Smith, Ricardo and the unfortunate Legacy
During the latter part of the 18th century, the economy of England and much of Europe shifted from the agricultural first wave as Toffler noted in his text The Third Wave, 17 to the Industrial Age second wave. This economic revolution shifted the emphasis of capital from land use to the factory as the source of national wealth. It was a period of capitalism, in both land and acquired riches, and the right of the individual to increase personal gain. In the process, people were unshackled from the oppression of feudal life and given the opportunity to act in a quasi-entrepreneurial fashion to sell their services for gain. During the 19th century this was not readily a negotiable fact, since many people were indentured by laws that kept them in a form of servitude to the factories they worked in. Notwithstanding this clouded era of economic growth, workhouses and such, it ultimately gave birth to the freedoms enjoyed subsequently as the 20th century created an outstanding standard of living for developed nations of the world