The Myths the Liberals Live

A hostile account of the history of capitalism is now very much a part of the conventional wisdom. Every student knows (because his professors have told him) that from its beginnings in the seventeenth century, the story of capitalism is one of exploitation, greed and the misery of ordinary men and women, relieved only by the heroism of social reformers whose work, somewhat magically, bore fruit in America and Europe after the 1920s and explains the high standard of living of today’s workers.

This interpretation has been reinforced by a number of works which by now possess what can only be called classic status: Goldsmith’s Deserted Village, novels like Dickens’ Hard Times, the social commentary of Carlyle and Ruskin, the work of Marx and Engels—most notably the famous chapter on the Working Day in Capital.

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Paul McGouldrick

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A hostile account of the history of capitalism is now very much a part of the conventional wisdom. Every student knows (because his professors have told him) that from its beginnings in the seventeenth century, the story of capitalism is one of exploitation, greed and the misery of ordinary men and women, relieved only by the heroism of social reformers whose work, somewhat magically, bore fruit in America and Europe after the 1920s and explains the high standard of living of today’s workers.

This interpretation has been reinforced by a number of works which by now possess what can only be called classic status: Goldsmith’s Deserted Village, novels like Dickens’ Hard Times, the social commentary of Carlyle and Ruskin, the work of Marx and Engels—most notably the famous chapter on the Working Day in Capital.