March 25th - Populations on the move

The industrial revolution was powered by new technology – steam power and the production of cast iron. (Interestingly capitalism is spreading throughout the world on the back of technology which has made possible the global movement of people, goods and information, but more of that later)
Technological invention made possible industrial production in factories which created a need for urban labour.  This need was met when the population began to move away from the countryside into the towns, a drift largely resulting from the Enclosures, when old common land used by peasants for grazing was taken over by private landowners for more intensive agriculture and enclosed by hedgerows.  Much the same is happening in 'developing' countries today when populations are dispossessed of their land and displaced, often because of industrial large-scale agriculture.

The 18^th century English industrial capitalist was someone who had money surplus to his requirements and was enterprising enough to see that new technology made industrial production possible.  He set up the factory, went out in search of labour and raw materials and looked for a market to sell his finished products for a profit.   Its interesting to note that when Henry Ford was building his car manufacturing empire in the US in the early 20^th century he recognised the need to pay his workers enough so that they could buy the cars they were producing.  Perhaps significantly for my exploration of our troubled 21st Century world is the fact that in today's world wages can be kept low in the 'developing' countries because the goods manufactured are exported to consumers far away.   
After paying for his factory, labour  and raw materials and supporting himself and his family our capitalist had surplus capital so he looked to either expand his own business or to find other ways to use his money to make yet more profit.  
This need for growth has always been central to capitalism so I’ll look at it next.