Economic Society and New World Capstone Project

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(Zinn 83)

Human societies within the context of civilization most always are organized into deference periods. The Constitution is a product of worldviews developed within such a limited paradigm, as paradigms tend to be, whether individuals -- including the Founders -- were and are aware of it. This condition, in part, touches on what Heilbroner frames as "The Unresolved Problem of Economic Power." He accepts that the wonderful free market system of Adam Smith is tainted by "giant oligopoly." The logic positing the market economy "as the servant of the consumer," therefore, might as well be null-and-void, but, still, "the emergence of these new attributes," Heilbroner argues, "can be seen as new functional mechanisms for the support of that system." (Heilbroner 138)

To make natural the influence of "giant oligopolies" to the free-market economy, Heilbroner borrows examples from the world of advertising and the manipulation of consumer wants. He admits that, at first sight, these two behavioral models seem to by-and-large undermine the smooth functioning of a prime principle of the market economy: the sovereignty of consumer choice. "But," Heilbroner reasons, "is not the advertising also testimony to the changing characteristics of consumer wants? Whilst in the 19th century, our wants were largely placated by needs, "the basic requirements of simple existence: food, clothing, shelter," the rich nations of the second-half of the twentieth century have largely satisfied these basic needs. Therefore, "consumer demand is no longer driven to essentials, but hesitates before a whole range of possible luxuries and semi-luxuries." Is the want manufactured? Or is Heilbroner making a mistake similar to the one Smith did in his day by filing something wrongly under the realm of human behavior, when its true origins are of a more artificial nature?

Despite overwhelming continuity with the Old World order, the New World did have many differences.

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For one, industry started to develop at a time when industrial wages were much higher in the U.S. than they were in England. In fact, some estimates for the early 19th centuries hold that they were perhaps one-third to one-half higher. "This was fundamentally because the remuneration of American industrial labor was measured by reward and advantages of individual agriculture." Some analysts also cite the young United States unique constructs of everyday life, and the general freedom it gave to some.

By the mid-point of the nineteenth century, the big story of the New World was not the Revolution, but, rather, technology. A keystone aspect of technology on the making of economic society, as states one of Heilbroner's theses on the matter, was "a vast increase in the degree of urbanization of society." This brings us back to the theme of dependence and domestication of Homo Sapiens as we journeyed down to the road to becoming Homo Economicus.

Whilst the pace of U.S. urbanization was quick, this is, by no means, a phenomenon specific to the New World, for 75% of people today live in cities. (Bloom) Heilbroner writes, "The steady growth of industrial technology has radically lessened the degree of economic independence of the average citizen." For short, the move into the city -- congruent with industrialization and urbanization -- has domesticated individuals. In the period from 1900 to 1960, the number of farmers and farm managers in the United States dramatically decreased. While in 1900-20% of the labor force were farmers, by 1960 only 4.2% of the labor force claimed this as their occupation.

1. Heilbroner, Robert. (1978) the Making of Economic Society. New York: Prentice Hall.

2. Heilbroner, Robert. (1953) Worldy Philosophers. Simon&Schuster

3. Chomsky, Noam. (3 March 1993) Notes of NAFTA: "The Masters of Man.".....

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