Class Conscious the Injustice of Poverty
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Class Conscious The Injustice of Poverty Punkerslut June 2, 2004 Contents Chapter 1: Industrial Society and Civilization 4 Section I: Preface to the Second Edition ........................ 4 Section II: Purpose of this Book ............................. 4 Section III: Introduction ................................. 5 Section IV: The Evidences (Historical) ......................... 5 Section V: The Evidences (Modern) ........................... 12 Section VI: Conclusion .................................. 18 Chapter 2: The Economics of a Free-Trade, Capitalist Society 19 Section I: Some Foundational Principles of Economics . 19 Section II: The Society of Men .............................. 24 Section III: Competition and Modern Society .................... 25 Section IV: Economic Classes .............................. 28 Section V: Class War ................................... 29 Section VI: Diversity of Wages ............................. 43 Section VII: The Cost of Labor and Commodities . 44 Section VIII: Surplus Value ................................ 45 Section IX: The Nature of Profit ............................. 49 Section X: Economic Fluctuation ............................ 51 Section XI: Summation .................................. 53 Section XII: Preface to the Following Chapters ................... 54 Chapter 3: The Brutal Result of Capitalism on the People of the World — The Worker (Historical) 55 Section I: Preface to this Chapter ............................ 55 Section II: Abuse of the Worker (Historical) ..................... 55 Section III: Conclusion .................................. 95 Chapter 4: The Brutal Result of Capitalism on the People of the World — The Con- sumer (Historical) 96 Section I: Preface to this Chapter ............................ 96 Section II: Abuse of the Consumer (Historical) ................... 96 Chapter 5: The Brutal Result of Capitalism on the People of the World — Poverty (Historical) 110 Section I: Preface to this Chapter ............................ 110 Section II: Poverty and Waste (Historical) . 111 2 Chapter 6: The Brutal Result of Capitalism on the People of the World — The Worker (Modern) 122 Section I: Abuse of the Worker (Modern) . 122 Section II: Conclusion ................................... 133 Chapter 7: The Brutal Result of Capitalism on the People of the World — The Con- sumer (Modern) 134 Section I: Abuse of the Consumer (Modern) . 134 Section II: Conclusion ................................... 141 Chapter 8: The Brutal Result of Capitalism on the People of the World — Poverty (Modern) 142 Section I: Poverty and Waste (Modern) . 142 Section II: Chapters 3 to 8 Summary . 147 Section III: Prelude to Following Chapters . 148 Chapter 9: Justification for Communism 149 Section I: Preface to this Chapter ............................ 149 Section II: Labor ...................................... 149 Section III: Public Interest and Prosperity . 154 Section IV: Property Rights ............................... 161 Section V: Cynicism Fueling the Flame of Our Idealism . 166 Chapter 10: A Communist Economy 167 Section I: Introduction .................................. 167 Section II: The Real Distribution of Wealth . 167 Section III: A Historical Look at the Matter . 170 Chapter 11: Arguments Against the Theory 172 Section I: Introduction .................................. 172 Section II: Common Arguments ............................ 172 Chapter 12: Our Part in Realizing this Communist Vision 175 Section I: Conclusion to the Work . 176 Section II: Afterthought — The Development of my Opinion on the Matter . 177 3 Chapter 1: Industrial Society and Civilization Section I: Preface to the Second Edition A reader who has read the previous edition of the book will notice a significant difference in both the setup and the content. While the first edition had a great deal of statistics, covering the various hypothetical situations of laborers working under minimum wage and the amount of wealth workers are paid, the second edition elaborates more upon important data and the integral parts of the theory, encompassing volumes more of relevant points. Also, an obvious difference between the two editions is a change in the title. The first edition was entitled “Class War,” while the second edition was entitled “Class Conscious: The Injustice of Poverty.” Eventually, I may come to publish another book that is simply covering the primary comparisons of economic statistics. While it may be simple to discover a chart explaining the legal minimum wage as it applies to different states, it is an entirely different thing to have a paper comparing the income of a minimum wage to the poverty level of American citizens. With that, I hope that the second edition improved upon the first, in its ability to illustrate ideas more creatively and simply,in its poetic usage of human language, and most of all, in its ability to convince the reader of the position I hold in the matter of socio-economics. Section II: Purpose of this Book It seems to be the trend of authors these days to publish books that are a meld of opinion, critique, enlightened ideas, and facts. If one were to isolate the facts from these books and the primary ideas, the books would lose 90% of their volume. That is one thing that I hope to avoid, among all, with this work. Right from the outset, I am going to tell you the purpose of this book. I believe in the theory and practice of Communism as an economic system. I believe that public interest for the welfare of all, rather than private interest for the wealthy of few, is the ultimate when it comes to creating a humane society. In our world and in our era, it seems that anything can be done with the aid of technology. And though this technology aids us in our technical productive work, it does not solve our social problems, it does not eliminate the economic qualms, nor does it sway the errors of our political system. Through this book, I am going to demonstrate the basic claims of why I believe in a Communist system, and more thoroughly defining exactly what I mean by the term Communism or Capitalism or Socialism. I will justify my claims only through reason, evidence, and logic. I only require that my reader has an open mind, and a willing heart. A brief overview of the chapters… The first chapter will cover the use of technology insoci- ety, setting up the basis of civilization as a cooperative effort. The second chapter willdescribe the mechanics of a Capitalist economy. Chapters 3–4 will cover the history of Capitalism as it effected the worker in society, chapters 5–6 will cover the history of Capitalism as it effectedthe consumer in society, and chapters 7–8 will cover the history of Capitalism as it was the cause of 4 poverty. I have sought out books that cover the result of Capitalism as it effected society, using direct historical sources to prove their claims. All that I could find were very vague history books. Because of this, chapters 3–8 can very well be viewed as the history of society under the economy of Capitalism. Chapter 9 will deal with the theory of Communism, and how it would satisfy the desires of society much more efficiently and justly. Chapter 10 deals with the economic resultof Communism, as it would occur in practice based on current available information. Finally, chap- ter 11 will deal with arguments against the theory. With all the bases covered on the case I am making for Communism, chapter 12 will act as an ending note to readers. It is true that chapters 3–8 are almost purely history, while other chapters heavily rely on historical references. This book may seem more like a history lesson in industrial and post-industrial society than a case for Communism or any economic system. While it is true that history plays a significant role in this text, it is primarily because history is the only form of proof that an economist or sociologist can bring up to make his case. Without it, my arguments would be nearly null and void. If any of these terms are confusing or otherwise seem to be vague, I assure my reader that there is no need to worry about this at all right now. They may seem vague, but the point of an overview is not precision. When I speak of the term Socialism here, one may ask, “Scientific Socialism or Regulatory Socialism?” When I speak of the term Communism here, one may ask, “Communism as it was practiced by Christians in the 1800’s, or Communism as it was practiced by Mao, Lenin, and Stalin?” I assure the reader that such questions will be answer with good time. Section III: Introduction In this first chapter, I have one statement to contend. I believe that by working together, wecan produce more, than when working apart. I make this statement without it being attached to any political theories or ideals of justice. Simply explained, I believe that when a group of people work together, they can produce more than that same number of people working individual, or they can work less and produce the same. But, not only do I believe that working together increases our productivity, but I believe that the usage of technology will still improve our ability to produce. By working together, we can produce this technology that will allow us a better ability to utilize the resources that we are provided with. Some may question, though, the actual relevance to a work of economics. I imagine that there are few who doubt the truth of what I am contending, but it is a foundation upon which the rest of my ideas will be built. I imagine that if this statement were able to be disproven, then the validity of the rest of my economical theory will be thrown into question. So, it is the intent of the first chapter to proven, beyond a doubt, the following two statements: by working together, we produce more than when working apart, and that by using technology, our productivity increase. Section IV: The Evidences (Historical) What is a tool and what is the nature of technology? Tools and technology are ideas, crafted to our physical world, that allow us a better grasp of completing tasks. Several trees may be of little use to someone, but once cut down, sawed into planks, and built into a house, they provide a use.