Before the industrial revolution, the social reproduction of all countries of the world was dominated by manual labor, which determined its low productivity,and therefore low income. The scale of the accumulated means of production was insignificant; moreover, the latter were mainly represented by simple and cheap tools of labor, which led to a small amount of depreciation charges. Therefore, the gross product of society consisted mainly of personal consumption items. With a large uneven distribution of income, there were significant differences in the nature of consumption of the main mass of the population and its upper strata. For the majority of the population, consumption was limited to basic necessities - food, clothing, shoes, etc. For the upper strata of society, a different quantitative and qualitative standard of consumption was characteristic; at the same time, it included such goods (porcelain, silk fabrics, paper, carriages, etc.), the consumption of which was inherent only in these strata. The situation changes dramatically with the development of industrialization processes, first in the countries of the West, and then in the Eastern countries; but the differences that existed between them remain, significantly modified in the changed conditions. I In the West, during the industrial revolution, there was an increase in labor productivity, and consequently an increase in the income of society. In addition, the overall result of the industrial revolution was a reduction in the cost of production of essential goods. In other words, the industrial revolution was supposed to reduce the orientation of the economy towards the production of essential goods, as well as eliminate (reduce) the dissimilarity of the consumption fund of the lower and higher income strata of the population. In fact, this process was very slow: in North America, consumption began to change at the end of the nineteenth century, and in Western Europe, after the First World War. Apparen ... Read more