POL 315
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MARXISM
economic institutions. A talented administrator, he had risen from the
position of clerk to that of owner of a textile mill by his mid-twenties.
He, however, was concerned about the wretched condition of his
employees and became associated with Jeremy Bentham and other
social reformers of the day. Owen was strongly opposed to "dole"
programs in which people were simply given money by the government
or by charities. However, he realised that capitalism need to be tempered
by concern for the basic humanity of people and that it could destroy
human dignity when left unchecked. Further, he was unshakably
convinced that exploitation of the worker was ultimately unprofitable
and that everyone would be better off if the working environment were
improved.
Acting on these convictions, Owen reformed the management policies
of his own Lanark, England mill by raising wages, encouraged trade
unionism, rejected the exploitation of women and children, encouraged
universal education, and created a company store where employees
could buy goods at reduced rates, he achieved remarkable results. In
less than five years, production at New Lanark had risen markedly, the
workers at the mill were far better off than workers anywhere else in
England, and Owen had made a fortune, this happy circumstance
proved, to Owens’s satisfaction, that, as Marx was later to contend,
character was conditioned by the economic and social environment. Bad
working conditions were not only immoral but simply bad business,
unnecessarily depressing the workers and lowering profits as well.
Encouraged by his early success, Owen retired from his business
enterprises at the age of fifty-eight and dedicated himself to popularising
and testing his controversial ideas. Traveling widely on speaking tours,
he was well received in the United States, even making a speech to
Congress. He opposed the imposition of socialism on a people by its
government and warned that people themselves had to be prepared to
adopt it before it could be successful. However, he believed the worst
excesses of capitalism had to be curbed so that the worker would not be
exploited. Owen also opposed nationalisation of industries, though he
favored producer cooperatives.
Like Saint-Simon, Owen was perhaps more a liberal capitalist than a
true socialist. Still, he is considered the founder of British socialism, and
his moderate approach set the tone for many of England's social reforms.
Like most other utopian socialists, Owen was convinced that communal
living was the wave of the future and that a few successful examples
would prove the attractiveness of this lifestyle. So, convinced, he
invested several years of effort and his entire fortune in unsuccessful
attempts to establish communes.
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