Social Inequality In The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution, which took place from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s, caused the transition between the grueling manual labor we now consider archaic to machines still used in factories to this day. With this newfound efficiency, however, came a whole slew of unforeseen problems, many of which related to the bad conditions in which the working class was placed. Although many of these problems were unique in their solutions, many others could be solved with the application of socialist values within the capitalism that was eventually chosen. Some of the biggest problems caused by the Industrial Revolution were those pertaining to the working and living conditions of the working class. There are many accounts of people being mistreated
Under pure socialism, classes become indistinguishable—if not nonexistent—due to its focus on equality. Although this may be preferable to the lives of the Industrial Revolution-era lower class, it ignores the human race’s competitive nature, taking key motivations away from the people needed to spur their society’s economy. Pure capitalism, on the other hand, recognizes this need for motivation, stating that when people are given economic freedom, “the obvious and simple system of natural liberty establishes itself of its own accord” (Smith). Despite the motivation that this system provides, it only serves to worsen the class inequality still present to this day. Because capitalist societies are barely under any government economic control, the most successful people continue to be just as successful, leaving the poorest with little to no chance of class mobility. Communism, like capitalism, attempts to provide motivation for its citizens. However, since communism is based mostly upon people being “instruments of labour” working for their societies (Marx and Engels), motivation for the sake of the individual becomes almost impossible. In place of this, communism attempts to provide a more community-focused motivation, but without monetary reward, the work can begin to seem
Now, however, it is apparent that the solution was not an individual system of economy, but a combination between capitalism and socialism. This system allows individuals economic freedom while using tax to greatly lessen the inequality between classes, which was the root of many problems caused by the Industrial