History 382
History of Capitalism in America
Ross Bassett
478 Withers Hall
ross@ncsu.edu
3-2231
TTh 10:15-11:30
Office Hours: TTh 12-1
or by appointment
TA: Delayne Jolly
dpjolly@ncsu.edu
Office Hours by appointment
Attendance
“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’ …. The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about. ” —David Foster Wallace “This is Water”
Capitalism for Americans is like water. It is the environment in which we live, but it is often one of those “obvious, important realites that is hard to see.” The point of this class is not to praise capitalism in America or to attack it, but to understand its history in America.
Photos: Lewis Hine, “Cotton Mill Girl,” 1908, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, Net Jets Advertisement.c 2008, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co. Durham, NC c.1911; Cameron Village Shopping Center Raleigh, NC, c. 1950
