The Servile State · Concept
The Inherent Instability of Capitalism
Capitalism is portrayed as an unstable transitional phase between two stable states (distributive property and servitude), suffering from a moral contradiction between its legal ideals of freedom and the reality of mass dispossession, and from the profound insecurity it impose…
Capitalism is portrayed as an unstable transitional phase between two stable states (distributive property and servitude), suffering from a moral contradiction between its legal ideals of freedom and the reality of mass dispossession, and from the profound insecurity it imposes on the proletariat.
The chapter concludes that the capitalist system developed in England is 'intolerably unstable' and presents an acute problem that must be solved.
The chapter's central thesis: the capitalist state is inherently unstable and transitory, subject to two severe strains that make its destruction certain.
The chapter opens by defining capitalism as an unstable equilibrium that must seek stability through transformation into one of three alternative social arrangements.
Capitalism is presented as a diseased state requiring remedy, with the distributive and collectivist solutions proposed as responses to its vices and unrest.
