The Nature and Logic of Capitalism is a term that implies the developmental sequences of impersonal processes that control the socio- economical aspects of the world. Capitalism is the root of all evil and vices that reaps the world of its pride and heritance. Scholars and economists have tried over the years to clearly understand and define capitalism in which brings more complexity in its dimensions. Many explain its roots in the 17th century with the rise of mercantile power up to now. Methodologies used by the scholars are often sourced from capitalism itself. Issue of answers on regard to what the capitalists want societies to know has been the ideology over the years. Its evolution from industrial capitalism to a democratic one keeps everyone thinking if it is a strategy or a tradition. The likes of Fernand Braudel tried to reveal capitalism which on a clearly defined system or social order did not seem to exist. The business world today is a universe of industrial enterprises, market relationships and commercial values such as legal tender. Can this really be referred to as the barrels of capitalism? The business world stands out for the out ward facing reality of capitalism. The system works as a rule of rightful acquirement of wealth and turning against the system is deemed as a crime. Through the market, people are forged with capitalists order and movement in lifestyle setup. Adam Smith states that capitalism is a deity force dictating society action into beneficial paths which could not have been foreseen. Marx Weber defines capitalism as a blinding agency seeking to trick people from seeing the reality and hypnotize them into the pleasures of market trading and benefit. This is known as fetishism. Abilities and needs seem to be fueling the society into the habit of individuality and survival. Laws are put up by the wealthy to protect their investments. Mechanisms for growth and protection dictate the poor into a system of routine lives based on working for the rich as the gap between them becomes wider. The chances of a poor individual getting into the realm of the rich are very hard, nearly next to impossible. Capitalism acts as the social order in which its systems act upon society to a unique historical logic.
Capitalism as a system starts to project the young into its moulds of future labor market through behavior- changing institutions and relationships. This starts with the education system where one’s mind is given instructions on how to be slave of capitalism. This goes on through the school system in modes of teaching and being given tools and information in readiness to work for the capitalist society. Failure to undergo the full process and one is rendered unfit and rewards are always consequences of punishable measures. Social formation influences behavior that drive along a particular historic path. In social processes, the logic of adaptation comes into place. This means that a society given certain environments is able to accommodate itself in to the environment. In the long run, the environment wins without the knowledge of the society. Through the environment, the society gives capitalism a platform for initiation and smooth process. Nature gives us the things we need to survive. Capitalism issues us with the tools to get access of our requirements as long as we follow its law. This is known as capital logic. The psychic endowment installed in us from birth involves us in the transformation of the newborns into a system, the capitalist system. This provides insights into the capitalism phenomenon of societies in a vicious cycle of turning generations into workers and beggars for capitalism. Religion comes as methods of taming the larger population as beliefs get infringed with capitalists’ ideals bringing up a pregnant slave mind of capitalism. Human motive is reduced to mere rational actions based on work value in institutions that shape economic activities of the system. Technology being enhanced to diffuse the social life to an economic one full or hours engaging in production to meet needs.
Domination and oppression comes into mind when capitalism is brought to table. From the World Wars to colonialism of third world countries all were based on one motive. Search for resources. Reaping natural and human capital meant high production levels. Legal tender introduced as money for trade but not equal in value dependant on states. Mechanisms to accept these roles were integrated and societies strived for survival. Stratification was intensified and focus put on differences such as color, religion and sex. Racism being hid from its raw sense but felt within the minorities. Religion being manipulated to what people should be preached on brain washing societies. Religion has since from its birth been one of the strongest organizations through brainwash and misguided beliefs. Example is by the first Christian emperor of Rome Cornelius I who tortured his people into converting into Christians. Sex has also been basis of role assigning over the human history only to equate both sexes but with motive to rule over societies by the capitalists. The socialization process is often a tense and in its procession creates typical behavioral patterns. The system logic projects essence created by its nature and system. The transition of social class is emphasized through a society’s ability to configure its systems such as educational system and its rehabilitation centers. Capitalism adapts changing profiles of material output, employments patterns or class distributions of income. These patterns evolve to the politics system where such countries as the third world countries indulge in ideological goals set to drain its citizens off their assets. It accepts changes whether short or long term only on the basis that it will not cause any chaos as in cases of riots, coups and general public nuisance.
Wealth generation as a surplus flow of production is focused on a restricted group. Surplus known to be the excess of products produced as per the input of resources required to produce the product. There is however difference between surplus products of tributary and capitalists societies. In the old age African context, there was distribution of work in which a surplus of products was enjoyed by the whole society. However in a capitalist society very well demonstrated by the event of surplus going to only restricted communities who have power over the society. Wealth created seems to be siphoning all to the wealthy in luxurious commodities and more power and will to oppress the poor into producing more wealth for them. Human capital therefore used as a resource oils the will of capitalism to its supreme existence among the people. Analysis of capital is an expensive process that seeks to use more resources. This means more human capital that has undergone processes of finance education, fed by the capitalists themselves to be the custodians of resources natural, manmade, and human. The universal goals set from birth are the desire of prestige and distinction. Regardless of individual difference, every person desires to be rich and famous. The mode to reach the ultimate goal is quite different. As the system puts education to be the right way of gaining wealth, some defy the ideology. This means other shortcuts to wealth are invented such as crime, inheritance and mental influence as in the case of religion manipulation. As laws continue to be placed against these viral modes, more are being cropped up in the midst of societies. Wealth therefore is projected as a social class but of the very few in the society.
Capitalism comes hand in hand with competition. Competition on the normal occasion means the fight for an essence. On market spectrum, it means two production parties producing the same product but having one target audience. Competition in a capitalist world which is rendered to as the realistic world is a state in form of a social contract. This introduces a form of social war in turn feeding the hunger for more wealth. This brews self preservation the most intense animal instinct that human beings have. The will to survive is most propelled in a time of struggle and competition. The acquisitive orientation has two aspects in which one of them is aggressive attitude of the parties in the economic sphere of money making. The other is the separation and suppression of human emotion to reduce human contact reason being to minimize time for relations. This starts with the education process that seeks to reduce human beings to mere non emotional workers prepared to serve the industry until they are old. The second aspect involves placing of protective measures to limit competitive parties from ever succeeding in earning from their production. Monopolies adapt these aspects to ensure that they never have any competition against them. War prices, subsidies and rewards attained by acquiring products give monopoly parties the strength to control the market as they please. This is why these companies continue to spread their wings, establishing ever growing branches all across the societies of the world. Governments are willing to protect these ventures since in the capitalist view, they mere beggars just like the citizens they serve.
Capitalism translates from ancient simple societies in its nature and logic in its structure of primitive life. Advancement over tha ages brought up by technical experimentation such as in the fields of medicine. The Tuskegee Syphilis scandal being one of them and even perhaps the HIV/AIDS pandemic are as a result of capitalism at its highest. All the advancements have had costs towards populations in all aspects. Loss of lives, property, diseases and natural calamities brought by advancements in the “betterment of the future” has been eminent. Capitalism is also displayed through kinship ties, in empires and kingdoms such as the Chinese dynasties. A single person given the responsibility of a whole society in the name of ruler gives logic to capitalism and corruption. Kinship ties culminate into the system with a background of wealthy families that do anything in their power to maintain power within its realm. History talks of societies destroyed by individual’s decisions, dynasties and cities fallen on the cost of a one man leadership.
Mob psychology and its devastating effects have been examples of capitalism. It is both a root and a methodology used to rule over the weak in society. Mob actions bring confusion for error of leadership, law and order. Its doctrines become the ruling constitution. Individuals are sucked into its dimensions in selling out their souls in which they later come to face consequences. Examples are the demonstrations that happen in developed country in relation to fight against an unethical issue. The Black revolution of the state can be a reference in which the benefiting parties were less leaving the bigger majority who played the larger part hopeless to an uncertain future. Capitalism in its true form works within the people. People who hold the key to mob action being sucked into the system thus cannot oppose the system in which they are eventually working in.
Social logics create different antagonistic interests between classes and groups. This makes the socio- economical institutions of life more complicated in which behavioral forces impact the community and its environment. This is in the case of pollution and its increase in its negative effects over the years. Many states suffer due to the super powers polluting the environment without any rising to defend. Most of the suffering communities are dependent on these developed countries that exploit the environment. Most states have acquired and adapted the nature of capitalism as a way of life. Going against the norms and laws of capitalism has devastating effects on the individual and their descendants. Its logic is simply to protect the wealthy and their prospects, to train the weak into working for the wealthy, to make history repeat itself with very few chances of the poor to progress to a higher stratification level. Even though capitalism has brought a better world evolving through the years, its effects is devastating. Decisions to either accept its dominance or rejecting its system has consequences that we must be prepared to undertake in the long run, for us and our future generations to come.
REFERENCES
Heilbroner, Robert L. The Nature and Logic of Capitalism. New York: Norton, 1985. Print.
