Capitalism and Socialism: Crash Course World History #33
Capitalism and Socialism: Crash Course World History #33
In which John Green teaches you about capitalism and socialism in a way that is sure to please commenters from both sides of the debate. Learn how capitalism arose from the industrial revolution, and then gave rise to socialism. Learn about how we got from the British East India Company to iPhones and consumer culture in just a couple of hundred years. Stops along the way include the rise of industrial capitalism, mass production, disgruntled workers, Karl Marx, and the Socialist Beard. The socialist reactions to the ills of capitalism are covered as well, and John discusses some of the ideas of Karl Marx, and how they’ve been implemented or ignored in various socialist states. Plus, there are robots!
Chapters:
Introduction: Capitalism 00:00
What is Industrial Capitalism? 0:59
How did Industrial Capitalism begin? 3:04
Capitalism Increased Productivity 4:51
Capitalism as a Cultural System 5:41
Criticisms of Capitalism 7:12
Socialism 7:59
An Open Letter to Karl Marx’s Beard 9:12
Karl Marx’s Ideology 10:23
Socialism vs. Industrial Capitalism Today 12:14
Credits 13:14
Resources:
The Relentless Revolution by Joyce Appelby: https://bit.ly/3OlIBPV
The Marx-Engels Reader: https://bit.ly/3M8o4fL
Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse
Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashC…
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thecrashcou…
CC Kids: / crashcoursekids
Content
0.25 -> Hi, I'm John Green, this is Crash Course World
History, and today we're going to talk about capitalism.
4.81 -> Yeah, Mr. Green, capitalism just turns men
into wolves. Your purportedly free markets
9.24 -> only makes slave of us all..
11.15 -> Oh god Stan, it's me from college. Me from
the past has become me from college. This
14.599 -> is a disaster! The reason he's so unbearable,
Stan, is that he refuses to recognize the
18.44 -> legitimacy of other people's narratives. And
that means that he will never ever be able
22.98 -> to have a productive conversation with another
human in his entire life.
26.13 -> So listen, me from the past. I'm gonna disappoint
you by being too capitalist. And I'm gonna
29.519 -> disappoint a lot of other people by not being
capitalist enough. And I'm gonna disappoint
32.77 -> the historians by not using enough jargon.
But what can I do? We only have twelve minutes!
37.3 -> Fortunately, capitalism is all about efficiency.
39.23 -> So let's do this, me from college: Randy [Ransom]
Riggs becomes a best-selling author, Josh
42.53 -> Radnor stars in a great sitcom, it is NOT
going to work out with Emily, and do NOT go
47.03 -> to Alaska with a girl you've known for ten
days. Okay, let's talk capitalism.
59.55 -> So capitalism is an economic system, but it's
also a cultural system. It's characterized
63.059 -> by innovation and investment to increase wealth.
But today, we're going to focus on production
66.88 -> and how industrial capitalism changed it.
Stan, I can't wear these emblems of the bourgeoisie
70.85 -> while Karl Marx himself is looking at me,
it's ridiculous.
76.9 -> I'm changing! Very hard to take off a shirt
dramatically.
81.42 -> So let's say it's 1200 CE and you're a rug
merchant. Just like merchants today, you sometimes
85.72 -> need to borrow money in order to buy the rugs
you want to resell at a profit, and then you
89.84 -> pay that money back, often with interest,
once you've resold the rugs. This is called
93.97 -> mercantile capitalism, and it was a global
phenomenon, from the Chinese, to the Indian
97.479 -> Ocean trade network, to Muslim merchants who
would sponsor trade caravans across the Sahara.
101.759 -> But by the 17th century, merchants in the
Netherlands and in Britain had expanded upon
105.31 -> this idea to create joint stock companies.
Those companies could finance bigger trade
109.24 -> missions and also spread the risk of international
trade. But the thing about international trade
113.2 -> is that sometimes boats sink or they get taken
by pirates, and while that's bad if you're
117.42 -> a sailor because, you know, you lose your
life, it's really bad if you're a mercantile
121.28 -> capitalist because you lost all your money.
But if you own one-tenth of ten boats, your
125.759 -> risk is much better managed. That kind of
investment definitely increased wealth, but
129.44 -> it only affected a sliver of the population
and it didn't create a culture of capitalism.
134.62 -> Industrial capitalism was something altogether
different, both in scale and in practice.
138.44 -> Let's use Joyce Appleby's definition of industrial
capitalism: "An economic system that relies on
142.62 -> investment of capital in machines and technology that
are used to increase production of marketable goods."
148.4 -> So imagine that someone made a Stan machine
(by the way Stan, this is a remarkable likeness)
152.23 -> and that Stan machine could produce and direct
10 times more episodes of Crash Course than
156.48 -> a human Stan. Well, of course, even if there
are upfront costs I'm going to invest in a
161.12 -> Stan machine so I can start cranking out 10
times the knowledge - Stan, are you focusing
165.08 -> on the robot instead of me? I AM THE STAR
OF THE SHOW. Stanbot, you're going behind the globe.
169.2 -> So when most of us think about capitalism,
especially when we think about its downsides
172.68 -> - long hours, low wages, miserable working
conditions, child labor, unemployed Stans
177.909 -> - that's what we're thinking about. Now admittedly,
this is just one definition of industrial
181.59 -> capitalism among many, but it's the definition
we're going with.
184.65 -> All right, let's go to the Thought Bubble.
Industrial capitalism developed first in Britain
188.05 -> in the 19th century. Britain had a bunch of
advantages - it was the dominant power on
191.8 -> the seas, and it was making good money off
its trade with its colonies, including the
195.44 -> slave trade; also, the growth of capitalism
was helped by the half-century of civil unrest
200.25 -> that resulted from the 17th century English
Civil War.
203.26 -> Now, I'm not advocating for civil wars or
anything but in this particular case it was
207.799 -> useful because before the war, the British
crown had put a lot of regulations on the
211.849 -> economy: complicated licenses, royal monopolies,
etc. But during the turmoil it couldn't enforce
217.97 -> them, which made for freer markets.
220.28 -> Another factor was a remarkable increase in
agricultural productivity in the 16th century.
224.959 -> As food prices started to rise, it became
profitable for farmers, both large and small,
229.629 -> to invest in agricultural technologies that
would improve crop yields. Those higher prices
234.519 -> for grain probably resulted from population
growth, which in turn was encouraged by increased
239.06 -> production of food crops.
240.269 -> A number of these agricultural improvements
came from the Dutch, who had chronic problems
244.03 -> feeding themselves, and discovered that planting
different kinds of crops, like clover, that
248.12 -> added nitrogen to the soil and could be used
to feed livestock at the same time, meant
252.09 -> that more fields could be used at once. This
increased productivity, eventually brought
255.909 -> down prices, and this encouraged further innovation in
order to increase yield to make up for the drop in prices.
261.24 -> Lower food prices had an added benefit: since
food cost less and wages in England remained
265.63 -> high, workers would have more disposable income,
which meant that if there were consumer goods
269.54 -> available, they would be consumed, which incentivized
people to make consumer goods more efficiently,
274.78 -> and therefore more cheaply. You can see how
this positive feedback loop leads to more
278.57 -> food, and more stuff, culminating in a world
where people have so much stuff that we must
283.41 -> rent space to store it, and so much food that
obesity has become a bigger killer than starvation.
289.199 -> Thanks, Thought Bubble.
290.34 -> So this increased productivity also meant
that fewer people needed to work in agriculture
294.419 -> in order to feed the population. To put this
in perspective, in 1520, 80% of the English
299.44 -> population worked the land. By 1800, only
36% of adult male laborers were working in
305.669 -> agriculture, and by 1850, that percentage
had dropped to 25.
309.4 -> This meant that when the factories started
humming, there were plenty of workers to hum
312.56 -> along with them. Especially child laborers.
So far all this sounds pretty good, right?
319.449 -> I mean, except for the child labor - who wouldn't
want more, cheaper food? Yeah, well, not so fast.
325.58 -> One of the ways the British achieved all this
agricultural productivity was through the
328.919 -> process of enclosure, whereby landlords would
reclaim and privatize fields that for centuries
333.78 -> had been held in common by multiple tenants.
This increased agricultural productivity,
337.85 -> but it also impoverished many tenant farmers,
many of whom lost their livelihoods.
341.61 -> Okay, for our purposes capitalism is also
a cultural system, rooted in the need of private
346.35 -> investors to turn a profit. So the real change
needed here was a change of mind. People had
351.59 -> to develop the capitalist values of taking
risks and appreciating innovation. And they
356.15 -> had to come to believe that making an upfront
investment in something like a Stan Machine
359.94 -> could pay for itself and then some.
361.569 -> One of the reasons that these values developed
in Britain was that the people who initially
365.36 -> held them were really good at publicizing
them. Writers like Thomas Mun, who worked
369.259 -> for the English East India Company, exposed
people to the idea that the economy was controlled
372.979 -> by markets. And other writers popularized
the idea that it was human nature for individuals
377.08 -> to participate in markets as rational actors.
379.66 -> Even our language changed: the word "individuals"
did not apply to persons until the 17th century.
385.71 -> And in the 18th century, a "career" still
referred only to horses' racing lives.
390.02 -> Perhaps the most important idea that was popularized
in England was that men and women were consumers
395.5 -> as well as producers and that this was actually
a good thing because the desire to consume
400.47 -> manufactured goods could spur economic growth.
"The main spur to trade, or rather to industry
406.22 -> and ingenuity, is the exorbitant appetite
of men, which they will take pain to gratify,"
411.259 -> so wrote John Cary, one of capitalism's cheerleaders,
in 1695, and in talking about our appetite,
416.96 -> he wasn't just talking about food. That doesn't
seem radical now, but it sure did back then.
421.99 -> So here in the 21st century it's clear that
industrial capitalism - at least for now - has
427.15 -> won. [Aside to Marx] Sorry buddy, but you know,
you gave it a good run. You didn't know about Stalin.
432.139 -> But capitalism isn't without its problems,
or its critics, and there were certainly lots
435.93 -> of shortcomings to industrial capitalism in
the 19th century. Working conditions were
439.94 -> awful. Days were long, arduous, and monotonous.
Workers lived in conditions that people living
445.039 -> in the developed world today would associate
with abject poverty. One way that workers
449.069 -> responded to these conditions was by organizing
into labor unions. Another response was in
452.729 -> many cases purely theoretical: socialism,
most famously Marxian socialism.
457.11 -> I should probably point out here that socialism
is an imperfect opposite to capitalism, even
460.99 -> though the two are often juxtaposed. Capitalism’s
defenders like to point out that it’s “natural,”
465.229 -> meaning that if left to our own devices, humans
would construct economic relationships that
469.56 -> resemble capitalism. Socialism, at least in
its modern incarnations, makes fewer pretenses
474.04 -> towards being an expression of human nature;
it’s the result of human choice and human planning.
478.58 -> So, socialism, as an intellectual construct,
began in France. How’d I do, Stan? Mm, in
486 -> the border between Egypt and Libya.
488.069 -> There were two branches of socialism in France,
Utopian and revolutionary. Utopian socialism
492.44 -> is often associated with Comte de Saint Simon
and Charles Fourier, both of whom rejected
496.569 -> revolutionary action after having seen the
disaster of the French Revolution.
500.569 -> Both were critical of capitalism and while
Fourier is usually a punchline in history
503.889 -> classes because he believed that, in his ideal
socialist world, the seas would turn to lemonade,
508.319 -> he was right that human beings have desires
that go beyond basic self interest, and that
512.339 -> we aren’t always economically rational actors.
514.839 -> The other French socialists were the revolutionaries,
and they saw the French Revolution, even its
518.94 -> violence, in a much more positive light. The
most important of these revolutionaries was
522.55 -> Auguste Blanqui, and we associate a lot of
his ideas with communism, which is a term
526.86 -> that he used. Like the Utopians, he criticized
capitalism, but he believed that it could
530.55 -> only be overthrown through violent revolution
by the working classes.
534.36 -> However, while Blanqui thought that the workers
would come to dominate a communist world,
538.26 -> he was an elitist. And he believed that workers
on their own could never, on their own, overcome
541.88 -> their superstitions and their prejudices in
order to throw off bourgeois oppression.
546.18 -> And that brings us to Karl Marx, whose ideas
and beard cast a shadow over most of the 20th
551.3 -> century. Oh, it’s time for the Open Letter?
An Open Letter to Karl Marx’s Beard.
558.57 -> But, first, let’s see what’s in the secret
compartment today. Oh, robots. Stan Bots!
564.709 -> Two Stan Bots, one of them female! Now I own
all the means of production. You’re officially
570.47 -> useless to me, Stan. Now, turn the camera
off. Turn the ca-- I’m going to have to
574.85 -> get up and turn the camera off? Stan Bot,
go turn the camera off.
578.79 -> Hey there, Karl Marx’s beard.
580.25 -> Wow, you are intense. Karl Marx, these days
there are a lot of young men who think beards
585.26 -> are cool. Beard lovers, if you will. Those
aren’t beards, those are glorified milk
588.63 -> mustaches. I mean, I haven’t shaved for
a couple weeks, Karl Marx, but I’m not claiming a beard.
591.8 -> You don’t get a beard by being lazy, you
get a beard by being a committed revolutionary.
595.959 -> That’s why hardcore Marxists are literally
known as “Bearded Marxists.” These days,
601.23 -> that’s an insult. But you know what, Karl
Marx, when I look back at history, I prefer
605.07 -> the bearded communists. Let’s talk about
some communists who didn’t have beards:
609.76 -> Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Kim Jong-il, Joseph freakin’
Stalin with his face caterpillar.
614.899 -> So, yeah, Karl Marx’s beard, it’s my great
regret to inform you that there are some paltry
619.029 -> beards trying to take up the class struggle
these days.
622.209 -> Best Wishes, John Green
623.55 -> Although he’s often considered the father
of communism, because he co-wrote The Communist
627.1 -> Manifesto, Marx was above all a philosopher
and a historian. It’s just that, unlike
631.45 -> many philosophers and historians, he advocated
for revolution.
634.86 -> His greatest work, Das Kapital, sets out to
explain the world of the 19th century in historical
639.31 -> and philosophical terms. Marx’s thinking
is deep and dense and we’re low on time,
643.61 -> but I want to introduce one of his ideas,
that of class struggle.
646.26 -> So, for Marx, the focus isn’t on the class,
it’s on the struggle. Basically Marx believed
650.43 -> that classes don’t only struggle to make
history, but that the struggle is what makes
654.63 -> classes into themselves. The idea is that
through conflict, classes develop a sense
659.06 -> of themselves, and without conflict, there
is no such thing as class consciousness.
663.329 -> So, Marx was writing in 19th century England
and there were two classes that mattered:
667.29 -> the workers and the capitalists. The capitalists
owned most of the factors of production (in
672.18 -> this case, land and the capital to invest
in factories). The workers just had their
677.55 -> labor. So, the class struggle here is between
capitalists, who want labor at the lowest
681.49 -> possible price, and the workers who want to
be paid as much as possible for their work.
685.8 -> There are two key ideas that underlie this
theory of class struggle. First, Marx believed
689.37 -> that “production,” or work, was the thing
that gave life material meaning. Second, is
694.48 -> that we are by nature social animals. We work
together, we collaborate, we are more efficient
700.019 -> when we share resources.
701.93 -> Marx’s criticism of capitalism is that capitalism
replaces this egalitarian collaboration with
707.85 -> conflict. And that means that it isn’t a
natural system after all. And by arguing that
712.55 -> capitalism actually isn’t consistent with
human nature, Marx sought to empower the workers.
716.92 -> That’s a lot more attractive than Blanqui’s
elitist socialism, and while purportedly Marxist
721.57 -> states like the USSR usually abandon worker
empowerment pretty quickly, the idea of protecting
727.07 -> our collective interest remains powerful.
That’s where we’ll have to leave it for
730.47 -> now, lest I start reading from The Communist
Manifesto.
732.74 -> But, ultimately socialism has not succeeded
in supplanting capitalism, as its proponents
737.1 -> had hoped. In the United States, at least,
“socialism” has become something of a
740.029 -> dirty word.
741.06 -> So, industrial capitalism certainly seems
to have won out, and in terms of material
744.63 -> well-being and access to goods and services for
people around the world, that’s probably a good thing.
749.82 -> Ugh, you keep falling over. You’re a great
bit, but a very flimsy one. Actually, come
753.76 -> to think of it, you’re more of an 8-bit.
755.38 -> But how and to what extent we use socialist
principles to regulate free markets remains
760.29 -> an open question, and one that is answered
very differently in, say, Sweden than in the
764.389 -> United States. And this, I would argue, is
where Marx still matters.
768.42 -> Is capitalist competition natural and good,
or should there be systems in place to check
772.589 -> it for the sake of our collective well-being?
Should we band together to provide health
776.38 -> care for the sick, or pensions for the old?
Should government run businesses, and if so,
780.74 -> which ones? The mail delivery business? The
airport security business? The education business?
785.86 -> Those are the places where industrial capitalism
and socialism are still competing. And in
790.079 -> that sense, at least, the struggle continues.
Thanks for watching, I’ll see you next week.
794.089 -> Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan
Muller. Our script supervisor is Danica Johnson.
797.86 -> The show is written by my high school history
teacher, Raoul Meyer and myself. We’re ably
801.91 -> interned by Meredith Danko. And our graphics
team is Thought Bubble.
805.41 -> Last week’s phrase of the week was “the
TARDIS,” so you can stop suggesting that
808.87 -> now! If you want to suggest future phrases
of the week or guess at this week’s, you
811.92 -> can do so in comments, where you can also
ask questions about today’s video that will
815.149 -> be answered by our team of historians.
816.51 -> Thanks for watching Crash Course, and as we
say in my hometown, Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.
820.31 -> All right, Stan, bring the movie magic...
Yes!
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3u4EFTwprM