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society material productive good

Dialectical-materialist philosophy proceeds from the fact that the method material production acts as the basis for the entire diversity of history: it determines social, political and spiritual life, people’s relationship to nature, is woven into a single human-ecological-economic system, and expresses the logic of the development of social existence. Material production appears in the concrete historical form of a mode of production, characterized by the unity of productive forces and production relations.

Productive forces express people's active attitude towards nature. The productive power of society rests on natural strength and includes it. The concept of "productive forces" was first introduced into science by the English classics political economy, characterizing production as a combination work force and tools. In the dialectical-materialist understanding, the first productive force is a person who creates science and technology and applies them in the process social production. Productive forces and social relations, according to K. Marx, are different aspects of the development of the social individual. Productive forces are a system of material factors - means of production (means of labor and objects of labor) - and personal factors of production (possessing physical strength, labor skills, production experience, intelligence and moral-volitional qualities), during the functioning of which the exchange of substances between nature takes place and society. Material production is impossible without information processing.

Man, not satisfied with the spontaneous formation of substances, breaks through the narrow horizon of nature for him and organizes technological process, allowing him to add artificial ones to the natural properties of substances, making natural material socially useful. Before being formed as a productive force, a person must become an individual, go through a school of training and education. Therefore, the work of a teacher, doctor, artist, journalist, actor, any activity (not only direct material and production) that shapes personality, should be considered as an indirect productive force. The term "material production" implies, first of all, the processing of a substance and the production material goods(people process matter, not produce it). Relations of production characterize the way of connecting the means of production with the worker and include relations: a) property; b) distribution; c) exchange (in kind or commodity-money); d) consumption.

The development of productive forces is an evolutionary-revolutionary process that fits into civilizational and formational dynamics. The first revolution in the productive forces occurred when they began to produce not only tools, but also means of subsistence. This was during the era of the appearance of polished stone tools (the Neolithic, or agricultural, revolution). When man invented throwing weapons, he hunted down mammoths and large ungulates for food over several millennia. The result was an environmental crisis. On the basis of the Neolithic revolution, humanity overcame this crisis. The entire history of the biosphere took a new direction: man began to create an artificial circulation of substances. The transition to a producing economy was due to the depletion of natural reserves in human habitats and population growth. (The latter is the cause and at the same time a consequence of the transition to a producing economy.) On the basis of the division of labor and the growth of its productivity, a surplus product arose. Thus, the material prerequisites were created for systematic exchange, the development of trade, and the concentration of surplus product in the hands of part of society. The previous focus on collective labor and equality in distribution has outlived its usefulness. Incorporated into collective principles individual activity and private property. Society has qualitatively changed - it has become complexly structured, needs have increased and become more complex, the scale of values ​​has changed, and the load on the biosphere has increased. The result of the change economic conditions, public relations there was the formation of an exploitative class society.

Based on exploitation, labor became more intense. A material basis has emerged for the liberation of part of society from labor in material production. There was a separation of mental labor from physical labor, which created the necessary basis for the progress of spiritual life. Another type of social division of labor was the separation of crafts from agriculture, city from countryside. Cities became centers of crafts, trade, political and spiritual life.

Revolutions in productive forces are associated with significant changes in technology. Technology is an artificial formation created by man; instrument, i.e. means, instrument for satisfaction human needs; an independent reality opposed to nature and man; a specific way of using the forces and energy of nature; a phenomenon inseparable from technology. Technology evolved from home-based, or instrument-based (instrumental), to machine-based and automatic.

The third revolution in the productive forces, scientific and technological revolution, which began in the 40-50s of the 20th century, marks the transition from machine production to automated production. A control device is added to the previous three links of the machine. The development of such production is associated with the improvement of computers, with the advent of robotics, flexible automated systems. In addition to material and energy intensity, the importance of knowledge intensity of production is increasing. The qualitative transformation of the productive forces based on the transition to automated production, the transformation of scientific and technical activities into the defining link of material production constitutes the production and technical aspect of the essence of scientific and technological revolution. But this is not enough: it is also important to take into account the socio-economic and ideological aspects of the essence of scientific and technological revolution.

The socio-economic aspect of scientific and technological revolution is expressed in the humanization of production. Technical means in complexity approach the properties and nature of a person, taking into account his physical, mental and psychological capabilities. If this is not the case, then there is an alienation of man from the machine. This is possible not only due to social reasons, but also when the logic of technology development is not based on the logic of human development. In this case, the anthropomorphic principle does not work and the integrity of the work is not ensured. The revolution in science and technology must be combined with a cultural revolution that changes people. A qualitatively new type of continuously learning and improving employee is being formed.

By creating conditions for human technological freedom and self-expression, scientific and technological revolution acts as the greatest good. At the same time, scientific and technological revolution is a great danger to humans due to inept and illiterate organization of technological processes.

Changes in the productive forces are accompanied by corresponding processes in production relations. This is carried out both through the gradual transformation of one form of ownership into another (for example, the abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861), and through the revolutionary breakdown of outdated production relations and replacing them with fundamentally new ones (example: the bourgeois French revolution of 1789-1794 eliminated the rule feudal property and established bourgeois property). There is also a reverse active influence of production relations on the productive forces. Commodity-money relations cut off useless and low-quality (in terms of results) labor.

The market, of course, is not a panacea for all ills. The market is a means, not an end. It can be effective: a) if consistent with scientific and technological transformations; b) when creating equal conditions for the development of various social types economy and forms of ownership; c) in the presence of mass social forces interested in the introduction of a new economic mechanism; d) if there are qualified personnel capable of skillfully acting in civilized market economic conditions, i.e. with the synchronization of economic and cultural-technical revolutions; e) with the appropriate infrastructure of commodity and stock exchanges, information and commercial centers, etc.; f) in the presence of sufficient economic conditions and legal regulators (demonopolization, denationalization of forms of ownership, introduction of anti-inflation mechanisms, methods of social protection of the population, etc.); g) if market activities are carried out systematically and synchronously.

Based on the development of the market, market economic thinking is formed, which is characterized by such features as initiative, pragmatism, dynamism, adaptability, and individualism. Gain in post-industrial society social orientation of the market gives rise in economic thinking to guidelines for social protection population, the state performing important management functions in the market, which does not exclude reliance on initiative and flexibility.

In addition to market ones, humanity has other ways to resolve its social problems, for example, the creation of new industries, targeted, selective, priority and systematic development of those socio-economic structures that can provide a significant effect and gain in time. The initial chaotic basis inherent in the launch of market mechanisms does not guarantee access to the structures of self-organization of the social environment. The development of natural economic processes does not deny the role of order, economic discipline and organization. The market system of relations presupposes the openness of the economy, its organic inclusion in the system of world economic relations. During the implementation of scientific and technological progress, the economy is internationalized and, at the same time, production is individualized and decentralized, which makes it possible to respond more flexibly and quickly to the changing needs of the population and introduce innovations.

The worldview aspect of scientific and technological revolution reveals the problem of the general strategy of a person’s relationship to the world. The position of a temporary worker and opportunist, concerned with short-term gain, is replaced by a prudent economic attitude towards material, natural and labor resources, to the environment and human life. The task is not only to preserve, but also to improve and humanize the environment, taking into account the long-term and large-scale consequences of the use of science and technology. Great in their time geographical discoveries expanded the horizon of man's vision of the world. Modern space exploration, penetration into the secrets of the depths of matter, the possibility of rapid movements in space, the internationalization of connections, science and technology, “standards” of the market and democracy, the widespread informatization of society make a person’s thinking style even more large-scale, universal and at the same time professionally in-depth. The role of not only special professional knowledge has increased, but also general culture, philosophical training, knowledge foreign languages. The need to take into account the consequences of scientific and technological revolution on a global scale, from the standpoint of environmental criteria and “human” dimensions makes thinking modern man global, environmental and humanistically oriented.

So, in the course of scientific and technological progress, a combination of factors of scientific and technological progress and socio-political patterns occurs, and space opens up for the universal flourishing of the individual. In general, modern progress of society can be achieved on the basis of achieving harmony in scientific and technological restructuring, cultural and technical preparedness of personnel, flexible economic methods of management and socially and environmentally oriented science, technology, people and the market.

The movement from the Neolithic to the industrial and scientific-technical revolution, from traditional to industrial, post-industrial and information-ecological society to a greater extent characterizes the dynamics of the peoples - the leaders of the historical process. This is the vector that the entire population of the Earth is aligned with.

The economic life of society is based on the need to satisfy people's needs for various economic goods. In turn, these goods are produced on the basis economic resources that are at the disposal of society and its members.

Economic needs and benefits

All people have different needs. They can be divided into two parts: spiritual and material needs. Although this division is conditional (so, it is difficult to say whether a person’s need for knowledge belongs to spiritual or material needs), however, for the most part it is possible.

The concept of economic needs and benefits

Material needs can be called economic needs. They are expressed in the fact that we want various economic benefits. In its turn, economic benefits - these are material and intangible objects, or more precisely, the properties of these objects that can satisfy economic needs. Economic needs are one of the fundamental categories in economic theory.

At the dawn of mankind, people satisfied economic needs at the expense of ready-made benefits of nature. Subsequently, the absolute majority of needs began to be satisfied through the production of goods. IN market economy, where economic goods are bought and sold, they are called goods and services (often simply goods, products, products).

Humanity is structured in such a way that its economic needs usually exceed the ability to produce goods. They even talk about the law (principle) of increasing needs, which means that needs grow faster than the production of goods. This is largely because as we satisfy some needs, others immediately arise.

So, in traditional society the majority of its members have needs primarily for essential products. These are needs mainly for food, clothing, housing, and basic services. However, back in the 19th century. Prussian statistician Ernest Engel proved that there is a direct connection between the type of goods and services purchased and the income level of consumers. According to his statements, confirmed by practice, with an increase in the absolute amount of income, the share spent on essential goods and services decreases, and the share of expenses on less necessary products increases. The very first need, and a daily one at that, is the need for food. That's why Engel's law finds expression in the fact that as income increases, the share of income spent on food purchases decreases, and the portion of income that is spent on the purchase of other goods (especially services) increases. non-essential products. The totality of all products produced to satisfy material wealth is called products.

Ultimately, we come to the conclusion that if the growth of economic needs constantly outstrips the production of economic goods, then these needs are ultimately insatiable and limitless.

Another conclusion is that economic benefits are limited (rare, in the terminology of economic theory), i.e. there is less need for them. This limitation is due to the fact that the production of economic goods faces limited supplies of many natural resources, frequent shortage of labor (especially qualified), insufficiency production capacity and finance, cases of poor organization of production, lack of technology and other knowledge for the production of a particular good. In other words, the production of economic goods lags behind economic needs due to limited economic resources.

Economic benefits and their classification

It is good for people. is a means of satisfying human needs. It is for the sake of satisfying the specific needs of people for benefits that economic activity in any country. The classification of goods is very diverse. Let us note the most important of them from the point of view various criteria classifications.

Economic and non-economic benefits

From the point of view of the limited nature of goods in relation to our needs, we talk about economic goods.

Economic benefits- these are the results economic activity, which can be obtained in limited quantities compared to needs.

Economic benefits include two categories: goods and services.

But there are also goods that, compared to needs, are available in unlimited quantities (for example, air, water, sunlight). They are provided by nature without human effort. Such goods exist in nature “freely”, in unlimited quantities and are called non-economic or free.

And yet the main circle is satisfied not by free, but by economic benefits, i.e. those benefits whose volume:

• insufficient to meet people's needs fully;
• can only be increased through additional costs;
• have to be distributed in one way or another.

Consumer and production goods

From the point of view of consumption of goods, they are divided into consumer And production Sometimes they are called commodities and means of production. Consumer goods are designed to directly satisfy human needs. These are the final goods and services that people need. Production goods are resources used in the production process (machines, mechanisms, machines, equipment, buildings, land, professional skills (qualifications).

Material and intangible benefits

From the point of view of material content, economic benefits are divided into material and intangible. Material goods you can touch it. These are things that can accumulate and be stored for a long time.

Based on the period of use, material goods of long-term, current and one-time use are distinguished.

Intangible benefits represented by services, as well as such living conditions as health, human abilities, business qualities, professional skill. Unlike material goods, it is a specific product of labor, which basically does not acquire a material form and the value of which is beneficial effect living labor.

The beneficial effect of services does not exist separately from its production, which determines fundamental difference services from a material product. Services cannot be accumulated, and the process of their production and consumption coincides in time. However, the results from the consumption of the services provided can also be material.

There are many types of services, which are divided into:

• Communication services - transport, communication services.
• Distribution - trade, sales, warehousing.
• Business - financial, insurance services, auditing, leasing, marketing services.
• Social - education, healthcare, art, culture, social security.
• Public - services of bodies state power(ensuring stability in society) and others.

Private and public goods

Depending on the nature of consumption, economic benefits are divided into private and public.

Private good provided to the consumer taking into account his individual demand. Such a good is divisible, it belongs to the individual with the rights private property, can be inherited and exchanged. A private good is given to the one who paid for it.

Indivisible and belong to society.

Firstly, this is national defense, security environment, lawmaking, public transport and order, i.e. those benefits that are enjoyed by all citizens of the country without exception.

Interchangeable and complementary goods

Among the goods, there are also interchangeable and complementary goods.

Fungible goods are called substitutes. These goods satisfy the same need and replace each other in the process of consumption (white and black bread, meat and fish, etc.).

Complementary benefits or complements complement each other during consumption (car, gasoline).

With all this, economic benefits are divided into normal and inferior.

Towards normal benefits These are those goods whose consumption increases with the growth of the welfare (income) of consumers.

Inferior goods have the opposite pattern. As income increases, consumption decreases, and as income decreases, consumption increases (potatoes and bread).

PRODUCT AND NATURE OF WORK

1. Production: tangible and intangible. Product of labor, its types

1. Production: tangible and intangible. The product of labor

In order to exist, a person must constantly satisfy

their needs, for which different goods are used. Benefits are created in

production process. They can be divided into goods and services. Products like

services are the result of labor, but, unlike services, they have

material form. Goods are divided into means of production

and personal consumption items. Personal consumption items are

benefits that are used by individuals to satisfy their

personal needs (food, clothing, housing, televisions,

refrigerators, etc.).

The product is useful thing or service used for reproduction

factors of production; as a result of human activity it

becomes economic and appears in the form of production products, and in

in the spiritual, intellectual sphere he acts as an intellectual

a product obtained as a result of performing work to provide services.

There are individual and social products.

An individual product is the result of the labor of an individual worker,

provided to an individual.

The social product is the result of the labor of the total worker

(all employees of the country), provided to citizens in equal conditions

(free education, healthcare, etc.).

A good is something that can satisfy the daily needs of life.

needs of people, to bring benefit, to give pleasure.

Services are types of activities in the process of which there is no

a new material product is created, but the quality changes

available product. For example, washing, repair, restoration, training,

treatment, etc.

Production can be tangible or intangible.

During material production, material values ​​are created

(industry, agriculture, construction, etc.) and turn out to be

material services (transport, trade, consumer services).

Intangible production is aimed at creating spiritual,

moral and other values ​​and provides similar services

(education, culture, etc.).

Services are provided by service industry enterprises. This is public

nutrition, healthcare, education, culture, household

services, transport, etc.

2. Resources and factors of production, the problem of scarcity.

To produce goods and provide services, it is necessary to have

certain resources. Resources are the capabilities that a

which society uses to satisfy its needs.

Resources are divided into exhaustible and inexhaustible,

reproducible and non-reproducible. Among the resources are

economic, considered from the point of view of limitation and rarity.

There are natural resources, i.e., given by nature (land and its subsoil,

forests, waters); labor (people with their skills and abilities in the working age

age); capital (means of production - means and objects of labor)

Scheme 1. Factors of production.

The resources involved in the production process take the form

factors of production. There are factors of production such as labor,

land, capital, entrepreneurial ability. In recent years

The labor process is a conscious, purposeful human activity,

aimed at transforming the substance of nature in order to satisfy one’s own

needs.

Capital as a factor of production is the means of production used

in the production process. They include objects and means of labor.

Entrepreneurial ability is a human ability

engage in business activities. Entrepreneurial

the ability includes the following characteristic features: take risks;

the ability to combine factors of production; make decisions and

bear responsibility for them; always be in a creative search to obtain

entrepreneurial profit.

Society's needs are limitless, but resources are limited. Limitation

resources is a problem that all business entities face - and

poor, and rich, and individuals, and businesses, and countries.

3. Production possibilities curve.

The problem of choice is expressed in the production curve

capabilities (CPV) (Scheme 2).

Diagram 2. Production possibilities curve

The production possibilities curve is the set of points that

show alternative options for maximizing the production of two

goods at full use all resources. The curve has a downward slope

type, because to increase the production of one good it is necessary to reduce

production of another product.

The curve is convex because resources are not completely interchangeable.

And with a further increase in the production of one product, it is necessary to refuse

everything from more of the other, i.e. the opportunity cost increases.

Opportunity cost - the most preferred option

using a limited resource that had to be abandoned.

Point D on the graph shows a desirable but unattainable

given resources, the option of producing two goods. Point C characterizes

option of incomplete use of resources when there is incomplete

capacity utilization, unemployment.

Over time, when the amount of resources used changes, the CPV

may move left or right. When the amount of resources in a country

increases (immigration, birth rate increases, new deposits are discovered

minerals), the CPV shifts to the right, showing an increase

production of goods. In case of reduction in the number of resources used

The CPV moves to the left, which indicates a reduction in production volumes.

As already noted, production is the process of interaction between man and nature with the aim of creating material and spiritual benefits. This is pretty general concept The activity of, for example, primitive man, who climbed a tree to provide himself with fruits, is also included. Production includes hunting, fishing, cattle breeding and any other activity characteristic of the first stage of development of human civilization. Manufacturing also includes the cultivation of land and the processing of raw materials into industrial products.
Production is divided into production that creates material goods and that creates services. In material production, material goods are created (food, clothing, etc.). Services can be material (apartment renovation, tailoring) and intangible (social, spiritual). There are other approaches to classifying production. For example, social production is divided into the spheres of material production, production of services, social production (lending, insurance, management activities, public organizations) and spiritual production (scientific and artistic, culture and education). The system of national accounts (a system of statistical accounting of the national product, adopted in international practice) distinguishes economic sectors by subject: manufacturing firms and enterprises that produce goods and provide services, or non-financial enterprises; financial institutions and organizations; state budgetary institutions providing services that are not objects of purchase and sale; private non-profit organizations, serving households; households; abroad.
Thus, in modern economic theory, production refers not only to human activity, as a result of which material wealth appears, but also to any activity in any field (civil servant, teacher, medical worker, banker, hairdresser, etc.). In addition, material goods obtained by processing certain types of raw materials must be delivered to the site and stored for some time in order to be gradually realized. The activities of a transport enterprise or commercial company (wholesale or retail) are also considered as production. This means that production involves not only the material transformation of goods, but also their movement in space and time. Ultimately, production refers to the creation of utility, that is, the production of goods and the provision of useful direct or indirect services to consumers.
In the most general and simplest natural-material approach, production is the process of converting resources into products or services that satisfy needs. In this sense, production, firstly, creates material conditions for human life, secondly, it participates in activities outside the creator of utility himself, thirdly, it acts as a sphere of relations between people, i.e. production relations, fourthly , transforms the spiritual world of a person, creates new needs. All areas of production are united common goals, i.e., ensure satisfaction of needs.
Consequently, production is the organized activity of people aimed at satisfying their needs. The latter is consumption.
It should be emphasized that consumption is the immediate goal only in non-market economic systems, while in a market economy the immediate goal of the company is to make a profit. In society, production interacts with distribution, exchange and consumption, and is carried out as a continuously renewable process, i.e. reproduction. Without the reproduction of resources and products, economic life is impossible. Therefore, in economic theory there is a reproduction approach, according to which the economy is the circulation of objects and means of labor, natural resources, consumer goods, and population. At the center of reproduction is man and his needs. In this sense, we can say that if the purpose of production is production and profit, then the purpose of reproduction is man and his increasing needs. In addition to the production goal of the company, there are economic goals of social production (reproduction), which are much broader. They are the goals of micro- and macroeconomics, the goals of the socio-economic system, the unity and interaction of productive forces and production relations.
In “Economics” the defining economic goals of society are: 1) economic growth, ensuring more high level life; 2) full employment (employment for everyone who is willing and able to work); 3) economic efficiency (maximum output at minimum costs); 4) stable price level; 5) economic freedom; 6) fair distribution of income; 7) economic security; 8) reasonable trade balance.
The production goals of a company and society are mediated by an intermediate link - the goals of industries and regions as management links. There is a kind of “tree of goals”, in which, from the roots to the top, the goals of the primary, main economic entities (citizens, enterprises, firms, industries) are located accordingly; goals of the regions and the entire system of society. They are interconnected and interdependent, modified by their socio-economic role in meeting a set of needs

Factors of production
When we characterized resources, we said that these are natural and social forces that can be involved in production. "Factors of production" - economic category, denoting the resources actually involved in the production process (hence, “factors of production” is a narrower concept than “production resources”).
By moving from “resources” to “factors” we begin an analysis of what happens in production, because factors of production are producing resources.
Unlike resources, factors are always in interaction with each other and become so only within the framework of interaction. Therefore, production is always an interacting unity of these factors.
Although the number of resources is growing, in economic theory there are three main factors of production - “land”, “labor”, “capital”.
1. "Land": as a factor of production has a threefold meaning:
"in a broad sense it means all those used in production process natural resources;
“in a number of industries (agricultural, mining, fishing) “land” is understood as an economic object, when it simultaneously acts as both a “subject of labor” and a “means of labor”;
“Finally, within the entire economy, “land” can act as a factor of production and as an object of property; in this case, its owner may not directly participate in the production process, he participates indirectly: by providing “his” land.
2. “Capital”: this is the name for material and financial resources in the system of production factors.
3. “Labor”: the labor potential of society directly involved in the production process (sometimes they also use a term such as “economically active population", which covers the able-bodied; those employed in production, contrasting them with the "economically passive population", which covers the able-bodied, but not employed in production).
The “labor” factor includes entrepreneurial activity, in connection with which it would be appropriate to say a few words about it.
Entrepreneurship is a globally respected activity. It requires the ability to organize production, the ability to navigate market conditions and fearlessness of risk. Richard Cantillon (1680 - 1734), F. Canet's predecessor, said that an entrepreneur is a person who takes on strict spending obligations without having any guarantees of income.
In the Western economic tradition, respect for the entrepreneur is so great that his activity is often considered as an independent (“fourth”) factor of production (sometimes even as the main one). They believe that the entrepreneur bears the burden effective organization three factors of production into a single productive system, which he is interested in mastering latest technology, etc. However, the main function of an entrepreneur should perhaps be recognized as organizing profitable production: it is hardly possible to find a party more interested in this than the entrepreneur himself.
Now let's return to all three factors of production.
In economics, for three centuries there has been a discussion about the role of each factor in creating the value of a product.
"Classical" political economy recognized the priority of labor. The Marxist tradition interpreted value as the result of labor alone (in its abstract expression).
This discussion has not yet been completed, especially since the scientific and technological revolution, by removing man from the direct production process, makes it especially difficult to resolve the issue. However, in practice, economists rely on a concept called the “three factor theory.” The content of this theory can be stated in the following position: each factor of production is capable of bringing income to its owner: “capital” brings “interest”, “labor” - “salary”, and “land” - “rent”.
The profitability of all factors means that all owners of production factors act as independent and equal partners. Moreover, one can even talk about a kind of economic justice, because the income of each participant in production corresponds to the contribution of the factor belonging to him in the creation total income.
When we said that production is the interaction of its three factors, then we gave a technological characteristic of production. But since each factor is represented by its owner, production necessarily acquires public character, becomes social process. Production turns into the result of production relations between the owners of factors of production. And since both individuals and their groups can act as owners, and social institutions(for example, the state), then production is represented by the relationship of various economic entities and different forms property (individual, joint-stock, state).
As we have already said, not every owner of a factor of production must necessarily take a direct part in production. But this is the privilege of only the alienable factor of production - “land” and “capital”.
As for “work,” the ability to work cannot be transferred. Therefore, the one who represents only the factor “labor” must always take a direct part in production. Hence the objectivity of his status as a “hired employee,” although he may also have ownership of other factors of production (for example, purchase shares). But he will move to a new status only when the income from these “non-labor” factors can meet his needs.
The measure of profitability of each factor in specific macro- and microeconomic conditions is one of the central problems of economic theory. All subsequent lectures are actually devoted to this problem. But now we are not dealing with economics (economics, strictly speaking, is the science of the profitability of factors of production), but with production itself. This means that at the moment we are not interested in profitability, but in the production process as a system of interaction between “labor”, “land” and “capital”.