How Capitalism Changed the World Forever | A Bedtime History Documentary

Discover the epic and turbulent history of capitalism in this feature-length documentary. We explore how a system of exchange, born just 500 years ago, became the organizing principle of modern civilization. If you're looking for deep explorations of economic history, the clash of ideologies, or engaging bedtime history stories, this soothing narrative is for you. It's designed for deep relaxation – and it's the perfect history for sleep, helping you find a restful night.

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Welcome to History After Dark! This is our quiet corner of the internet, where we create relaxing history narratives and soothing bedtime stories. Each documentary explores one of the world's most captivating ideas or figures. If you enjoy these soothing explorations of fascinating histories and thought, aiding your journey to sleep, please:

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For a deeper understanding and for further reading, this narrative is inspired by foundational works such as Sven Beckert's "Empire of Cotton" and Silvia Federici's "Caliban and the Witch".

In this documentary episode, we delve into the dramatic story of how capitalism remade the world. We begin in a world before capitalism, a world of common lands, subsistence farming, and artisans who controlled their own labour. We then trace the violent birth of "war capitalism" through the conquest of the Americas and the establishment of a global economy built on gunpowder and enslaved human beings. Follow the enclosure of the commons in England, which created a landless working class, and the brutal witch hunts that disciplined women's bodies and labour for the new economic order.

Witness how the slave plantations of the American South became inextricably linked with the cotton mills of Manchester, fuelling the Industrial Revolution. We explore the harsh discipline of the factory system and the constant resistance of the workers trapped within it. Discover how this new system deindustrialized established economies in India and China, transforming them into suppliers of raw materials for the West. We trace the story through the crisis of the American Civil War, the "New Imperialism" and the scramble for Africa, and the 20th-century shift of manufacturing back to the Global South. Finally, we examine the modern era of globalization, stateless corporations, and the "race to the bottom", culminating in a reflection on five centuries of resistance and the future of the system that rules our world.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:00 The World Before Capitalism
00:11:30 The Rise of "War Capitalism"
00:18:34 Enclosures and the Creation of the Proletariat
00:27:51 The Great Witch-Hunt and the War on Women
00:38:33 The Plantation-Factory Nexus
00:46:00 The Great Transformation: The Rise of the Factory System
00:52:20 Discipline and Resistance
00:58:33 The Deindustrialization of the South
01:04:48 The American Civil War
01:12:39 The New Imperialism and the Global Reconstruction of Cotton
01:20:56 The Return of the Global South
01:28:08 The Age of Extremes
01:36:03 Decolonization and the New Global Order
01:44:08 Globalization and the Race to the Bottom
01:51:52 The Future of Capitalism

Thank you for joining us! We hope you find this Bedtime Biography of capitalism both insightful and wonderfully calming.

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