The Inevitability of Capitalism Essay - 1363 Words

The exact origin of capitalism is unknown and to precisely trace its inception is, as Joyce Appleby says, a conundrum in itself. However, speculation negating the inevitability of capitalism is an even greater feat and rather fruitless. Appleby’s research and evidence thus far, support a great part of her assumptions retracing the colorful history of capitalism, though her case against its inevitability falls short. The question at hand is whether she provides a compelling case, the answer is yes. However, compelling is not convincing and one must be convinced to provide legitimate support of their argument. Human nature is ingrained within us all and its traits inevitably materialize during the course of our growth as we mature, increase†¦show more content†¦On the contrary, the struggle of those early innovators only reinforces the idea that Appleby negates; borrowed from Adam Smith, that man will continually persevere to improve upon his own condition. Appleby doub ts this idea by questioning where â€Å"Smith got this view of people as fundamentally rational and self-improving?† (20) She defends her argument by pointing out that this idea of human behavior doesn’t align with the characters that Shakespeare created. Firstly, ‘self-improving’ sounds like a cowardly word for self-interest; not a dirty word, but a vital component of capitalism. That being said, the Shakespeare issue should rest, as nearly every character in Hamlet is pretty self-interested by any reasonable standard. Furthermore, if 200 years from now the nature of this generation were gauged solely by the actions of characters in a Stephen King novel for the purpose of a behavioral model, the researchers of the future might conclude the people of this era were prone to madness. Regardless, it seems a rather sophomoric argument against Smith’s prudent theory on the nature of man. Appleby further doubts man’s natural inclination to improve his condition during this time quoting the Puritan conviction â€Å"in Adam’s fall did sin we all†. However, she contradicts herself later in the chapter by praising this work of Max Weber: â€Å"Puritans brought morality and rationality to the world of work. Puritans invested work with aShow MoreRelatedWhy Was There a Struggle Between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat Which Would Create the Preconditions for Socialism?895 Words   |  4 Pagesclass struggle within capitalism and consequent place for a socialist society is professed within ‘The Manifesto of the Communist Party.’ It is necessary to explore why Marx and Engels believed class conflict to be unavoidable in order to understand why the preconditions for socialism could be established. It is clear that economics is at the heart of Marxist thought and it can be arguably suggested that economic determinism offers an answer to the question of inevitability. 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