Research Paper on Industrial Revolution and the Capitalism

In this Unit we have been talking about the Industrial Revolution and its impact both on the lives of ordinary people as well as the evolving understanding of the proper role of government in protecting its citizens from the abuses of wealthy capitalists. Of course, these issues remain very contentious today. Is the system (i.e., the capitalist system) inherently abusive (as Marx argued) or can it be regulated by government so as to curb its abuses? Are the advantages over time of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution much significant than its negatives? And finally we still struggle over the central philosophical issues: What does equality mean? When we say that we believe in the equality of all human beings do we mean that all humans should have equal opportunities or equal results from those opportunities? And (even more difficult to answer) what should be put in the "opportunity column" and what should be put in the "reward column" (e.g., is healthcare an opportunity or result)? Another contemporary result of the Industrial Revolution is environmental. The machines that ran the factories needed fuel and lots of it -- this led to a search for better and more efficient fuel sources, which led to the use of fossil fuels (coal and oil). The use of fossil fuels are the reason for most of our environmental problems today: acid rain, smog, global climate change, etc. So again we see how the Industrial Revolution has created our modern world with its ongoing concerns. THESE thoughts bring me to our CONNECT to the Present question for Unit 3. Actually (as usual) I have a cluster of questions to think about. ANSWER one of the following SETS of questions – make sure you ANSWER all of the questions in your chosen set: SET 1) Although government in western countries (Europe, USA, Canada) have utilized legal regulations to limit most of the abuses of the Industrial Revolution listed in our sources, this is not true in many parts of the world. There are places in the world today which resemble very closely the descriptions you read this week. Research one of these places and talk about the current working conditions in the place you chose. Begin with the historical comparison: How does the situation in the country you are discussing compare/contrast to the descriptions you read for our discussion? Then discuss the response to these issues in the modern world: What is being done about these abuses? Should more be done? If so, what? Do US consumers contribute to the abuse by continuing to purchase items made by modern sweat shops? Are there other alternatives for us? Etc.