The American Model and its Consequences

Sociology
Author’s Name:
Institution:
Date:
Sociology
Introduction
The term Reserve army of labor is a model that was coined by Karl Marx in his critique of the United States’ political economy. Marx used the term to refer to the underemployed and the unemployed members of a capitalized society. The phrase may also be used to refer to a relatively surplus community or an industrial reserve army even though the term unemployed can refer to the population that is currently not working for a paid-for job but is willing to work and yearning to secure employment (Austin, 2010). On the contrary, a relative surplus population refers to a community that is comprised of people who are not able to work and are unwilling to look for a job (Baumgärtner, Drupp, Meya, Munz & Quaas, 2017). In this context, the term army implies a group of workers regimented and conscripted in the place of work in a hierarchical order and assigned to a defined authority or command of the owner of capital.
Although the notion of the reserve army of labor is thought of as an exclusive concept of Marx, the idea was already in existence in the early 1830s during the British labor movement. In his book named ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England,’ Engels vividly elaborated the concept of the reserve army of labor in 1845 way before Marx discussed his model in an 1847’s manuscript (Baumgärtner, Drupp, Meya, Munz & Quaas, 2017). According to Karl Marx, big companies and organizations, like is the case of the United States, continuously demand a large number of employees, others referred to a reserve army of unemployed laborers at the time when they are overproducing their products (Austin, 2010). The reason why companies and the United States look for and maintain bourgeois respectively as compared to the nature of work is to maximize the rate of production while minimizing the cost of production as much as possible at the time when the demand for the company or the country’s commodities are as high.
In essence, the United States’ economy maintains a reserve army of labor to make it easy for companies to reach out to them at the time when their rates of production are relatively high which high demand for their products (Baumgärtner, Drupp, Meya, Munz & Quaas, 2017). The nation does so by maintaining the employees with appealing goods and advice in the interest of potential employers. Since the ratio of capital is directly proportional to an increase in the number of employees in a firm, as well as the number of proletariats, therefore, United States must maintain a relatively large number of proletariats to sustain and uphold the rate of its capital. Thus, the United States’ economy continues a reserve army of labor not only in the interest of its companies but also for the sake of the country’s economy. According to Karl Marx’s model, when the number of underemployed and unemployed citizens in a country is high, the rate of its economic growth would be slow. Hence, the United States maintains its steady state of economic growth by keeping a vast reserve army of laborers.
Examples of how the United States has exercised its Reliance on Immigrants, the poor, and African Americans
The United States’ economy underwent a massive transformation between the late 19th century to the start of the 20th century. The states changed from a predominantly rural society to an advanced economy founded on large metropolitan cities. Before then, America was majorly anchored on partially private small and medium scale agricultural practices which were conducted among little town .s that were interconnected to the external markets (ScienceDaily, n.d.). Apart from cities that were linked to water bodies or railways, separation and the cost of transport meant that links to many countries were cut leading to a limited supply of basic needs such as clothes, food among other necessities (The Economist, 2006). This changed significantly at the end of the 19th century and the onset of the 20th century, as the production and distribution of fabric products decreased upsetting clients in rural and urban settings. A large number of these products, which were not available in the local markets, were made, showcased, and conveyed via fast becoming means of transport which consisted exclusively of rail and road networks.
The United States also began to experience changes which were made possible because of the onset of industrial revolutions that were stirred by the reserve army of the labor force which was provided by immigrants, the poor, and African Americans. Considerable gains in modern production, together with organizational change and much lower costs of transport, made international markets with business people and products moving from place to place (Baumgärtner, Drupp, Meya, Munz & Quaas, 2017). Perhaps, this led to the most significant impact, which in effect enhanced American mechanical transformation, which was the expanding urbanization of society and the move of work from ranches to industrial facilities and workplaces. In 1880, the ratio of immigrants, the poor and African American laborers in agribusiness was three times higher than those in industries, yet by 1920, the ratio between workers in these two sectors was approximately equal (Hirschman & Mogford, 2009). However, the number of reserve army labor between 1880 and 1920 increased significantly in the manufacturing sectors from around 2.5 million employees to 10 million workers.
Around 1900 century, the United States underwent a series of industrial advancement as well as immigration and urbanization. In the 1880s, America registered the highest number of immigrants to its urban centers more than its rural regions compared to its proceeding years. The states utilized the immigrants to enha...