Might I humbly point out that the word socialism did to my knowledge not originate in France. It was invented by Robert Owen in Scotland more than twohundred years ago. Owen was the owner of a textile factory striving for the highest quality of his products. He spent a lot of time on the shop floor, where he controlled the maintenance of…
Might I humbly point out that the word socialism did to my knowledge not originate in France. It was invented by Robert Owen in Scotland more than twohundred years ago. Owen was the owner of a textile factory striving for the highest quality of his products. He spent a lot of time on the shop floor, where he controlled the maintenance of his machinery to the highest standards. Then he began to ask the question why do we not offer the same maintenance to our human machinery? Wherefrom he developed his "social experiment" which he then called *socialism*, and whereby he created decent living and working conditions as well as medical care for his workers, abolished child labour, created a school and the first consumer cooperative of the world etc. But in fact his line of thought was a sort of enlightened and responsible capitalism. He was against revolutions and being a capitalist he is despised and forgotten by todays socialists and communists. .
I'm glad you pointed this out, I was going to briefly cover Robert Owen in my next article, so skipped him until then, and focused on the earlier French equivalent of the word Socialism (Socialisme). However, I like to think that Owen is very much remembered here in the U.K. for his reforms and ideals - which did include the idea of ultimately replacing capitalism, which he was trying to subvert with his co-operative and later his commune.
Might I humbly point out that the word socialism did to my knowledge not originate in France. It was invented by Robert Owen in Scotland more than twohundred years ago. Owen was the owner of a textile factory striving for the highest quality of his products. He spent a lot of time on the shop floor, where he controlled the maintenance of his machinery to the highest standards. Then he began to ask the question why do we not offer the same maintenance to our human machinery? Wherefrom he developed his "social experiment" which he then called *socialism*, and whereby he created decent living and working conditions as well as medical care for his workers, abolished child labour, created a school and the first consumer cooperative of the world etc. But in fact his line of thought was a sort of enlightened and responsible capitalism. He was against revolutions and being a capitalist he is despised and forgotten by todays socialists and communists. .
I'm glad you pointed this out, I was going to briefly cover Robert Owen in my next article, so skipped him until then, and focused on the earlier French equivalent of the word Socialism (Socialisme). However, I like to think that Owen is very much remembered here in the U.K. for his reforms and ideals - which did include the idea of ultimately replacing capitalism, which he was trying to subvert with his co-operative and later his commune.