Europeans and the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution - a curse to the Europeans

The industrial revolution has changed the face of the earth and has completely transformed the lifestyle of people. The development in the society, brought by means of several new inventions, has brought number of benefits to a common man. The benefit and rewards of Industrial revolution were not limited to England or the United States, who are the pioneers of the Industrial revolution, but it has spread all around the world with the span of time. The advancement in technology brought by the Industrial Revolution facilitated the development of innovative and efficient ways of producing goods, manufacturing services and creating new methods of transportation. As a result of these developments the function of the market system transformed completely, hence changing the way people perceived their standing in the society and change their requirements and needs with respect to their basic necessities. Regardless of what developments and advancements the Industrial Revolution brought, the cost to the humanity was far higher than what benefits it brought. These negativities outweighed the rewards of the Industrial Revolution that it brought along with its beginning.

Before the emergence of the Industrial society, the markets in the Western world operated on a simple production and selling system. The common man was limited to his locality where he lives. He used to produce or manufacture a product in the same area that he or she lived in and easily sold that product as the demand for that product was usually set by a few local consumers. The production and transaction process was very easy and simple. The production of any product was dependent on the condition that the ever before. A junior level worker was no more allowed to maintain a close or friendly relationship as their social class division made it almost impossible. The reason for the existence of this biasness was due to the reliance of the labor on the employers for survival because of which the owners of the factories had an upper edge over the workers in terms of bargaining income and sustain. The respect for the labor was non-existent and his abuse was imminent at the hands of the owner. The advancements in technology helped the European society to find a way to increase the amount of products being manufactured as well as to increase the pace of the process through specialization and Urbanization. As a result of this people began leaving the rural areas in exchange for an Urban life where the person was required to follow strict time schedules. The rural population dropped to a significant level and the farm worker became a factory worker suddenly so that he can compete with the newly formed market forces. Karl Marx had a very negative opinion on the effects of Industrialization. He felt pretty disappointed to point out the fact that the Industrial Revolution brought the new class at the mercy of their employers and they became too much dependent on the market. He predicted that this dependency can lead to a rebellion resulting from the collective powers of the working class. His predictions were later proven to be true and all the unionization in the industries today is the result of the mistreatment of employers with their workers.