| This question <354|354> overall <357|359> Clay: <251-5|552>. graded A– |
| Question 412: Why are the ancient merchant capitalists and usurers not useful examples for understanding modern capitalism? |
| [358] Clay: Simpler times Goldenbear answers this question very well in [354] and I would like to expand his statement a bit. The first merchant capitalists grew from the desire for lords, and serfs to a smaller degree, to obtain foreign goods. This involved buying the product in one market and transporting that good to a new market where he could sell the commodity for a profit, arbitrage. Once they had sufficient capital they took the production process to the rural areas and began a basic form of division of labor. Obviously there was much more than this but for this question I hope it is sufficient. |
| Goldenbear mentions many reason merchants were looked down upon. |
| “The modern day capitalist or firm is looking to gain monopoly power, buy low and sell high, advertise their product, and stay competitive technologically. The ancient merchant looked down upon all of these things” |
| These issues stemmed from the church's involvement in the production process and the control it held over society. Once this control began to fade, thanks to Locke and Calvin, the arrangement of the production process was allowed to grow and change into capitalism. When man's “worth” in God's eyes began to be measured by his success in the material world, this allowed capitalists to change the dogma that the church had instilled in society. The relations of production were much different in Feudal times when the merchant capitalists began to emerge. The relations of production were controlled by a “sense of stability and survival”, as Goldenbear states, which was guided and influenced by the church. Once the control slowly moved away from the church and to capitalists, who began to take over the guild's previous production process, the wage-labor relationship began to emerge. This relationship allowed capitalists to expand production and realize larger profits. |
| To study ancient merchant capitalists gives us only a historical perspective regarding the exchange and production process. The rules and ideology that governed the times were much different than they are now, hence the change from Feudalism to Capitalism. Capitalists were not allowed to “make the rules” as they are now because the church had the majority of the control over society. Current capitalists are concerned with profits which is very much against the “stability and security” of the Feudal times. This change in the relations of production makes any use of ancient, merchant capitalists views useless, except in a historical context. |
| Hans: You say that the merchants were looked down upon because they themselves looked down on monopolies, advertising, and technological innovations. This must be a mis-formulation. What do you mean? |
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