relationships between classes of people (the aristocracy, the middle-class and the working class).2 Marxism includes a predictive analysis of socio-economic structures. Using history, logic and the dynamic nature of humankind as guidelines, Carl Marx attempts to map out a sequence of events which will eventually lead to utopia (anarchy). In his work, Das Capital, Marx details the six steps. These steps are primitive socialism, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, communism and then anarchy. The evolution of the English economic system during the 16th and 17th centuries points to a shift from feudalism to capitalism. This shift is exemplified by the enclosures. The landlords began to fence their property in the common land areas. The "commons" were large plots of grazing and farmable lands that were used by both farmers and artisans. When the land-owners and manorial lords began to partition these lands the concept of private ownership of property was introduced to the socio-economic system.3 During the time period of the 16th and 17th centuries the crown's economic base began a gradual decline. This economic shrinkage came to a spearhead during the reign of Charles I. The monarchy favored a monopoly market system over a competitive one. The purpose for this position was for taxation and control of the profits. As the artisan and merchant populations increased, the policy of the crown began conflicting with economic growth. This created instability in three areas. First, the English

Iousa Solutions Essays

Iousa Solutions Essays Iousa Solutions Paper Iousa Solutions Paper The united States public debt is money that is borrowed by the federal government Of the United States. In September of 2008, the national debt was 9. 6 trillion dollars. In March of 2010, the national debt increased by which is 126 trillion dollars. The total unfunded promises and liabilities of the United States is over 62 trillion dollars. In order to pay for our major liabilities and promises, the United States needs that money invested today but of all that money they have zero of it. The federal debt includes money that the government owes to social security, Medicare, and debt owed to the public, By the end of 2010, the federal government will owe almost 9 trillion dollars to the public. Also, our gross domestic product is expected to reach 14. 6 trillion dollars by the end of 2010, The public debt to gross domestic product ratio is used to determine how much we borrowed relative to our national income, By the end of 2010, our public debt to gross domestic product will be around 62 percent. The federal government was formed in 1789 and the government has been having problems with the national debt since. Many factors lead to our national debt like war and the great depression but eve always managed to bring the dent down. In the early sass, the national debt began to grow quickly. In the late sis and early 20005 the government was running budget surpluses. As a result, our federal budget has been low and the national debt has been increasing rapidly. Sixty-eight percent Of the money borrowed by the United States government came from foreign sources. The foreign countries are becoming impatient with our deficit. If foreign countries were to Stop loaning us money, then Will have to raise interest rates dramatically, cut spending or, raise taxes. Estimated spending levels will be twice as large as revenues. Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state. Defense and other spending is the largest spending. Military spending is projected to be a very large cost for the Limited States. Since September of 2001, law makers provided 1. Trillion dollars for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other war related activities. If we cut those spending, we can lower the potential future debt levels. Our nations mandatory spending policies are growing at a fast rate. By 2019, we will be spending 92 percent to all the revenues on entitlements and payments on the national debt, That will leave little money for all other expenditures, We ill have to cut discretionary spending or w e will continue to run large in growing our budget deficit. Some solutions can be to reform social security by increasing the retirement age, increase pay roll tax revenues, reduce growth in benefits for the better-off, and reduce COLA for benefits. I believe the national debt is too large to try and pay it off. There are many solutions that have been proposed yet we still have a very high debt Even though our generation does not want to pass this problem to future generations, believe they Will face the national debt problem and they might be living in worse economy than we are.