Capitalism and Socialism: Crash Course World History #33

Summary

このビデオスクリプトでは、資本主義の歴史と文化的な側面を掘り下げる。産業資本主義の定義を通じて、イギリスにおけるその発展とそれに伴う問題点、労働条件の悪さ、子供労働などについて触れる。また、資本主義に対する批判とそれに対抗する社会主義の思想、特にマルクスの理論を紹介し、現代社会におけるその影響と関連性を探求する。

Takeaways

• 📚 資本主義は経済システムであり、文化システムでもあります。これはイノベーションと投資を通じて富を増やすことを特徴としています。
• 🐺 資本主義は人々を狼に変えてしまうと批判されますが、その一方で生産や市場における自由を重視する側面もあります。
• 🕊️ 資本主義の定義は多岐にわたりますが、産業資本主義は市場化商品の生産を増やすために資本を機械や技術に投資する経済システムです。
• 🇬🇧 産業資本主義は19世紀のイギリスで最初に発展しました。イギリスは海の支配者であり、植民地との貿易によって利益を得ておりました。
• 🌾 16世紀の農業生産性の向上は、食糧価格の上昇と人口増加につながり、より多くの人が消費財を生産するようになった要因となりました。
• 🏭 産業革命により農業以外で働く人が増え、工場での労働者や児童労働者が増えましたが、これは労働条件の悪化や長時間労働などの問題をもたらしました。
• 🏛️ 土地の私有化を通じて農業生産性が向上した反面、多くの佃農は生計を失いました。これは資本主義の文化的な側面に関わる重要なポイントです。
• 🧑‍🎨 資本主義の価値観はリスクを取ることやイノベーションを重視することです。人々は投資によって利益を得ることができると信じ始めました。
• 📖 経済は市場によって制御されるとされた考えや、個々人が合理的な行動者として市場に参加するという考えが普及しました。
• 🤔 資本主義には多くの批判がありますが、特に19世紀の産業資本主義は労働条件の悪化や貧困につながったと指摘されています。
• 🔄 ソーシャル主義は資本主義の不十分な点を補うための理論的構想であり、マルクス主義はその一形態として知られていますが、実際には多くの国で実現されていません。
• 🌐 資本主義とソーシャル主義の間で競争が続いており、健康保障や高齢者の年金、政府によるビジネスの運営など、社会全体の福祉を考えるためのシステムが求められています。

Q & A

资本主义とはどのような経済システムですか？

资本主义は、革新と投資を通じて富を増やすことを特徴とする経済システムです。特に本スクリプトでは、産業资本主义に焦点を当てて、市場性商品の生産を増やすために資本を機械や技術に投資する経済システムとして定義されています。

産業资本主义が発達した初期の英国にはどのような利点がありましたか？

産業资本主义が発達した初期の英国には、海の主導権、植民地との貿易、特に奴隷貿易による利益、そして17世紀のイングランド内戦後の市場の自由化など、多くの利点がありました。

産業资本主义がもたらした生活水準の向上にはどのような副作用がありましたか？

産業资本主义がもたらした生活水準の向上には、長時間の労働、低賃金、ひどい労働条件、児童労働、失業などが副作用としてありました。

産業资本主义下での労働者たちはどのようにこれらの困難に対処しましたか？

産業资本主义下での労働者たちは、労働組合の組織化や、特にマルクス主義を含む社会主義理論の提唱などによってこれらの困難に対処しました。

マークスはどのようにして資本主義を批判しましたか？

マークスは、資本主義が人間の社会的な本能を置き換える競争をもたらすことで、自然なシステムではないと主張し、労働者を権力に据える社会主義を提唱しました。

マークスの「クラス闘争」とはどのような考えですか？

「クラス闘争」とは、マルクスが提唱した考えで、階級間の闘争が歴史を作るだけでなく、その闘争が階級自体を形成するものであるとされています。

産業资本主义が勝利したとされている理由は何ですか？

産業资本主义は、世界中の人々にとって物質的福裕と商品サービスへのアクセスを広げたことから、勝利したとされています。

資本主義と社会主義の間にはどのような関係がありますか？

資本主義と社会主義は、競合しながらも、お互いから学び合う関係にあります。社会主義の原則を用いて自由市場をどのように規制するかは、各国で異なる方法で答えられています。

スウェーデンとアメリカでは資本主義をどのように異なった形で実践していますか？

スウェーデンとアメリカでは、社会主義の原則を異なる程度で受け入れ、公共福祉や政府のビジネスの範囲において異なるアプローチをしています。

このスクリプトでは、資本主義の文化的な側面とは何を指していますか？

このスクリプトでは、資本主義の文化的な側面は、人々がリスクを取ることや革新を評価する価値観を持つこと、そして消費者としてだけでなく生産者としての立場を信じることを指しています。

産業资本主义が発達するにあたり、農業の生産性向上はどのように役立ったのか？

産業资本主义が発達するにあたり、農業の生産性向上は、食糧価格の低下と労働者の余裕の増大につながり、消費財の需要を創出して生産効率を高めるインセンティブを提供しました。

Outlines

00:00

📚 資本主義の概要と産業資本主義の登場

ジョン・グリーンが主講するクラッシュコース世界史では、資本主義の経済システムと文化システムとしての特徴について語る。特に産業資本主義の生産方法の変化に焦点を当て、資本主義の効率性と生産の拡大をめぐる議論が展開される。また、産業資本主義がどのように市場での商品の生産を促進し、経済成長をもたらしたかについて解説している。

05:06

🏭 産業資本主義の英国における発展とその影響

産業資本主義は19世紀の英国で最初に発展し、海の支配権を有する英国の貿易優位性や17世紀の英国内戦後の市場の自由化、16世紀の農業生産性の向上などがその発展に寄与したとされる。農業技術の進歩により、食糧価格が下がり、労働者の消費能力が向上。これにより、消費財の需要が高まり、産業資本主義が定着した。しかし、その反面、共有地の私有化を通じた農民の生活の貧困化も問題視されている。

10:10

🤔 資本主義の文化と社会への影響

資本主義は単なる経済システムではなく、文化システムでもある。人々はリスクを取ることや革新を評価する資本主義の価値観を形成し、市場における個人の理性的な行動者としての自己認識を持つようになった。この変化は経済成長を促進する消費者への焦点を当て、消費欲を経済成長の原動力と位置付けた。しかし、その一方で、労働条件の悪さ、長時間労働、低賃金、労働組合の組織化、そして社会主義の理論的提唱など、産業資本主義の批判も存在した。

🧔 カール・マルクスの思想とその影響力

マルクスは共産主義の父と称されるが、彼は革命を提唱する哲学者であり歴史家である。彼の主著「資本論」では19世紀の世界を歴史的・哲学的観点から解明し、階級闘争の概念を提唱している。マルクスは生産が人生に物質的な意味を与え、人間の社会的本能を強調する。資本主義はこの社会的本能を貫くのではなく、階級間の対立と闘争に置き換える非自然なシステムであると批判する。マルクスの思想は、特に労働者層への権利の還元と権益の保護において影響力を有している。

Keywords

💡資本主義

資本主義とは、自由な市場経済を特徴とする経済体系であり、個人の利益追求が経済成長を促進するという考え方です。このビデオでは、資本主義が生産方法を変えた工業資本主義の登場と、それが持つ様々な問題点について議論されています。例えば、脚本では「資本主義は人を狼に変える」との懸念を示唆しています。

💡産業資本主義

産業資本主義は、市場での商品生産を増やすために、機械や技術への資本投資に依存する経済体系です。ビデオでは、産業資本主義がイギリスでどのように発達し、それに伴い農業生産性の向上や労働者の生活条件の変化について触れられています。

💡商業資本主義

商業資本主義は、商人が商品を買って再販売する際に資金を借入し、利益を得る経済活動を指します。ビデオでは、この概念が世界中で広がり、特にオランダやイギリスの商人たちが株式会社を通じてそのアイデアを発展させたと説明されています。

💡市場経済

市場経済は、商品やサービスの供給と需要が市場の力によって決定される経済体系です。ビデオでは、市場経済が資本主義の効率性と生産性の向上に寄与し、それがどのように産業資本主義に影響を与えたかが議論されています。

💡農業生産性

農業生産性とは、農業で生産される作物や家畜の量と質を指します。ビデオでは、16世紀のイギリスにおける農業技術の進歩が、食糧価格の上昇と人口増加につながり、最終的に産業資本主義の発展に寄与したと説明されています。

💡労働組合

労働組合は、労働者が集まり、労働条件や賃金を改善するために行動を共にする組織です。ビデオでは、産業資本主義下の労働者の苦しい状況に対処するために、労働者が組合を形成したと触れられています。

💡社会主義

社会主義は、資本主義と対立する思想であり、経済資源をより平等に分配することを目指します。ビデオでは、フランスのユートピア主義や革命的社会主义、そしてマルクスの思想が紹介され、それらが産業資本主義に与える批判と影響について議論されています。

💡クラス闘争

クラス闘争とは、資本家と労働者との間で利益を巡る対立を意味します。ビデオでは、マルクスが提唱したクラス闘争の概念が紹介され、それがどのように資本主義社会の構造を形成し、労働者を意識的に集めることができるかが説明されています。

💡コミュニズム

コミュニズムは、社会主義の一形態で、階級や私有財産の存在を排除し、共同体が資源を共有する理念を持ちます。ビデオでは、マルクスの思想がコミュニズムの基礎となり、しかし実際にはス大林のソビエト連邦のように、労働者の権益を放棄する傾向があったと触れています。

💡市場の自由化

市場の自由化とは、市場経済において政府の規制を緩和し、企業や個人の自由な経済活動を促進する政策を指します。ビデオでは、17世紀のイングランドにおいて内乱が市場の自由化に寄与し、産業資本主義の発展に影響を与えたと説明されています。

💡消費者

消費者とは、商品やサービスを購入する個人または家庭を指します。ビデオでは、消費者としての人々の欲望が経済成長を促進する力として描かれており、それが資本主義文化に根差していると強調されています。

Highlights

Capitalism is both an economic and cultural system characterized by innovation and investment to increase wealth.

Industrial capitalism changed production through the investment in machines and technology to increase the production of marketable goods.

Mercantile capitalism involved borrowing money to buy goods for resale, a practice widespread globally.

Joint stock companies in the Netherlands and Britain allowed for larger trade missions and risk spreading in international trade.

Industrial capitalism's scale and practice were different, focusing on production efficiency and marketable goods.

Britain's advantages, such as naval power and colonial trade, contributed to the development of capitalism.

The English Civil War and its aftermath led to freer markets and less regulation, aiding capitalism's growth.

16th-century agricultural productivity increases in Britain led to higher food prices and investment in technologies.

Lower food prices due to increased productivity allowed for more disposable income and consumer demand.

The enclosure movement in Britain increased agricultural productivity but led to tenant farmer impoverishment.

Capitalism's cultural shift required a mindset of risk-taking and valuing innovation for profit.

Writers like Thomas Mun helped popularize the idea of market-controlled economies and rational economic actors.

The concept of individuals as consumers was popularized in 18th-century England, promoting economic growth.

Industrial capitalism faced criticism for its downsides, including poor working conditions and child labor.

Labor unions and socialist theories, such as Marxian socialism, emerged as responses to capitalism's issues.

Socialism is often juxtaposed with capitalism, representing a planned economic system as opposed to a market-driven one.

Karl Marx's philosophy, particularly the idea of class struggle, argued that capitalism is inconsistent with human nature.

Marx believed that production and social collaboration were key to human nature, in contrast to capitalism's conflict-driven model.

The debate between capitalism and socialism continues in modern discussions on economic regulation and social welfare.

Transcripts

Hi, I'm John Green, this is Crash Course World History, and today we're going to talk about capitalism.

Yeah, Mr. Green, capitalism just turns men into wolves. Your purportedly free markets

only makes slave of us all..

Oh god Stan, it's me from college. Me from the past has become me from college. This

is a disaster! The reason he's so unbearable, Stan, is that he refuses to recognize the

legitimacy of other people's narratives. And that means that he will never ever be able

to have a productive conversation with another human in his entire life.

So listen, me from the past. I'm gonna disappoint you by being too capitalist. And I'm gonna

disappoint a lot of other people by not being capitalist enough. And I'm gonna disappoint

the historians by not using enough jargon. But what can I do? We only have twelve minutes!

Fortunately, capitalism is all about efficiency.

So let's do this, me from college: Randy [Ransom] Riggs becomes a best-selling author, Josh

Radnor stars in a great sitcom, it is NOT going to work out with Emily, and do NOT go

to Alaska with a girl you've known for ten days. Okay, let's talk capitalism.

So capitalism is an economic system, but it's also a cultural system. It's characterized

by innovation and investment to increase wealth. But today, we're going to focus on production

and how industrial capitalism changed it. Stan, I can't wear these emblems of the bourgeoisie

while Karl Marx himself is looking at me, it's ridiculous.

I'm changing! Very hard to take off a shirt dramatically.

So let's say it's 1200 CE and you're a rug merchant. Just like merchants today, you sometimes

need to borrow money in order to buy the rugs you want to resell at a profit, and then you

pay that money back, often with interest, once you've resold the rugs. This is called

mercantile capitalism, and it was a global phenomenon, from the Chinese, to the Indian

Ocean trade network, to Muslim merchants who would sponsor trade caravans across the Sahara.

But by the 17th century, merchants in the Netherlands and in Britain had expanded upon

this idea to create joint stock companies. Those companies could finance bigger trade

missions and also spread the risk of international trade. But the thing about international trade

is that sometimes boats sink or they get taken by pirates, and while that's bad if you're

a sailor because, you know, you lose your life, it's really bad if you're a mercantile

capitalist because you lost all your money. But if you own one-tenth of ten boats, your

risk is much better managed. That kind of investment definitely increased wealth, but

it only affected a sliver of the population and it didn't create a culture of capitalism.

Industrial capitalism was something altogether different, both in scale and in practice.

Let's use Joyce Appleby's definition of industrial capitalism: "An economic system that relies on

investment of capital in machines and technology that are used to increase production of marketable goods."

So imagine that someone made a Stan machine (by the way Stan, this is a remarkable likeness)

and that Stan machine could produce and direct 10 times more episodes of Crash Course than

a human Stan. Well, of course, even if there are upfront costs I'm going to invest in a

Stan machine so I can start cranking out 10 times the knowledge - Stan, are you focusing

on the robot instead of me? I AM THE STAR OF THE SHOW. Stanbot, you're going behind the globe.

So when most of us think about capitalism, especially when we think about its downsides

- long hours, low wages, miserable working conditions, child labor, unemployed Stans

- that's what we're thinking about. Now admittedly, this is just one definition of industrial

capitalism among many, but it's the definition we're going with.

All right, let's go to the Thought Bubble. Industrial capitalism developed first in Britain

in the 19th century. Britain had a bunch of advantages - it was the dominant power on

the seas, and it was making good money off its trade with its colonies, including the

slave trade; also, the growth of capitalism was helped by the half-century of civil unrest

that resulted from the 17th century English Civil War.

Now, I'm not advocating for civil wars or anything but in this particular case it was

useful because before the war, the British crown had put a lot of regulations on the

economy: complicated licenses, royal monopolies, etc. But during the turmoil it couldn't enforce

them, which made for freer markets.

Another factor was a remarkable increase in agricultural productivity in the 16th century.

As food prices started to rise, it became profitable for farmers, both large and small,

to invest in agricultural technologies that would improve crop yields. Those higher prices

for grain probably resulted from population growth, which in turn was encouraged by increased

production of food crops.

A number of these agricultural improvements came from the Dutch, who had chronic problems

feeding themselves, and discovered that planting different kinds of crops, like clover, that

added nitrogen to the soil and could be used to feed livestock at the same time, meant

that more fields could be used at once. This increased productivity, eventually brought

down prices, and this encouraged further innovation in order to increase yield to make up for the drop in prices.

Lower food prices had an added benefit: since food cost less and wages in England remained

high, workers would have more disposable income, which meant that if there were consumer goods

available, they would be consumed, which incentivized people to make consumer goods more efficiently,

and therefore more cheaply. You can see how this positive feedback loop leads to more

food, and more stuff, culminating in a world where people have so much stuff that we must

rent space to store it, and so much food that obesity has become a bigger killer than starvation.

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

So this increased productivity also meant that fewer people needed to work in agriculture

in order to feed the population. To put this in perspective, in 1520, 80% of the English

population worked the land. By 1800, only 36% of adult male laborers were working in

agriculture, and by 1850, that percentage had dropped to 25.

This meant that when the factories started humming, there were plenty of workers to hum

along with them. Especially child laborers. So far all this sounds pretty good, right?

I mean, except for the child labor - who wouldn't want more, cheaper food? Yeah, well, not so fast.

One of the ways the British achieved all this agricultural productivity was through the

process of enclosure, whereby landlords would reclaim and privatize fields that for centuries

had been held in common by multiple tenants. This increased agricultural productivity,

but it also impoverished many tenant farmers, many of whom lost their livelihoods.

Okay, for our purposes capitalism is also a cultural system, rooted in the need of private

investors to turn a profit. So the real change needed here was a change of mind. People had

to develop the capitalist values of taking risks and appreciating innovation. And they

had to come to believe that making an upfront investment in something like a Stan Machine

could pay for itself and then some.

One of the reasons that these values developed in Britain was that the people who initially

held them were really good at publicizing them. Writers like Thomas Mun, who worked

for the English East India Company, exposed people to the idea that the economy was controlled

by markets. And other writers popularized the idea that it was human nature for individuals

to participate in markets as rational actors.

Even our language changed: the word "individuals" did not apply to persons until the 17th century.

And in the 18th century, a "career" still referred only to horses' racing lives.

Perhaps the most important idea that was popularized in England was that men and women were consumers

as well as producers and that this was actually a good thing because the desire to consume

manufactured goods could spur economic growth. "The main spur to trade, or rather to industry

and ingenuity, is the exorbitant appetite of men, which they will take pain to gratify,"

so wrote John Cary, one of capitalism's cheerleaders, in 1695, and in talking about our appetite,

he wasn't just talking about food. That doesn't seem radical now, but it sure did back then.

So here in the 21st century it's clear that industrial capitalism - at least for now - has

won. [Aside to Marx] Sorry buddy, but you know, you gave it a good run. You didn't know about Stalin.

But capitalism isn't without its problems, or its critics, and there were certainly lots

of shortcomings to industrial capitalism in the 19th century. Working conditions were

awful. Days were long, arduous, and monotonous. Workers lived in conditions that people living

in the developed world today would associate with abject poverty. One way that workers

responded to these conditions was by organizing into labor unions. Another response was in

many cases purely theoretical: socialism, most famously Marxian socialism.

I should probably point out here that socialism is an imperfect opposite to capitalism, even

though the two are often juxtaposed. Capitalism’s defenders like to point out that it’s “natural,”

meaning that if left to our own devices, humans would construct economic relationships that

resemble capitalism. Socialism, at least in its modern incarnations, makes fewer pretenses

towards being an expression of human nature; it’s the result of human choice and human planning.

So, socialism, as an intellectual construct, began in France. How’d I do, Stan? Mm, in

the border between Egypt and Libya.

There were two branches of socialism in France, Utopian and revolutionary. Utopian socialism

is often associated with Comte de Saint Simon and Charles Fourier, both of whom rejected

revolutionary action after having seen the disaster of the French Revolution.

Both were critical of capitalism and while Fourier is usually a punchline in history

classes because he believed that, in his ideal socialist world, the seas would turn to lemonade,

he was right that human beings have desires that go beyond basic self interest, and that

we aren’t always economically rational actors.

The other French socialists were the revolutionaries, and they saw the French Revolution, even its

violence, in a much more positive light. The most important of these revolutionaries was

Auguste Blanqui, and we associate a lot of his ideas with communism, which is a term

that he used. Like the Utopians, he criticized capitalism, but he believed that it could

only be overthrown through violent revolution by the working classes.

However, while Blanqui thought that the workers would come to dominate a communist world,

he was an elitist. And he believed that workers on their own could never, on their own, overcome

their superstitions and their prejudices in order to throw off bourgeois oppression.

And that brings us to Karl Marx, whose ideas and beard cast a shadow over most of the 20th

century. Oh, it’s time for the Open Letter? An Open Letter to Karl Marx’s Beard.

But, first, let’s see what’s in the secret compartment today. Oh, robots. Stan Bots!

Two Stan Bots, one of them female! Now I own all the means of production. You’re officially

useless to me, Stan. Now, turn the camera off. Turn the ca-- I’m going to have to

get up and turn the camera off? Stan Bot, go turn the camera off.

Hey there, Karl Marx’s beard.

Wow, you are intense. Karl Marx, these days there are a lot of young men who think beards

are cool. Beard lovers, if you will. Those aren’t beards, those are glorified milk

mustaches. I mean, I haven’t shaved for a couple weeks, Karl Marx, but I’m not claiming a beard.

You don’t get a beard by being lazy, you get a beard by being a committed revolutionary.

That’s why hardcore Marxists are literally known as “Bearded Marxists.” These days,

that’s an insult. But you know what, Karl Marx, when I look back at history, I prefer

the bearded communists. Let’s talk about some communists who didn’t have beards:

Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Kim Jong-il, Joseph freakin’ Stalin with his face caterpillar.

So, yeah, Karl Marx’s beard, it’s my great regret to inform you that there are some paltry

beards trying to take up the class struggle these days.

Best Wishes, John Green

Although he’s often considered the father of communism, because he co-wrote The Communist

Manifesto, Marx was above all a philosopher and a historian. It’s just that, unlike

many philosophers and historians, he advocated for revolution.

His greatest work, Das Kapital, sets out to explain the world of the 19th century in historical

and philosophical terms. Marx’s thinking is deep and dense and we’re low on time,

but I want to introduce one of his ideas, that of class struggle.

So, for Marx, the focus isn’t on the class, it’s on the struggle. Basically Marx believed

that classes don’t only struggle to make history, but that the struggle is what makes

classes into themselves. The idea is that through conflict, classes develop a sense

of themselves, and without conflict, there is no such thing as class consciousness.

So, Marx was writing in 19th century England and there were two classes that mattered:

the workers and the capitalists. The capitalists owned most of the factors of production (in

this case, land and the capital to invest in factories). The workers just had their

labor. So, the class struggle here is between capitalists, who want labor at the lowest

possible price, and the workers who want to be paid as much as possible for their work.

There are two key ideas that underlie this theory of class struggle. First, Marx believed

that “production,” or work, was the thing that gave life material meaning. Second, is

that we are by nature social animals. We work together, we collaborate, we are more efficient

when we share resources.

Marx’s criticism of capitalism is that capitalism replaces this egalitarian collaboration with

conflict. And that means that it isn’t a natural system after all. And by arguing that

capitalism actually isn’t consistent with human nature, Marx sought to empower the workers.

That’s a lot more attractive than Blanqui’s elitist socialism, and while purportedly Marxist

states like the USSR usually abandon worker empowerment pretty quickly, the idea of protecting

our collective interest remains powerful. That’s where we’ll have to leave it for

now, lest I start reading from The Communist Manifesto.

But, ultimately socialism has not succeeded in supplanting capitalism, as its proponents

had hoped. In the United States, at least, “socialism” has become something of a

dirty word.

So, industrial capitalism certainly seems to have won out, and in terms of material

well-being and access to goods and services for people around the world, that’s probably a good thing.

Ugh, you keep falling over. You’re a great bit, but a very flimsy one. Actually, come

to think of it, you’re more of an 8-bit.

But how and to what extent we use socialist principles to regulate free markets remains

an open question, and one that is answered very differently in, say, Sweden than in the

United States. And this, I would argue, is where Marx still matters.

Is capitalist competition natural and good, or should there be systems in place to check

it for the sake of our collective well-being? Should we band together to provide health

care for the sick, or pensions for the old? Should government run businesses, and if so,

which ones? The mail delivery business? The airport security business? The education business?

Those are the places where industrial capitalism and socialism are still competing. And in

that sense, at least, the struggle continues. Thanks for watching, I’ll see you next week.

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller. Our script supervisor is Danica Johnson.

The show is written by my high school history teacher, Raoul Meyer and myself. We’re ably

interned by Meredith Danko. And our graphics team is Thought Bubble.

Last week’s phrase of the week was “the TARDIS,” so you can stop suggesting that

now! If you want to suggest future phrases of the week or guess at this week’s, you

can do so in comments, where you can also ask questions about today’s video that will

be answered by our team of historians.

Thanks for watching Crash Course, and as we say in my hometown, Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.

All right, Stan, bring the movie magic... Yes!