Common Sense And Capitalism: An Observation Of The Production Of Information Technology In The Context Of A Capitalist Economy

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to identify trends in production in a capitalist economy, but it is also to make the viewer aware or their own capabilities of observation. By collecting data from public online sources and performing analysis with the programming language Python, I have identified several trends. I then speculated the potential causes of these trends, reflecting on research articles regarding production systems and incentives in a capitalist economy. This analysis is important because it takes a widespread idea (the benefit of capitalism in production) and applies ‘good sense’ – an idea proposed by philosopher Antonio Gramsci – to an idea that is typically promoted as common sense. The analysis itself allows for educated critiques on the quality of the capitalist system, and the idea of ‘goof sense’ promotes critiques on all widely-held yet seldom-questioned beliefs in our society.