The importance of economics

Production and consumption of wealth are every day essentials in all forms of social organisation. Economics, or political economy (the study of wealth production, distribution and exchange) is, therefore, most important. The mariner in which these tasks are accomplished determines how and where people shall live, the quantity and quality of the food, clothing and shelter they consume, as well as their recreations, etc.

Considering the tremendous advance which has been made in industrial and scientific development and the enormous productive capacity of modern society, one would think that the major social problems, such as poverty, unemployment, etc., would be abolished. This is not so. It is paradoxical that despite the high productive efficiency of modern society the actual producers of the wealth fare very badly so far as its consumption is concerned. While capital is constantly expanding and the private fortunes of the capitalists accumulate, the workers’ poverty remains fairly constant.

Few, if any, people will deny that we have several grave social problems in our midst. The solving of these problems is widely discussed and many schemes advocated. Socialists stand in opposition to the idea that reforms are a means of solving the major social problems. We contend that the social problems arise from the nature of modern society and will remain while this society exists. We emphasize the importance, for serious-minded workers, of economic study because it reveals the correctness of our claims. The Marxian Theory of Value is, so to speak, the anatomy of the Socialist case. If working men and women are to solve their economic and social problems they must first understand the nature of these problems. Given this knowledge the solution is easily obtained and understood.

This introductory article is intended to interest readers in a further study of the economic structure of society and the social relations amongst men. By society, we mean men organised together for the purpose of producing the things which are essential to sustain life. We define capital as — wealth used in the reproduction of wealth in order to obtain profit. By social relations we mean the cooperation or intercourse between men in doing this job. The phrase private property is used in the sense of ownership of property which enables the exploitation of men by men to take place, i.e., ownership of the land and other instruments of production.

How this system works is an interesting and instructive study.

The following questions are of great importance to all workers. Can we have high wages and low prices? Can wages purchase a quantity of food, clothing and shelter, etc., equal in value content to the wealth which workers produce? What is rent, profit and interest and from what source does it come? How is it that capital and the private fortunes of the capitalists expand, despite their high living expenses, while the producers remain poor? Can poverty, unemployment and wars, etc., be abolished in modern society? An examination of the economic basis of society reveals the answers to these questions clearly.

Poverty is not something accidental. It is an indispensable and permanent condition of life for the great majority of people today. Private ownership of the land and other instruments of production establishes two classes whose economic interests are opposed. The specific form which this property assumes is the capitalist mode of wealth production. This creates basic social relations between men, viz., capitalist owners, who do not produce, and propertyless workers who do produce. We wish to make clear that ownership of capital, i.e., productive machinery and raw materials in itself is useless unless an abundance of wage labour is available. It is, therefore, essential that the great mass of people should be excluded from ownership of their own means of production and, as a consequence, compelled to sell their ability to work for wages.

The economic and social requirements bring these two classes together in the first instance as buyers and sellers of labour power. Labour power is the sole commodity which workers have to sell. When sold, the class relations become employer and employee—master and servant. The capitalists dominate the productive process and determine what shall be produced, and in what quantities and qualities. The wealth created, together with the tools of production, belongs to the capitalist. Consumption of the wealth is through the medium of sale. In this sphere the classes sometimes meet again as buyers and sellers. The quantity of cash, wages, determines what the producers may consume, human needs being of little consequence. As buyers and sellers, the value relations between men are major social relationships. There is no escape from the “sacred” laws of private property; they enter into almost every aspect in the lives of people. Whereas the workers buy the essentials of life in order to reproduce their labour power and sell it again, the capitalists sell and enrich themselves.

There can be no harmonious identity of interests here. In the first instance the property owners stand between the rest of society and their access to the means of production. In the second phase they stand between all other people and consumption of the goods. The whole resources of nature, together with the highly productive equipment, the labour of society, is utilised for the profit of the few. In this arrangement, the workers are, in a sense, merely a part of the means of production. What Socialists call the exploitation or, in stronger language the “legalised robbery” of the working class of the fruits of their labour, is the normal purpose of capitalist production. Poverty, wars, bad housing, and other social evils are as natural and normal in society today as rent profit and interest. In addition, the whole of the property in the hands of capitalists is the result of the collective accumulated labour of the producers.

If the economic organisation of Society were understood by the working class they would not tolerate its continuance. Desire and power to change a social system can only arise from knowing how and why it should be done. The source of scientific sociological knowledge is here, at your disposal. We wish to repeat, with emphasis, that this source is the Marxian or Socialist case.

It is our intention to publish several articles dealing with economic aspects, such as commodities, value, surplus value, etc. We think that such articles will interest readers in further economic study which reveal the real nature of our economic and social problems and show the need for and the practicability of a Socialist system of society.
J. H.