Comments on "Money in an Unequal World" (Hart)

The concept of capitalism in general is something that exists only in controversy with heavy historical contexts. I think that many people of my own generation take this establishment of capitalism for granted as we have grown up and watched the wave of globalized instant communication grab control of the international economy, or perhaps vise-versa. As this article points out, the expansion of markets is ideologically connected with the establishment of “more democratic and inclusive societies.”

After the Cold War, western capitalism shifted; the modern technological shift in communication further geared this transition. The modernization of a global economy has likely also affected global politics. “Virtual capitalism” arose, removing economic endeavors from their territorial ties; as the article puts it- no longer was it just about Italian capitalism or Japanese capitalism. Everyone from the First World to the Third World has witnessed gaps between the rich and the poor create a situation of “global inequality.” The article touches on the influence of the industrial revolution and its’ correspondence to capitalism begging the question “did the industrial revolution rest on loot from the Third World or not?” The article discusses how money removed societies from a “state of nature” looking at rural civilizations and their capitalist rise. While I think this is a valid description of the transition I think it leaves out the aspect of why or how money overcame nature from a social development standpoint.

Marx brings the point that markets are an exchange on money, with a capitalist focus on increasing profits, rather than simple or more “natural” exchanges of equivalent goods. This marks a huge cultural shift for many communities from relying on the goods of trade with neighbors into a large and complex system of international relations. This is in a way a set economic structure encouraging, or nearly enforcing exploitation, measuring out each individual good and it’s worth, including plants and animals, as well as labor. Categorizing items in this way led to deeper enforcement of a class system as well as the development of “class alliance” as neighbors of equal wealth feel the need to support families facing similar economic positions.