Capitalism and Its Culture 1935 by Jerome Davis Free PDF book

We live in a capitalistic era and should uncover and appraise all ascertainable truth about the age in which we live. Surprisingly enough, there has been little or no detailed scientific research carried on concerning the general effects of capitalism and the part it plays in the life of the ordinary citizen. Thorstein Veblen, Sidney Webb, R. H. Tawney, Harry Ward, Harold Laski, and others have done notable work in this field, but there are still large areas of virgin territory to explore. It is anomalous that while we are living under capitalism we should know so little about its effects. Like the men who were shipwrecked and dying of thirst and then discovered they were floating in the mouth of the Amazon, our society has a tendency to grant funds for research in almost any field except those on the actual effects of capitalism itself; yet this area may be the most vital and fruitful of all. The following book is not designed to be a complete study of capitalism. No one is more clearly aware of its imperfections than the author. To make an adequate study of capitalism would demand a staff of assistants and an appropriation of money equal to the amount spent on “Recent Social Trends.” No American research foundation apparently is willing to finance such a study, nor have students in the field seen fit to deal exhaustively with the subject.Since the author was unable to secure funds for this research, the data are not as complete as he could wish. To have delayed publication for further accumulation of statistics is of doubtful expediency at a time when men are questioning as never before the very fundamentals of our social order. It is probably too much to hope that conservatives and those who themselves are responsible for the failure of the research foundations to appropriate money for studies of capitalism will not now criticize this manuscript because it does not come up to the standards of research possible when thousands of dollars are available. Under such handicaps mistakes are inevitable, but it is the contention of the writer that these will not change the main argument of this volume, which depends not on any of the individual examples cited but on the trends and mass effects that clearly confront us.This book is written because the times demand it. The reader may not like it, the critics may confound it, but our economic order nevertheless needs all the honest analysis any student can give. That this volume will call forth from others a more exhaustive treatment of this complex subject is a hope ever-present in the purpose of the author.In this volume, no attempt has been made to describe all the aspects of the subject. An entire chapter has been devoted to the strongest case which the author could make in defense of capitalism. On the other hand, since most 'Americans who live in the capitalistic milieu are daily told directly and indirectly about the advantages of the system, he has not hesitated to devote most of his space to a critical analysis of capitalism and its effect on our culture.Author: Jerome DavisPublication Date: 1935