Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

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Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy remains one of the greatest works of social theory written this century. When it first appeared the New English Weekly predicted that `for the next five to ten years it will cetainly remain a work with which no one who professes any degree of information on sociology or economics can afford to be unacquainted.' Fifty years on, this prediction seems a little understated.

Why has the work endured so well? Schumpeter's contention that the seeds of capitalism's decline were internal, and his equal and opposite hostility to centralist socialism have perplexed, engaged and infuriated readers since the book's publication. By refusing to become an advocate for either position Schumpeter was able both to make his own great and original contribution and to clear the way for a more balanced consideration of the most important social movements of his and our time.

Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy Review

The book is a classic. Joseph Schumpeter achieved immortality through his use of the words "creative destruction." However his seminal work, "Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy" is much more than a narrative of the process of creative destruction and of what that portends for the capitalist order. Indeed the author spends precious little print on that topic though he does bring it up in the context of the underlying forces of capitalism. Instead the author tries to paint his strokes on a vast canvas and lays out the historical developments of capitalism and socialism in this masterpiece, also taking care to explain the connections of each with democracy; hence the title of the book. The book is divided into five parts- three of which are on the topics I have alluded to above, and are titled "Can Capitalism Survive?," "Can Socialism Work?," and, "Socialism and Democracy." The first and last sections are less vast in their scope and focus instead on particular topics; the first being a description of the Marxian doctrine in its fullest ambit as they pertain to Marx's labor theory of value and his world vision of the impending collapse of capitalism, while the final section is a historical narrative of his times describing the growth of Socialist parties in Britain, Germany, France, Russia and the United States. One cannot fail to be impressed by Schumpeter's vast knowledge of history and of contemporary developments, not to mention, his ability to see the underlying causes that were driving these developments and what that might mean for human civilization during the road ahead.

To me, the biggest aha of the book is Schumpeter's assertion of capitalism's impending collapse. He points out that unlike Marx and the other socialists, who predicted that capitalism would collapse, because of its failures; he also predicts that capitalism would collapse but it would do so because of its success and not because of its failure. Seen in the light of the historical experience of the United States and other modern industrialized economies, it is hard to not notice how foresighted his comments were. For instance, he points to the fact that entrepreneurship which has been the driving locomotive of the capitalist system has now become institutionalized in a way that has taken away the romance from entrepreneurship. Indeed to maintain a large organization needs far less talent and skills as compared to the efforts required to initially set up such an organization. Thus over a period of time, with the ascent of the big business, entrepreneurship and with that, the social prestige which is accorded to the entrepreneur will fade away or at least, be a less prominent feature of the society than what it is today. Another underlying factor of the demise of capitalism would be the growth of distant and distributed ownership of the means of production, exemplified by the joint stock company. Indeed far from being the pinnacle achievement of capitalism, it may well prove to be its death knell because neither the executives running those mammoth organizations nor the share holders, would feel the same level of ownership that is felt by the owner-manager of a single proprietorship or a partnership. Lacking that sense of ownership, they would not put up a resistance to the incursion of the politicians in their domain and may turn out to be supporters of such a move. Thus, slowly but surely, there would be a transition from capitalism into socialism, and while that may not be the name with which many of its adherents chose to call it, that would simply be a reflection of the fact that the word socialism itself does not find a receptive audience in many of the countries, including the United States. There are other factors that he also lays out such as the inability of the entrepreneurial class to have a political class supportive of its interests and an intellectual class, which will be perennially opposed to capitalist order, similarities that cannot fail to strike the thinking reader of today.

If there is a complaint which I have against the book, it is the author's convoluted style of writing which demands the reader's fullest attention and frequent re-reading of the text. I present a sentence below from the work itself which illustrates my point: "These means are actually being used now- not without success- although, in the given circumstances, they cannot be used to full effect because no great surplus is possible as long as the food subsidies remain what they are, because the possibilities of taxation, so far as the higher income brackets are concerned, are exhausted- in England there are no longer any people who are "rich after taxes"- and because a higher interest rate meets with apparently invincible resistance." Beyond this single shortcoming, however I would whole-heartedly agree that it is a masterpiece and deserves to be read by anyone who is seriously interested in the uestions of "Can Capitalism Survive?" and "Can Socialism Work?"

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