How can human wants be satisfied in this modern world?

Human wants can be satisfied through production of goods and services. Goods are of two types (1) economic goods which can be obtained only by human efforts, and (2) non-economic goods which nature supplies free. Economic goods have to be produced. There are two methods of production which are as under:

1. Direct Production:

It occurs when a person satisfies his wants entirely by his own efforts without any help from others. He grows his own food, makes his own clothing and builds himself a place for living.

In some countries like India, most people in remote villages still do a great deal directly for themselves. When a person tries to do everything for himself he will have to be satisfied with little more than the bare necessities of life. Therefore, he has to accept a low standard of living.

That is why the Eskimos of Northern Canada and the tribals of India are always very poor. They are likely to be killed off by natural calamities such as a buzzard that prevents them from hunting or a sudden thaw that traps them on a lonely ice floe.

The quantity of goods that can be produced directly is so small that people remain always poor. Direct production is practised hardly anywhere in the world today.

2. Indirect Production:

In this system, a person concentrates on one occupation and ex­changes some of his surplus output with the things made by others. For example, some people engage in agriculture, others in industry and some others in providing services. A farmer will exchange food with the cloth produced by another.

This system of exchange called barter was used in early days. Now exchange takes place through money. People nowadays work for money and use their money to buy things made by others.

Such exchange gives rise to commerce. As indirect production has increased, the range of human wants and the standard of living of people have also increased.

These days, human wants are expanding and multiple. All human wants cannot be satisfied without increase in economic activities. Therefore, more and more goods are being produced to satisfy the increasing wants. As human wants increase, industry and commerce tend to grow.

In the primitive age, every person satisfied all his wants himself without assistance from others. With the development of specialisation, wants increased.

It was not possible for a person to produce all the goods and services required to satisfy his ever increasing wants. Evolution of money enabled him to exchange his output with those of others.

Therefore, some people became farmers, some became weaver, and same became iron smith and so on. Thus, the concept of division of labour was introduced. With the invention of modern machinery and the growth of factory system, complex division of labour occurred.

Division of Labour and Specialisation of work

Division of labour refers to divisions and subdivisions of work into small parts so that an individual performs only a part of the total job. For example, production of cloth is divided into five main parts, ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing and bleaching, and pressing and packing Division of labour leads to specialisation.

Each part of work can be assigned to a group of workers according to their ability, experi­ence and aptitude. The entire process of production is divided and subdivided into a number of small tasks.

Each task is allocated to a worker or a group of workers most competent to perform it. Each worker concentrates on the task and repeats the task over and over again. He specialises in it and becomes an expert over a period of time.

Division of labour can be simple or complex. In simple division of labour or occupational specialisation a person undertakes a complete task from beginning to end.

For example, a worker will do everything necessary for producing a pair of shoes. Thus, in a community, some are farmers, some are carpenters, and some are traders, teachers, and doctors and so on.

Under complex division of labour or process specialisation job is divided into sub-processes and each sub-process is assigned to a specialist or group of specialists most suited to do it.

It is also called process specialisation and it is the real division of labour. In the words of Prof. S.E. Thomans, “the division of labour is described as complex when each man or group of men undertakes a specialised function which is contributory of the final result.

Modern mass produc­tion is usually based upon such complex division of labour, e.g. shoe making in modern factory where uppers of the shoes are prepared by one group of persons, while bottoms of the shoes are prepared by another group, stitching work by third group, polishing by another and finishing by yet another group of workers”.

Forms of Division of Labour

Division of labour can be in the following forms:

1. Division into whole industry:

Under this form of division of labour, a person is specialised in one occupation. For example, one person may be a farmer, another weaver, third a cobbler, fourth an iron smith, fifth a barber and so on. This is the first stage in the division of labour.

2. Division into specific processes:

In this form, an individual specialises in one of the several processed involved in the production of a product. For example, in book publishing industry, the main processes involved are composing, proof reading, printing and binding. Each process is performed by a separate group of workers.

3. Territorial division of labour:

In this form of division of labour each region of a country specialises in the production of one particular commodity. This leads to localisation of industries. For example, sugar industry is concentrated in U.P. and Bihar, jute industry in West Bengal, cotton industry in Maharashtra and Gujarat and so on.

4. International Division of Labour:

Each country specializes in the production of particu­lar commodities. For example, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the largest producers of tea. On the other hand, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait specialise in the production of petroleum.