Capitalism in The United States

Flashcards covering key concepts from Unit 1 Lecture 5 on Capitalism in The United States, including relations of production, class dynamics, economic policies, and historical events.

Relations of Production

The voluntary and involuntary social and technical relationships that exist in a society, including friendships, family ties, and connections to tools or means of production.

Antagonistic Relationship

The inverse relationship between employer and employee under capitalism, where their interests for compensation, benefits, and autonomy are often opposing.

Bourgeoisie

The owning class in a capitalist society.

Proletariat

The working class in a capitalist society, who must work to survive.

Class Conscious

An individual's or group's understanding of their position within the social hierarchy, often leading to collective action to maintain or improve that position.

Opulent Minority

A term used to describe the wealthy elite, whose interests the founding system of government was designed to protect.

Income Inequality

The unequal distribution of wealth within a society, where a small percentage of the population owns a disproportionately large share of wealth.

Interlocking Directorates

A practice where individuals sit on multiple corporate boards, creating links and familiarity among the ultra-wealthy class that controls major corporations.

Revolving Door

The movement of individuals between roles in the business sector (industry) and government, often to establish policies that benefit their industry, and then returning to industry.

Middle Class (shrinking/hollow)

A concept describing a societal group that, in the U.S., is becoming increasingly indebted or living paycheck-to-paycheck, often used to prevent workers from challenging the capitalist system.

Homestead Acts (1862)

Legislation that dispersed free land, primarily to white farmers moving west, facilitating the growth of railroads and American expansion.

Pacific Railway Act

Legislation that granted over 175 million acres of land for free to railroad companies, bigger than the state of Texas, to encourage railroad development.

Sharecropping

A quasi-feudal system that emerged in the American South after the Civil War, replacing slavery, where former slaves (free laborers) were often forced to work on the same farms for a share of the crop.

Means of Production

The raw materials, tools, and land necessary to produce goods and services; often denied to the free laborer class post-Civil War.

Convict Lease Laws

Laws passed after the Civil War that allowed prisoners (often former slaves arrested for vagrancy) to be leased out for labor without pay, effectively re-establishing slavery within the prison system.

Crisis of Overproduction

An economic situation where too many goods are produced relative to the demand or purchasing power of the population, leading to unsold goods, decreased profits, and bankruptcies.

Great Upheaval

A period of significant worker strikes and demands for better wages and working conditions in the aftermath of the Panic of 1873, often met with military suppression.

Trusts

Large corporations that dominated their markets during the Progressive Era, functioning almost like monopolies and making it difficult for smaller businesses to compete.

Great Depression (1929)

A severe worldwide economic downturn marked by a stock market crash, mass unemployment, and decreased demand, exacerbated by wage cuts and layoffs.

New Deal

A series of programs and reforms initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat the Great Depression, involving significant government intervention and deficit spending to stimulate the economy.

John Maynard Keynes (Keynesianism)

An economist who argued for government intervention and deficit spending to address mass unemployment and decreased demand, influencing the New Deal policies.

Golden Age of Capitalism

A period from the late 1940s to the early 1970s characterized by economic prosperity in the U.S., high unionization rates, and the realization of pent-up demand after World War II.

Stagflation

An economic condition characterized by simultaneously rising unemployment and high inflation, which occurred in the 1970s and challenged traditional economic theories.

Market Fundamentalism

An economic philosophy asserting that the market is rational (price equals value), self-correcting (no government intervention needed), and inherently beneficial to society if left unregulated.

Supply-Side Economics

An economic theory arguing that cutting taxes on the wealthy will stimulate economic growth by encouraging investment and production, leading to increased overall tax revenues (data often disagrees).

Demand-Side Economics (Keynesianism)

An economic theory that focuses on stimulating demand, arguing that government intervention (e.g., deficit spending) is necessary to boost consumer purchasing power and employment.

Service Economy/Financialization

A shift in the economy from a manufacturing base to one dominated by service industries and financial activities, often leading to less stable employment.

Wage Theft

The largest form of theft in the United States, occurring when employers fail to pay workers for all hours worked, minimum wage, overtime, or deny required breaks.

401(k) / Pensions

A shift in retirement benefits where companies offer 401(k)s (individual-controlled retirement accounts) instead of traditional pensions (company-guaranteed lifetime payments), shifting financial risk to employees.