Introduction
It is a common truth that those people who do not remember the past have a limited opportunity to understand the real nature of things that happen to their society. The mindset of society has experienced significant changes during the last centuries; however, the repercussions of older values can still be noticed in the opinions of modern people about business, money, and wealth. In particular, the project focuses on defining the key characteristics of the Industrial Age and analyzing their impact on the worldview of modern people in developed countries. As a result, the influence of the majority of tendencies on the contemporary society is confirmed.
The Industrial Age and Capitalism
The rapid development of technology and the growing population in many countries are known to have contributed to the rise of capitalist relations. Speaking about industrial capitalism, it is important to state that the presence of this social system is characterized by significant changes related to the agricultural sector that are believed to enhance economic growth (Hudson, 2014). The prerequisites for the development of industrial capitalism are believed to have appeared with the decline of mercantilist ideas in the middle of the eighteenth century. Capitalism and socialism are always presented as two antagonistic social systems that cannot coexist peacefully due to the presence of unresolved differences between them. The rise of the capitalistic thought in countries whose economies were quite developed for the time was strictly interconnected with a few key tendencies.
To begin with, the number of plants and factories was growing during the discussed period. Therefore, the approach to task assignment was gradually changing. The success of industrial capitalism is inherent in the separation of tasks. The focus on the division of labor and standardization in all spheres of human activity was one of the factors allowing business people of that epoch to optimize production processes and maximize their profit. Even though there are many researchers who claim that capitalism can be regarded as the most feasible social system, it is clear that the focus on profitability (sometimes, to the prejudice of quality) was one of its key features. Obviously, the financial success of many companies that were established after the Industrial Revolution could exist only due to the growing focus on mass production and active consumption that were gradually becoming the key features of the period. However, common people that were mainly presented by factory workers have limited access to the material goods that they were produced due to the growing social stratification that can be seen as one of the most urgent problems connected with capitalist systems.
Among other features of the discussed period that influenced the perception of money and business, there is a growing economic power of wealthy people paired with the lessening control of the competition. Even though the European society experienced significant economic growth and the quality of people’s lives was increasing due to the rapid development of technology, it was extremely difficult for people from low-income families to improve their financial position (Hartwell, 2017). Thus, it was almost impossible for independent hand workers and ambitious people from the poorest social layers to start their own business as the authority was concentrated in the hands of wealthy people. Obviously, the degree to which industrialization was a positive tendency was different for various social layers. The path from manual production to the mechanization of labor involved numerous obstacles, and the establishment of a factory system was impossible without setting a series of rules that are still respected.
The majority of properties of a factory system that appeared after the Industrial Revolution exist in the modern world. Prior to that, factory systems in some European countries such as France were divided into various classes; the highest class of production facilities was protected by monarchs and, therefore, “it knew no competition” (Mantoux, 2013, p. 30). Theorists who are believed to be the founders of the capitalist social system tend to critique the presence of the official control of production facilities. The lack of control was an opportunity for helping factory owners to set their own rules and use them in order to fire and hire new workers. Therefore, the key features of the time include the focus on profitability and mass production, social inequality, task separation, and the reduction of government control.
The Contemporary Society
When it comes to the perception of money, business, and wealth in contemporary society, the majority of authors tend to find a lot of links between the earlier period of capitalism and the twenty-first century. For instance, the point of view, according to which “the object of all industry is the production of goods or articles of consumption” is believed to be the focus of governments of different countries even now (Mantoux, 2013, p.25). In fact, capitalism as an economic system still presents a cycle that involves mass production and consumption. The focus on this cycle is the reality of the twenty-first century, and its roots are believed to lie in the industrial epoch.
Within the frame of the research project, a short survey including a few questions aimed at evaluating the perceptions of money, wealth, and production process that young small business owners demonstrate was conducted. The survey was anonymous, and there were ten participants who agreed to share their opinions on the impact of the Industrial Age on society. The age of the participants was between 27 and 38. Among the most interesting findings indicating that the studied epoch has a strong impact on modern entrepreneurship, there is the fact that the majority (90%) of the participants agree that increased consumption is the ultimate sign of progress.
Apart from that, the participants were asked about their attitude to the conflict between the quality and quantity of products and services they provide. In fact, 60% of respondents acknowledge that large companies have to focus on the volumes of production to be able to gain a competitive advantage. As is clear from the work by Amin (2014), the development of capitalism has contributed to increasing inequality in many countries. The participants who agreed to answer the survey questions partially support this assumption; thus, 80% of respondents agree that they know cases when people from the middle class had to make more efforts when wealthier people to achieve certain goals. It becomes obvious from the previous part of the assignment that the growth of production during the Industrial Age was associated with the difficult life of workers. As for the survey, the majority of participants (60%) support the idea that people are not regarded as resources in modern business.
Conclusion
In the end, it is clear that the Industrial Age and early capitalism have made a significant contribution to the perceptions of wealth and business in contemporary society. Among the key features of the studied period identified during the research, there is a focus on profitability, task separation, social stratification, and the reduction of government control. As it follows from the survey that encouraged participants to share their opinion on modern business, the majority of these tendencies have an obvious influence on society. Despite that, there is another tendency noticed by the participants; understanding that employee happiness has a strong impact on employee effectiveness, more employers focus on the creation of a positive work environment instead of treating their subordinates like a resource.
References
Amin, S. (2014). Capitalism in the age of globalization: The management of contemporary society. London, UK: Zed Books Ltd.
Hartwell, R. M. (2017). The industrial revolution and economic growth (Vol. 4). Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis.
Hudson, P. (2014). The industrial revolution. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Mantoux, P. (2013). The industrial revolution in the eighteenth century: An outline of the beginnings of the modern factory system in England. London, UK: Routledge.