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1-Page Summary of The Managerial Revolution
Overview
In today’s times, the government is more interested in the economy than it was before. This is because of the managerial revolution.
In this course, we’ll examine the work of James Burnham and how he predicted many of society’s problems. We’ll learn about his views on capitalism as well as communism, and how it is a dying economic system. We will also look at the people who are really in charge of society today, and those who benefit from everything that is produced by our economy.
In a world where there is conflict, it’s important to understand the different forms of government and how they work. The author explains them in this book.
In this book, you’ll learn about the history of Russia and how it can help us understand what the future holds. You’ll also find out why your assumptions about capitalism are incorrect, as well as discover how changes in management roles is transforming society.
Big Idea #1: Capitalist society has several defining characteristics.
In the early 1900s, a new type of society was emerging. It was different from the one that existed before it. Before we can understand what this new world would look like, we must take a close look at capitalism and how it differs from other types of societies.
Since the Middle Ages, capitalism has been the dominant political and economic structure in both Europe and America. Capitalism is characterized by a system of production that focuses on profit-making rather than meeting people’s needs. The basic principle of capitalism is that everything (including labor) can be bought and sold for money.
On top of that, money plays a second role in the economy. Capital is created by transforming money into machines and raw materials to make products. These products are then sold to get back the original capital (money). In other words, under capitalism, money makes more money.
Capitalist societies are driven by the desire to make profit. For example, a company will continue producing goods if it can sell them for profit.
Finally, under capitalism, there are two social classes. The first class is made up of people who own the means of production and hire others to operate them. They’re known as capitalists because they have ownership over the instruments of production. This makes them the ruling class in society.
A capitalist society has two classes of citizens: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The first class is made up of people who own capital, or businesses that employ workers to make products for sale; they are usually referred to as capitalists. The second class is composed of those who work in these businesses, but do not own them; they typically receive a smaller share than their bosses (the capitalists).
You see many aspects of capitalism in our society today. For example, there are many companies that have a lot of money and employ people to make products. However, will these aspects still be around tomorrow?
Big Idea #2: There is no evidence that capitalism will continue, and there are important indications that it won’t.
In 1941, the Second World War was in full swing. The United States and other countries had been dealing with high unemployment for several years. It was a time of great change and upheaval. Despite this, people believed that capitalism would survive intact because it’s so resilient and innovative.
The belief that capitalism would continue was based on two assumptions, but both are wrong.
There are two assumptions about capitalism. The first is that it’s always been around and will continue to exist, but really only one society has ever practiced capitalism. It was in the fourteenth century when we started to see a capitalist structure emerge, and even then it took centuries for it to dominate the world. The second assumption is that human nature is intrinsically associated with this type of economy, but there have been numerous societies throughout history where humans were structured differently than today’s society; some lasted longer than our current capitalist system has so far.
