About the triumph of selfishness and Human stupidity.
Counterpunch / Global Research / FoxNews / Xsinhua / Pravda
Chaos or Renewal
Capitalism has reached the final phase of its evolution; inevitably it is degenerating towards an unpredictable end, as it has been the case with every previous civilization or socio-economic organism that has evolved and eventually disintegrated in the history of the Human race.
In this final stage those who are in power (as it has been the case of those who were in power towards the end of all previous civilizations) are doing their utmost to keep the sick organism alive even as it has become a threat to wholesome existence on this planet.
Unfortunately our mercantile capitalist Establishment, with their stranglehold over the Mass Media and their command over all the powerful State and private instruments of coercion and investigation, have been successful in insuring that no better alternatives are explored or promoted outside the capitalist socio-economic system which is the basis for their wealth and power. They have been successful in convincing everybody that there is no alternative to Mercantile Capitalism.
To persons of intelligence and honesty It should be evident that in the present saturated environment it is impossible for capitalist economy and society to continue to evolve in a progressive and rational form. Why? Because Capitalism during its development has fundamentally changed the environment that was the condition for its inception and evolution; gradually over time it has created a new environment in which, because of its nature and the lack of further space for expansion, it cannot function and grow any longer without damaging and irrevocably altering the environment that has been the condition for the beginning and evolution of the Human race.
The problem is that there are no intelligent and at the same time honest persons within the ruling class of the present corrupt Establishment; no such person could possibly become part of the Establishment and survive. Capitalism depends on continuous development, mindless consumerism and waste to keep going, but this is what has brought us to the present state of stress and saturation; to continue will spell disaster for our existence on this small Planet.
Twenty years ago the capitalists won the Cold War. They have won the first round but they have not solved the conditions of poverty and injustice that have caused those revolutionary Movements to develop. For twenty years since their victory they have been conducting a relentless mopping up operation and they have succeeded in suppressing and denigrating all the progressive Movements of the nineteen and twentieth Centuries.
Now because of the continuous misinformation by the capitalist media and the superficial attitude of the majority of people it is considered stupid to believe in Humanistic-Socialism, in International Brotherhood and friendly Cooperation between Nations within a socially and ecologically scientific Planned-Economy; these are considered the ideals of fools, lefties, bleeding hearts, greenies etc. In fact only the consolidation and realization of such progressive ideals could promote the revival and enrichment of the Human race on this Planet.
Now we have a never ending Hot War against terrorism; this is in fact the continuation of the Cold War on a different level, religious, nationalistic or a combination of both, caused by the same conditions of poverty and or injustice; moreover beside these social problems we also have caused hazardous ecological breakdowns that no system based on the whims of selfish investors in the Stock Markets of the World can possibly solve.
The failures of the socialist experiments are paraded to deter any further movement in that direction; all their negative features are publicized, mostly out of historical context, all of the many positive features are completely ignored and no mention is ever done of the sabotage, interference, even murders perpetrated to destabilize the economies of those third World countries that were trying to free themselves from capitalist neo-colonialist exploitation.
The Soviet Union was made to fail, but in fact if we consider the backwardness and feudal mentality of the Russian people before and after the revolution, the lack of any democratic tradition, the ravages of the first World war, the years of civil war after the Revolution, the disaster of the second World war, the sabotage and continuous military threat from the powerfull capitalist coalitions of the military powers of the U.S. and Western Europe, the mindset of the Soviet leaders formed during deadly revolutionary struggles and the necessity to waste resources for defence during the arms race, then the achievements of the Soviet Union during a sixty years state of siege should be considered extraordinary: it is surprising it lasted that long.
It was the Soviet Union that lost, not Socialism; but the baby was thrown out with the dirty water; let us just consider the ugly rise of Nationalism and extreme Religious Fundamentalism after the demise of the International Socialist experiment.
The dumb socialist leadership were either blind or were compelled by circumstances beyond their control to follow the developed capitalist West in a race towards Consumerism which they could not possibly win, instead of taking a completely different course towards a new ecologically sound progressive economy.
Both in Russia and China they had an open slate on which to build their energy, their cities and infrastructures with a Rational and Humane plan; how much in front would they have been now, but they missed their chance.
Globalization with nationalistic capitalist competition for markets and resources and more intense consumerism can only mean Global rivalry and war; now the Soviet Union has become Capitalist Russia, Comunist China is Capitalist China. Only Globalization within International Humanist Socialist Cooperation would make sense in the present alarming ecological situation.
There is no effective organized opposition to the present Establishment’s determination to continue at all cost on the capitalist road: mercantile competition for business development and control over resources must continue; one hundred Nations enslaved to work harder and sacrifice more to throw each other out of work to produce an ever greater quantity of commodities that must become obsolete in a short span of time and end up increasing the pollution of our planet.
Of those people who were against Capitalism and were defeated, having lost hope, some have turned towards extreme Racism or Nationalism, some have embraced fundamentalist Religion, most have become cynical consumers in a global consumer society, those that are oppressed with no redress and, in frustration, become rebels against injustice or poverty are driven to desperation are considered terrorists and are denied their Humanity.
Most of the former progressive leaders have become capitalist politicians, therefore they have become corrupted and they have no alternative but to find capitalist solutions to all problems.
Regarding those courageous people that were the heroes of the mass movements for Human rights and against Neo-colonialist wars in the sixties, where are they now? They are older and probably also disillusioned with the present apathy and indifference of the majority of the people that are hopelessly enslaved by consumerism; most are still very active against the Establishment via the internet, writing books, conferencing and, in the main, speaking to the converted, mainly middle class progressives with computers who also are captive by the comforts of capitalist middle class.
They are tolerated by the Establishment, even given good jobs, as long as they do not pose any real threat to the Establishment and they serve as a demonstration of the freedom of speech and democracy inherent in the capitalist system, a refined disguise behind which is a ruthless mercantile dictatorship.
They are no threat to the System because there is no mass popular movement behind them, they either have no specific programs for transformation or their programs are completely unrealistic; moreover for them the disappointment of a first “still born” failed experiment of a socialist system has been enough to give up entirely on the whole Socialist idea.
By overtaking the Feudal system Capitalism was a progressive force that gave impetus to many freedoms and the blossoming of the Renaissance, notwithstanding its natural aggressive nature and penchant for ruthless exploitation, but in its final stage it has become an impediment to real progress.
At present, to maintain its cycle of production in which the point of sale is the supreme overriding concern, Capitalism must continue to develop and consume at all cost, it must transform all human beings from a tender age into compulsive consumers and must keep them in a permanent state of want no matter how much they already have.
Notwithstanding all its energy in production the capitalist economic system over the time of its existence has not been able to provide steady meaningful employment and security for all the inhabitants of this Planet, there always have been insecurity, crises, wars, rebellion and repression.
The obvious result of its natural basic morality of blind selfishness and greed has produced unimaginable luxury and extravagance for some against the most degrading misery for a majority of Human beings. Moreover, as Karl Marx has lucidly pointed out one hundred and fifty years ago, Capitalism has turned all human relations, even the most intimate, into money relations; the bankers, the handlers of money have become our masters.
Because of this malicious gene in the capitalist nature, because of the accumulating effect and dynamic nature of capitalist competition in the market of life and because of insecurity and the fear of unemployment, the most natural straightforward Human rationality has gradually been perverted and now in this last stage of the Mercantile Age, without openly admitting it, we must follow the perverted capitalist logic that follows: - the logic of a saturated Market.
Enslaved within Mercantile Capitalism, for our immediate survival we must forfeit the future of our children .
The natural rationality and logic from the beginning of Human evolution was to try to satisfy all needs in a community and make everything to last as long as possible; this was possible while the Planet was still underdeveloped and there was not yet enough production to satisfy the effective demand. Now with the advance in technology the supply of commodities is overtaking the effectual demand notwithstanding the development of consumer credit and advertising; therefore abundance for Capitalism has become a curse.
Capitalism cannot satisfy completely any legitimate human basic necessity; to satisfy it would mean the end of an industry, the end of investment and employment in that industry. For example Capitalism cannot satisfy completely the demand for housing so as to make everybody happy by lowering rents and inflation: because housing has become an investment there must always be a demand, satisfy the demand and the housing industry would collapse: unemployment of capital and labour would be the result.
This goes for every field of activity in the capitalist system because everything must be done through private capital investment for a sale and a profit, be it housing, transport, education, medicine or anything else…The uninterrupted continuation of the cycle of production for sale and profit not the complete satisfaction of the needs of a society is the main purpose of the mercantile system: if there are no needs they must be created.
If there is no market because people are at rest, people must be shaken up, an artificial market must be created. We have reached a stage now that when they make a swindle they call it a Product.
An immense, expensive, unproductive, bureaucratic private overhead has been created: financial, legal, corporate, security, consultancy and more; new industries servicing the mercantile establishment where remuneration and extravagance have no limits. A monkey on the back of the common working people.
In production it is no good for business to make anything simple and efficient; there are more parts and profit in complexity than simplicity.
No good for business to employ transport or anything else that does not use fossil fuel; therefore we must have suburban wastelands instead of livable centres of human habitation with efficient public transport ; People must waste a big portion of their life just travelling to and from work.
Capitalism needs a permanent pool of unemployed people to maintain a sense of insecurity to keep the workforce submissive and to keep wages down.
Capitalism needs cheap labour but the mass of working poor cannot be consumers; therefore they have been enticed to indebt themselves and consequently enslave themselves for generations.
Just by eliminating these obnoxious features by speeding the development of what is really important and prolonging the life of commodities that are not important we could save half of the materials and energy that we are using at present; this is not possible under Capitalism, the nature of the system is to sell not to save.
Capitalists must prefer 'ignorance' and misinformation to keep the population amenable to their own interests, therefore the studies of History and the Humanities in schools and universities have been slashed, but the combination of ignorance, aggressiveness and insecurity is a mixture that produces hate, prejudice and crime.
Worst of all, Capitalists prefer the ultimate folly - a war with no end, rather than to face and accept the reality of their own obsolescence; they prefer an environment of competition between Nations, mistrust and fear to maintain employment and profits for the capitalist military industrial complexes.
What must be done.
Capitalism must be defeated soon because the Time for ecological rescue is running out.
A catalyst organization with a basic philosophy must be created to unite all groups that have similar aspirations.
A mass Movement involving the participation of all the people from the ground up must be set in motion.
Set Ecological and Human standards for all activities of farming, heavy industry, transport and small business production.
All legitimate activities and business should be allowed as long as the set standards are observed.
Within all industries there must be also a standard setting public enterprise.
Adopt the Golden Rule as social Norm. Uphold the Spirit of the Law. No secrets, Complete Openness, destruction of documents and records must be considered a crime.
Definite detailed plans for transformation must be made by people with knowledge and experience. The timetable for the transformation should be within a generation.
The projects must be made in a way that minimizes the disruption in people’s lives during the transformation.
Farming, food production, housing, education should be the priorities.
Farming is paramount as it is the basis of Life, therefore fair contracts and agreements should be made with farmers and their organizations.
Expand Universities and all Technical Colleges to train those people who are made redundant from obnoxious industries being dismantled.
Look after our Earth, Explore the Universe and aim for the Stars.