ECONOMICS, POLITICS SOCIETY

October

October 10th

• Capitalist society controls superstructure – mass media, religion, culture, etc.

• Marxism
o Means of production are collectivized or nationalized, the STATE controls means
of production
o Then state also gets the profits, which they distribute to workers
 o According to Marxism, the above diagram in democracy posits that superstructure
is controlled by bourgeoise in democracy, whereas in communism it’s the people
(since they are the base and collectively own means of production)
• Pre-Soviet Russia – agriculture accounted for more than half the GDP, and employed
3/4ths of labour force in 1913, therefore super rural. IT WAS ALSO A FEUDAL
STRUCTURE
• Russian Revolution of 1917 – Bolsheviks took over from provisional government formed
after Tzars were deposed
• Soviet Debate over how to industrialize Agrarian economy:
o How did Britain get capital to industrialize (Primitive Accumulation – way when
you move from farm to factory)
- how did you use extra paisa, help peasants or what
- Did they slowly and steadily accumulate it and let farmers/ peasants get
rich
- Or was it due to the capital they received from colonizing India?? Or is it
because of their imperialism
• STALIM MODEL FOR RAPID INDUSTRIALISATION
o Growth over Welfare
o Industry over Agriculture (Collectivisation)
o Capital Goods over Consumer Goods
o (COMMUNIST) State over Private Sector
o Protectionism over Foreign Trade
o Centralised allocation of labour – Govt. decides where you work

October 12th

• HISTORY
o Singapore – prime real estate for British Empire as in the middle of Asia and
Europe
o they colonized the island
o Formerly part of Malaysia, then it was kicked out, because the ethnic composition
of the island was mixed with different nationalities, then developed an enmity
with Malaysia
• SINGAPORE SUCCESS
o Modernization theory with assumption that all good things go together will not
work in Singaporean/ east Asian context
o Western style democracy will not work in Singapore/ east Asian countries
o Western style individuality will not work in Singapore/ east Asian countries –
because it is a GROUP BASED CULTURE
o Trade-off between political rights and development, but Singapore is not super
restrictive like China
• Capital/ Investment/ Tech
o No labour strikes or unions in Singapore
o No power with labour, all power with Capital
o Certainty to companies that labour is secure
• Ethnic Heterogenity – therefore very strict stop-gap on using any offensive language and
remarks that incite community violence, Kuan Yew believed that in long term forces are
moving toward homogeneity, more Singaporean than individual factions