The Transition from Capitalism to Socialism

In Man's Worldly Goods, Leo Huberman summed up some of what he believed to be many of the key points that have led to a transition from capitalism to socialism in Europe. Huberman's main reasons for revolution are the disadvantageous position of the lower class, class divisions and struggles between the proletariat and bourgeoisie, and the inevitable failures of capitalism.

One key development toward a socialist revolution, according to Huberman, was the Industrial Revolution. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, those who were once peasants were now working in factories under wretched conditions and for very little pay. Their jobs were often extremely dangerous and the hours were long, and to make matters worse, they were often penalized for minor “infractions,” such as having a nearby window open (185-186). To put things into perspective, Huberman quoted part of an interview with a worker named Thomas Heath who thanked God that his children had died because of how much of a financial burden they were on him and also because he knew they no longer had to suffer with living a life like his own (185). This was the sate of the working class, while the bourgeoisie lived a life of luxury. This class division, then, should lead to an inevitable class struggle and then reform.

The final “nail in the coffin” for capitalism was the problem with crises due to conflicting forces. Hobson and Hayek offered divergent explanations for why profits rise, and neither one of them are particularly wrong. Hayek argued that if wages fall, profits and future investment will rise, while Hobson argued that increasing wages would increase consumers' purchasing power, leading to increasing profits for firms (278-279). Karl Marx saw this as an ...

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... sought to do away with social classes, exploitation of big business, and poverty. To those who had been suffering under such conditions, hearing of a new system that would theoretically solve their greatest woes would be very attractive. This will hold true for any proposition as well: if you promise a disadvantaged person utopia, they will listen, and if enough people listen, a reform will occur. I believe that Huberman was not only trying to explain the history behind these movements, but that he was also trying to make this common element of economic reform clear.

Works Cited

Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1983. Print.

Huberman, Leo. Man's Worldly Goods. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1968. Print.

Trotsky, Leon. The Transitional Program for Socialist Revolution. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1983. Print.