The Gilded Age: Still Alive and Well

The Gilded Age was a period in the economic history of the United States, between the 1870s to early 1900, marked with increased economic development; expansion and the growth of capital were the fundamental markers of this period. Intrinsic of the period, it was reported that there was untethered political corruption between elected officials and the business sector.

Wikipedia reports: “The rapid expansion of industrialization led to real wage growth of 40% from 1860 to 1890 and spread across the increasing labor force. The average annual wage per industrial worker, including men, women, and children, rose from $380 in 1880 ($12,381 in 2024 dollars) to $584 in 1890 ($19,738 in 2024 dollars), a gain of 59%. The Gilded Age was also an era of significant poverty, especially in the South, and growing inequality, as millions of immigrants poured into the United States, and the high concentration of wealth became more visible and contentious.”

The ideology and structure of capitalism as a socio-economic system, makes it technically, logistically, and ideologically impossible for it to be “sympathetic” or “tethered.” Capital must have access to unfettered labor-power and raw materials; it must be un-bridled in the creation of Surplus Value, the basis of capitalism’s profits and, it must have access to resources that ensures the comfortableness of capital to pursue its ideology of obscene excesses and exploitation of labor. These are the fundamental and uncomfortable truths about capitalism.

In today’s world the expansion of capitalism has consumed the entire Globe, despite its hegemony being challenged by progressive social movements. However, the concentration of capital in fewer and fewer hands is the telling point of capitalism’s current status. In the fall of 2023 Forbes Magazine lists that the United States’ richest 400, accounts for a combined wealth of $4.5 trillion. According to ndtv.com “the world’s 500 richest people added $1.5 trillion to their combined fortunes last year (2023). The Gilded Age is not just past; it is still alive and well.

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