Similar to our debates about food on the island, economists and thinkers argued about how wealth should be handled during the Industrial Revolution.

New Ideas About Economics

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The physiocrats of the Enlightenment argued that government should not interfere in the free operation of the economy. In the early 1800s, middle-class business leaders embraced this laissez faire, or “hands-off” approach. See below:

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Revolutionary Thinking

Utilitarianism:

The idea of utilitarianism - forwarded by Jeremy Bentham - had evolved around 1800. Bentham posited that the ultimate goal of society should be "the greatest happiness for the greatest number" of its citizens. All laws and actions of government should be judged by their "utility" - or, how well they worked to bring about the greatest for all. Utilitarians strongly supported individual freedom yet saw the need for government involvement. John Stuart Mill, one of the most prominent utilitarian followers of Bentham, wrote extensively about bringing equality to all people. Below are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

Remember utilitarian philosophy as:
"An action is right to the extent that it inclines to promote the greatest good for the greatest number."

Please watch the video on Utilitarianism.

Socialism and Communism: Below are Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

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Socialism: During the Age of Industrialization, some people were repelled by capitalism because of the emerging chasm between the rich and poor. These people wanted to end poverty and injustice and offered a radical solution: socialism. In socialism, people as a whole would own and operate all of the means of production. Socialists believed in the basic goodness of human nature and yearned for a society where all would benefit - not just the elite. Socialists were influenced by Enlightenment thinkers. Be sure to read about the socialists in your text on page 512: the Utopians and Robert Owen. Socialism will be discussed further in the video clip below.

Karl Marx and Communism: In the 1840s, Karl Marx opposed both the capitalists and the socialists. Instead, Marx presented another social order: communism. Communism, he said, was a "scientific socialism" based on the study of history and man. Communism posited that two classes of people existed: the bourgeoisie (those who had money and power - the 'haves') and the proletariat (the working class who didn't have power and money - the 'have-nots').

For Marx, communism would solve this disparity by creating a classless society where everybody was equal for the most part, and prosperity would be for all. Marx was controversial to begin with, but then he called for an international revolution of working men to bring down capitalism. His revolutionary ideas would shape the world to come in the next century. We will spend a lot of time studying the impact of Karl Marx's ideas.Please view the short clip on Communism below:

Below is a chart that connects some of the components between utilitarianism and socialism.

Think About It: Consider how the Industrial Revolution was truly a "revolution." People went from living mostly slow, rural, agricultural lives to living in cities, working in factories, earning steady wages, forming labor unions, and traveling all around the world quickly with groundbreaking transportation. Additionally:

social classes were redefined,
family roles changed,
children worked in factories,
women did more than domestic work,
goods could be imported and exported at rapid speeds, and
communication and ideas changed and spread rapidly.

Try to imagine how much a person's life would have changed if they were born in 1750 and lived to be a hundred.