Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FOREWORD 1980-2000.
This is basically the foreword I have written at my first attempt to
publish this booklet, naturally it has been updated and altered
during the following years.
*******
For this reason, about ten years ago (1970s) I started writing a
sort of an essay with the purpose of delineating my personal
opinions on the problems that were plaguing our society at the
time; I tried to explain the connection that those problems had
with the current economic philosophy and with the nature of
Capitalist economy; I intended to stop wasting time and breath
arguing each point that I was making and instead give them the
booklet to read.
At the time, the Cold War was at its peak and that, more than the
social and ecological problems, was the main concern.
This attempt probably was doomed from the start; born from a
destructive war and revolution in a society still under-developed
and still with a feudal mentality, opposed from within and from
outside, surrounded by countries with governments determined to
crush it in its cradle, it was compelled to acquire a siege
mentality.
The threat of global nuclear war has receded; but, in its place, the
senseless trade war that has been going on all along is
intensifying. More contenders are coming into the battlefield.
They are the ex socialist countries, that by adopting Capitalist
philosophy, the "philosophy of the merchant" - to buy and sell as
the only condition of survival - they are forced to indebt and
castigate themselves to be able to compete on the saturated
world's market. As all other developing and underdeveloped
countries are already doing the same, it has become a senseless
competition between Nations to throw each other out of work.
In this sort of an essay I will only deal with the main rational
concepts and capitalist logic. Detailed evidence can be seen in
our everyday lives; also it is readily available in books, reports
and other literature that I have come across over the years, and,
together with my life experiences, form the basis for my
assertions. I do not claim originality, most of what I will say has
already been said, and in a better form. In this analysis are the
conclusions that I have reached after many years of reflection.
They are Human beings and their actions and attitudes are
reinforced by the natural laws of Capitalism and human
imperfection. It is only when they attempt to perpetuate at all
costs a system that has become obsolete and destructive that
they become dangerous.
I hope that the reader will keep this in mind right through the
discussion, no matter how vilified the capitalist "merchants and
manufacturers" may seem to be.
Here I will talk about ourselves Human beings locked in a socio-
economic organism in its final dangerous stage of evolution.
FOREWORD 2009
Now it is 2009, and I would like to point out that this short booklet
has gradually taken form in my mind during the 1960-1970 and
eventually was written in 1980; therefore many ideas and
statements were formulated during the times of the Cold War, the
struggles of Capital and Labour when the Unions and the Labour
party in Australia were still militant and Neo-colonialism was
rampant in the underdeveloped countries after World War II.
Of the few people to whom I gave the book to read none actually
managed to read right through it; they all succumbed to total
mental exhaustion by the time they got to chapter III or thereof; I
do not blame them, it also happened to me. I feel sorry for them
because they will have missed the few jewels that certainly can
be found within the booklet’s copious BS.
The book is a real brick; the sentences are too long and there are
too many repetitions, the main reason is that I tried to write each
chapter so that it would make sense and stand on its own; to do
that in most chapters I had to mention again and again the same
basic natural features of the Capitalist system to explain why the
capitalist socio-economic organism has been and still is evolving
in such predictable ways.
This booklet derives from the mind and heart of a person that
because of genetic factors, education, environmental
circumstances mostly beyond his control, has managed either
because of inclination towards fairness, or because of fear of
retribution, to follow the better rather than the worst instincts of
human nature.
salterre
INDEX
Outline of the Essay
Endgame, a Manifesto.
PART I
of selfishness.
of capitalist expansion.
PART II
The present stage of capitalist evolution.
stage of development.
credit.
further progress.
Policing.
PART IV
Socio-economic organisms.
In the first part, I will try to explain my notion about the inner
essence of the capitalist economic system, its natural laws and
mechanism, and how these cannot be altered without changing
the system completely. These laws and mechanisms are the
natural result of a particular environment, they were naturally
suited to that environment; that original environment do not exist
anymore and they cannot rationally function in a different
situation.
In the fourth part of the booklet I will try to put into perspective
the background stage on which the Human race has evolved: a
small planet in one of the solar systems in a galaxy in the
Universe. On this planet, Human societies have evolved, and
capitalist society is one of them: a brief moment in the history of
Humanity.
Chaos or Renewal
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.
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.
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 powerful 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.
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.
Adopt the Golden Rule as social Norm. Uphold the Spirit of the
Law. No secrets, Complete Openness.
Look after our Earth, Explore the Universe and aim for the Stars.
Salterre
PART I.
THE NATURAL LAWS AND MECHANISM OF CAPITALIST
PRODUCTION.
*************
CHAPTER IV
********
During its golden age Roman rule and arms had allowed the
Mediterranean nations to experience a long period of internal
peace. Land and sea travel had become safer, therefore
facilitating the spread of the new and revolutionary philosophy of
Christianity. Its ideas about Human equality found a fertile ground
amongst a multitude of slaves.
A freed slave very seldom could go far from his former master. A
man had to work to be able to live therefore a freed slave without
land often would become a servant or a sharecropper on his
master's estate; although he was still dependent, his status was
improved. Moreover towards the end it became easier for many
slaves to run away back to their tribes. As the Empire became
increasingly burdened by taxes and bureaucracy, most of its
citizens lost the interest and the will to fight for its survival.
The king had to delegate power to the Church and the feudal
lords, and he depended on their loyalty. These, in their turn,
through their vassals ruled on the king's behalf over the lands
entrusted to them and over the people who inhabited them. The
common people could not leave the place of their birth. They
farmed the land allotted to them, and, moreover, they had to
work for their feudal superiors and serve in their armies when
required.
Gradually, the kings with the support of the towns became more
powerful and asserted their supremacy over large parts of
Europe. A degree of stability returned over the countryside.
Agriculture and trade began to prosper again, and, with a rise in
production, accumulation of wealth became possible.
Some of the new wealth was used in new ventures, but most was
expended within the courts and entourages of the kings, wealthy
feudal lords and merchant families.
This was the stage of the Renaissance: art and science started to
flourish again. In this situation, the power of the feudal nobility
and the system of feudal economy began to lose ground as the
environment that was the reason for their existence was
gradually changing. The beginning of a new system of production
and exchange, and the need for new social relations, began to
appear.
During this time the new system grew within the existing feudal
society. But the limitations of this society were an impediment to
capitalist expansion.
This was not just a point in history, but it was a process that took
shape unevenly over the centuries. Within this process the
embryo of a new system of production and exchange began to
evolve, and with it new political forces and a new culture began to
emerge. What made this process possible was an empty
expanding environment and an expanding population, plus a
situation of almost total scarcity that required to be overcome
and satisfied. For the merchants there was a growing potential to
gain from local and new far away markets, and the potential of
innumerable new commodities that could be produced to satisfy
these markets. It was this fertile expanding environment that was
essential for the birth of Capitalism.
It is evident that the world has never stood still. What becomes
obsolete and an impediment to Human survival and progress
must give way, and let the process of evolution continue.
CHAPTER V.
THE ESSENCE AND ORIGIN OF CAPITAL ACCUMULATION.
********
Let us now have a brief look at the origins of capital and the main
reasons for its rapid development during the last three centuries.
In his analysis of the capitalist system (An Inquiry Into The Nature
And Causes of The Wealth of Nations), Adam Smith is mainly
concerned with the explanation of its natural laws and mechanism
as they had evolved. But he makes a few statements which leave
no doubts about what he thought was the origin of capital
accumulation.
The peasants under the feudal lord, although they had the status
of serfs, were his wards. In theory, he was responsible to the King
and ultimately to God for their well being. Moreover, the lord in
theory had no more right than his serfs over the land entrusted to
him; the King had the ultimate right over the land.
This relation and feudal covenant was broken: the law about
property was changed and property over the land became
absolute. The feudal masters took possession of the land
repudiating all responsibility towards their labouring serfs; they
were set free from their bondage.
The freed serf had to look after himself in a world where the land
had been fenced off and had become private property. Without
the use of the land for his subsistence he could only walk along
the roads looking for work wherever he could find it, looking for a
benefactor willing to employ him. It was and still is the degree of
one's control over the land and the other means of production
that determines one's degree of freedom and equality.
How did this separation of the labourer from the land and the
means of subsistence come about?
The story that most capitalists sycophants are always keen to tell
about the accumulation of wealth and the origin of capital is
that...in the beginning all people had the same opportunity, but
only a few industrious people by hard work and sacrifices became
rich and wealthy; the rest were less industrious and wasted their
opportunity, therefore they became poor; eventually the poor to
survive had to depend on the good will and generosity of the rich
to be allowed to work for them in return for the price of their
subsistence.
In reality the fact is, as Adam Smith stated, that the appropriation
of the land had to be effected and the separation of a mass of
people from it had to be under way before capitalism could
develop further.
It was this process that was the basis for the accumulation and
development of capital. Not the idyllic tale of hard work and self
denial of the capitalist apologist, but a documented story of
greed, ruthlessness and misery. This is generally speaking and
with few exceptions the genesis of capital.
This is, in the main, how capital evolved from the appropriation of
the land and from the early stocks of the merchants and usurers
of the Middle-Ages.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CAPITALIST CYCLE OF PRODUCTION
********
Each one of these elements has its own particular nature and
force.
********
In this capitalist market most people are buyers and sellers at the
same time. The market is not really a place people are the real
market; People who are potential customers and traders because
they have something of value to each others to exchange. This
excludes the poor people of the world whose work is not needed,
and, consequently, are pushed aside or ignored.
This is the first reason why, while Capitalism today can over-
produce, over-supply and over-satisfy the effectual demand of
those who are already rich, it cannot satisfy the absolute demand
of the poor and unemployed people of the world. Rather than give
the surplus products away without a profit, it is forced to cut down
production or to waste its productive forces in some other way.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE ESSENCE OF COMPETITION.
********
But it is also evident that this consciousness was very limited and
cloudy. It was the beginning of our questions and our attempts to
answer them. The answers, mostly incorrect, that we gave
ourselves, have influenced the course of our development. It
could be said that in acquiring our imperfect consciousness we
became ignorant and we lost our instinctive wisdom.
CHAPTER IX.
COMPETITION IN THE MARKET
********
Now they have 50 percent interest in mines all over the world;
they have created a glut, from these mines they have imported
stockpiles of raw materials. Now they can sit back and when the
contracts are re-negotiated they can dictate the price that they
will pay for the raw materials. They can watch mining companies
from different countries undercutting each other, increasing
production, trying to obtain concessions from their governments,
cutting down their work forces to maintain their diminishing
profits (this was in the 1970s, now the Chinese are trying to do
the same).
Without any plans, the capitalists while chasing higher profits are
continually attracted towards producing those commodities which
are within the effectual demand of those who can pay for them.
Without any malice, the real needs of a society may never be
satisfied if there is no profit for the capitalists. This is one of the
general causes why the rich tend to become richer and the poor
tend to become relatively poorer there is more profit in
producing luxuries for those who can pay, than in producing
necessities for those who cannot.
In the market, those who have the advantage extol the virtues of
free enterprise and competition; those who have not will cry
about unfair play and will ask for protection.
One more contradictory feature which derives from the law of the
market is the logical preference the capitalists have for an
environment of abundance where they buy their raw materials
and labour, and an environment of scarcity where they sell their
commodities. They need a continually expanding environment: an
increasing number of people rich enough to buy their products,
and a great number of people poor enough to be willing to work
for them.
********
It is self interest, not concern for society that drives the capitalist
to employ labour. He will discard the labourer as soon as he has
no more use for him, and he will decline any further responsibility
for him.
Labour is the origin of all wealth, and, as it has been essential for
the first accumulation of capital, so it is essential for the
continuation in the production of all profits.
The capitalist does not buy the labourers, this would be slavery.
He just buys their labour power for a definite amount of time, at a
definite price.
Few people would work for a master if they had the opportunity to
work for themselves and be self sufficient. To attract such people,
the capitalist employer would have to raise the conditions and the
wages of labour, and, consequently, lower the profitability of his
invested capital.
Adam Smith stated that labour, not gold and silver, is the origin of
all wealth. He stated that labour "was the first price, the original
purchase money that was paid for all things." There cannot be
any doubt about this; therefore, labour is itself real capital
because it is the origin of capital; therefore we could say that
people are capital because they possess labour power (or labour
potential). The people and the land are the real capital of a
country. We could say also that unemployed people are wasted
labour power they are wasted capital.
This is probably one of the reasons why in this country during the
eighties all the money saved by cuts in government spending and
wages restraint was squandered by our entrepreneurs in playing
'Monopoly' in the stock market and by conspicuous consumption.
********
If it was not for social services and modern medicine, by this law
the number of labourers would naturally and automatically adjust
to the requirements of capitalist economy. In this way, wages
were supposed to fluctuate sometime above and sometime below
the level of subsistence. But a concession had to be made,
eventually, for the propagation of the race of labourers. Adam
Smith in his analysis stated that
This was probably the first tampering with the law of demand and
supply in consideration of the worker.
What are the main reasons for this conflict between capital and
labour?
The most important reason for this conflict lays in the core of the
system, in the nature of capital and labour. Both profits and
wages must ultimately come from the price of the commodities
sold. Because of competition, the capitalist will try to lower the
cost factor of wages and maintain the margin of profit in the price
of the commodities he sells. Quite naturally, the wage earner will
resist this pressure and will try to maintain the level of wages
rather than profits; consequently, there has been a continuous
struggle between capital and labour, profit and wages.
But the majority of the workforce is not so lucky. Ours is a free for
all and everyone for himself socioeconomic system in which
everyone must take full advantage of any opportunity to grab a
piece of the 'national cake', or be left with the crumbs. There
should be no surprise that those who have strong elbows and
those who have knives get the bigger slices.
It is evident that families with more than one income, and those
people employed in privileged industries and services, enjoy a
high standard of living in capitalist society, comparable with that
of the middle class. But at present an increasing number of the
workforce is being pushed backwards as the economy is
contracting, the unemployed being excluded from a meaningful
participation in the life of the society. These people are becoming
more and more alienated even if they are not conscious and do
not clearly understand the real causes of their predicament.
If one has a family, one seldom has any money left for relaxation
and enjoyment. No matter how much his employers through the
media exhort him to work harder, and talk to him about
teamwork, the Nation, the Economy, etc. one has a feeling that
he is only a number, and that he is just kept alive so that he can
go back to work the next day, if one is lucky to have a job, and so
that he can raise a few children to replace him when he is too old
to work.
In the industrial countries it took a long and hard struggle for the
workers to improve their conditions. But in many capitalist
dictatorships labour repression is still the same or even worse
than in the early stages.
"...wages are high in cheap years, and low in dear years, so that
masters commend dear years. Masters of all sorts, therefore,
frequently make better bargains with their servants in dear than
in cheap years, and find them more humble and dependent in the
former than in the latter. They naturally, therefore, commend the
former as more favourable to industry....."
********
They see life and the world around them in relation to themselves
and, therefore, also in relation to their occupations. Often, these
attitudes are reinforced by living in a closed environment and in
close contact with people of the same profession and trade; often,
as attitudes are handed down through many generations, they
are reinforced and become strong traditions, especially if the
trades are materially successful.
The land and the force of arms, not money, were the main
sources of wealth and power.
During the later stage of the Middle Ages with the discovery of
new markets and new methods of production the class of traders
and money lenders began to assume an importance that they
never had before.
During the last two centuries, they gave the imprint of their
merchant class mentality and attitudes to the growing capitalist
society. They influenced and supported the ideal of freedom,
especially their own freedom, equality, especially their own
equality, and their form of democracy, capitalist democracy. They
promoted and financed the struggle against the nobility and the
feudal establishment.
The way of thinking and attitudes of the merchant class, the old
traders and money lenders, became the philosophy of capitalism.
Social classes have more to do with the way people earn their
living and the size of their incomes than with any other factor.
Only a small percentage of people in our society are
businessmen, and anybody with the right attitude could try to
become one. But to succeed and stay in business one must
assume the mentality and logic of the capitalist merchant. His
motto must be 'business is business' or business come first; a
capitalist businessman not only must never do anything for
nothing, but he must always try to get in return more value than
he gives out.
Most people, at one time or another must have observed a
gradual change of attitude and behaviour in a friend or an
acquaintance who has just started a business. Sometimes the
change can be quite rapid, like when a tradesman who has been
working for wages starts to work on a contract or subcontract
basis and becomes self employed.
The capitalist maintains that profit is the remuneration for the risk
he is taking by investing his capital. Some say also for the service
they are doing to society by providing work. They are so
convinced of their importance that they believe they are never
repaid enough for their merits.
They know very well that if their capital is not invested and
brought to life by labour, it would produce no profit. They know
that if all their capitals were deposited in the banks and were not
lent out and put to work, they would not get one cent of interest
out of it. Nobody is forcing them to invest their capital; it is their
desire and their necessity, it is the way they earn their living.
Adam Smith already over two centuries ago, in his analysis of the
system, explained this divergence of interests. Regarding the
capitalists, "those who live by profit", he clearly exposes that they
are a class of people whose interest seldom coincides with the
interest of the rest of the public and the society as a whole. Their
interests are often the opposite of those of the society and,
therefore, we should be very suspicious of all their proposals and
their advice because these come "...from an order of men, whose
interest is never exactly the same with that of the publick, and
who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and
oppressed it."
Monopolies may suit some businesses and raise their profits, but
they are not in the interest of the public, and it is the public which
constitutes the society.
********
Some apologists of the system have tailored, out of some old and
well worn rags, a philosophical coat of sort to suit the narrow
minded selfishness and presumptuousness of the modern
capitalists, who are no different in essence from the old
merchants and master manufacturers that Adam Smith often
berated and sometimes vilified in his analysis of the capitalist
system.
They extol the virtues of free enterprise and free trade, as during
the Industrial Revolution, but they forget the misery and the
excesses which brought about bloody revolutions and
government controls. They seem to forget completely that history
has progressed since then. They seem to ignore the development
of trade unions, socialist movements, the results of two world
wars, the formation of socialist countries, overpopulation in the
world, overproduction and saturation of the markets, pollution,
etc.
There are many fools who believe that there is no alternative but
to accept this logic. They have been made to believe that
anything that is against Capitalism is against God and Country,
against Freedom and Democracy.
*******
Changes have been brought about so fast that the Human race
has been thrown into confusion, incapable to fully adjust to ever
new situations. While still blinded by our ignorance, today we are
forced to choose between different alternatives, one of which may
bring about our complete destruction.
Adam Smith, in the eighteenth century, could not have foreseen
the extent of this expansion. But Carl Marx, a century later, was in
a better position to study the capitalist system of production as it
accelerated its development during the Industrial Revolution. His
analysis, in "Capital" and other writings, is still basically valid
today, except for those new factors and developments in the
present stage that no Human being could possibly have foreseen
one hundred and fifty years ago.
For a period of time he will have the advantage. But soon the
other producers will adopt the same or newer methods of
production, and, eventually, he will find himself in the same
situation relative his competitors as before his improvement in
productivity; the only difference being that now there would be
overall higher production, and the markets would have been
expanded.
Consequently, to be able to stay in business the capitalist must
continually try to raise the productivity of his workforce and his
machinery, and also try to find new markets:
********
Old virtues have become vices, old vices nave become virtues".
Capitalism could not expand within the limits of feudal values,
customs and politics; therefore, it had to replace them with its
own.
The capitalists, while struggling for their own freedom, could not
deny the freedom of the rest of society; they had to proclaim their
support for the general idea of Human liberty.
Old dormant societies and cultures have been shaken from their
slumber.
With the development of transport and communications, space
and time have been reduced. The world has become a melting
pot in which all races, nations, cultures and religions are being
forced to face one another and solve the problem of coexistence
or amalgamation.
While we are still ignorant and confused, already the embryo has
emerged of a 'global' economy, a 'global' society and culture.
Karl Marx was not far from the truth in his assessment of
capitalist economic and social development. In his terse and
concise description of capitalist evolution up to his time over one
hundred years ago we find already present all the main features
of saturation and crisis that are so evident today: diminishing
markets, ever faster technological change, wasteful consumerism,
a widening generation gap, etc..
In the nature of free competition, the law of the market, the drive
to maximise profits and wages, we find the causes for the
development of monopolies, corporations, unions and
associations which render impossible the capitalist dream of free
enterprise and free trade; we find the causes for the explosive
expansion of productive forces and technology, the saturation of
world markets, the disregard for social and ecological harmony.
CHAPTER XVI.
********
One reason is that they all are trying to sell their products to each
other as dear as possible, and buy from each other as cheap as
possible within the competition of the market. For this reason all
businessmen and companies tend to join into different
associations and chambers, which in fact are businessmen unions,
to protect and promote their particular interests. It should be
superfluous to say that the corporations are conglomerates of
companies with interests in every branch of the economy.
We could try now to mix and superimpose all the activities that
have been mentioned so far, as they take place and interact in
real life; but I believe that it is almost impossible to have a clear
picture of the situation. Moreover, these are only the main
activities and to these we should also add the important cultural,
political factors that influence the behaviour of different peoples.
All we can do, in the absence of a powerful computer with a
suitable program, is to try to imagine in one picture the essential
concept of all this activity and hope to get as close as possible to
reality.
CHAPTER XVII.
EXPORT OR PERISH.
********
Now, to complete the picture of this world wide trade war, over
this messy sketch of over one hundred countries involved in this
pseudo nationalistic fight for survival in which the majority must
be losers, we must superimpose the important element of the
'transnational' corporations.
This trend has been growing for over fifty years; it is called
Globalisation it is an attempt to create a Worldwide market
without national barriers and with universal commercial
regulations that advance the vested interests of business and
corporations; possibly under the dominance of the United States
and NATO as its enforcer in case of trouble.
********
In the end, it is always society at large that pays for the arms
race, especially the poorest sections, because they are deprived
of essential commodities and services that could otherwise be
available to them.
With the armament industry, some sections of the work force are
provided with employment and some businesses have an
opportunity to make a profit. Therefore, there is a pressure for the
maintenance and expansion of the industry. It is a new organism,
interacting with the others, within the larger organism of the
Nation. This new organism will try its utmost to perpetuate itself
and, if possible, to grow, as it seems to be in the nature of all
living things.
This is probably another reason why NATO has been kept alive
and still growing after the demise of the Soviet Union.
CHAPTER XIX.
OVERPRODUCTION AND MARKET SATURATION.
********
We must try to keep in mind that when we are talking about
overproduction, abundance and saturated markets we are talking
only in relation of the effectual demand of those who have the
means to pay.
The poor people and the poor Nations of the world are naturally
excluded from the capitalist cycle of production and exchange,
unless they have been allowed to indebt themselves. In this case,
as well as being poor, they may also have become desperate as
they have become enslaved, in the grips of capitalist bankers and
merchants.
One of the main conditions for the birth and growth of Capitalism
had been a situation of scarcity, an empty world, an empty
market.
While there was plenty of space for capital expansion, the system
developed naturally, slowing down its pace during its periodical
crises but starting back each time of its own accord.
On the other end, the mass of the population could not constitute
an expanding market: the wages of the 'working poor', who in fact
were the origin of all that wealth, were just enough to keep them
alive and able to work. They had no money to spare to buy the
surplus of goods which they had produced but did not own.
The capitalists could not use all his surplus goods themselves,
evidently there is no profit in that; they could not give them all
away, as it is not in the nature of the merchant to do anything
without a profit. He could not raise the wages of the workers to
enable them to become a market; competition would not allow it
and, besides, it would have been the same as giving the products
away.
Before the capitalist class stood the mass of the people, idle and
hungry; Already, in the East, workers and peasants had dealt a
deadly blow to capitalist and feudal society, and they had taken
their destiny into their own hands.
Capitalism faced the danger. The merchant had to make its
'mercantile' system work: it had to provide employment for the
mass of the population or face a possible revolution.
The same is the case for the poor developing Nations of the world.
As they could not afford to buy the products of the industrial
countries, they have been extended vast amounts of credit.
Therefore, being deeply in debt, they have been reduced into a
state of economic bondage.
The gap between the rich and the poor Nations is widening, just
as Karl Marx had pointed out over a century ago: ".... Just as the
bourgeoisie have made the country dependent on the towns, so it
has made barbarian and semi barbarian countries dependent on
the civilised ones, nations of peasants on nations of 'capitalists' ,
the East on the West". Today, he would have used different
words; He would have said the South on the North, and he would
not have made the distinction between barbarian and civilised,
because, as we know now, there is no difference in substance.
CHAPTER XX.
CONSUMERISM, THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREDIT.
********
The poor 'donkeys' were very grateful, and the capitalist, using a
little ink on his ledger, killed two birds with one stone and put in
motion again the stagnant cycle of capitalist production and
accumulation; This time with even more energy and speed than
before.
There was profit to be made on the sale of the goods, and, in the
same transaction and for the same commodity, an extra profit for
the loan of the money.
But this was not all: by this stroke of the pen on the credit side of
his ledger, the capitalist merchant forged a new chain for the
worker. It is a chain of gold, but much stronger than the old one.
To buy a commodity on credit is like a chain that the worker
willingly puts around his neck: not only he has to sell his present
daily labour power, as in the past, but he also sells his future
labour. He commits a certain amount of his working time for a
certain number of years to repay the debt he has incurred for the
purchase of a commodity.
With this new economic device the person in debt, by selling his
peace of mind and his little independence, shed some of his
former material poverty, but by mortgaging his future he is forced
to work harder and produce more.
CHAPTER XXI.
CONSUMERISM, ADVERTISING.
********
But such is the present attack on the minds of the general public
by the 'merchants of dreams'.
Having saturated the markets and exhausted all known forms of
competition but open warfare, the capitalists are reduced to steal
customers from each other and try to reduce the public into
consumption addicts.
With this assault on their minds, the public, beginning with the
children, is being reduced into a state of moronic stupidity: actors
in a world of make believe in which the only reality and the
ultimate purpose is the sound of the cash register in the capitalist
market place. Behind the sparkle of the shopping centre, behind
the glitter of the shop windows, and behind the artificial plastic
smiles of the advertiser and the salesman, society is becoming
harsher and more insensitive.
The result is a society of people who are all acting a part, living
for unobtainable dreams, always dissatisfied no matter how much
they may have, all being busily absorbed in a competitive rat
race in which all individuals are drawn apart from one another.
Everybody is chasing after dreams represented by commodities
the wealthy with the attitudes of paupers and misers.
But even advertising, like consumer credit, can only give a limited
and temporary boost to a faltering capitalist economy: there is a
limit to what people can spend and borrow; moreover some
people cannot be fooled all the time and sooner or later they may
realise how stupid they have been made to look. Consequently,
another more effective device had to be found to keep the cycle
of production in motion and the profits coming in: this new
economic stimulant is euphemistically called 'planned
obsolescence'.
CHAPTER XXII.
CONSUMERISM, PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE.
********
********
What has happened in Europe since the World War II is partly the
result of capital losing its nationalistic identity.
We can see this trend all over the world, but it is not rationally
planned with the benefit of the Human race and the planet Earth
in mind. Therefore we may end up with several economic blocks
competing against each other with great consequent dangers.
CHAPTER XXIV.
CLUES ABOUT INFLATION.
********
At this point we should consider one of the most important
features in the present stage of capitalist development; this is the
constant upward pressure of inflation sometimes coupled with
endemic unemployment (1975-1983).
We have fairly accurate statistics about the average level and the
fluctuations of wages, but seldom are we told about the level of
profits; possibly because it is very difficult to ascertain. But even
on this respect Adam Smith comes to our help. He states that,
although profits are difficult to verify, there is in the economy an
indicator of their general level. He states that:
Evidently there are many factors which promote inflation, and any
one or any number of them could be at work at different times.
But there are some basic factors which are always present.
Going back to the law of demand and supply, we can be sure that,
because of the ever present compulsion to control the supply of
commodities and the market, the price of the commodities will
linger much longer above than below the " natural cost of
production ". Consequently, over a length of time, the average
price of commodities, although gravitating towards, will seldom
coincide with the cost of production, but will stay slightly above it.
This feature is built into the mechanism of the system.
An increasing and excessive demand for goods and services tends
to create what we call 'demand inflation'. This type of inflation is
not caused by an increase in the cost of production, but by the
natural expectation to maximise profits during a situation of
scarcity. We should not be surprised if capitalist businessmen
never complain about this type of inflation: it is good for their
profits, and profit is the kingpin of their merchant economy and
the centre of their philosophy. This type of inflation is seldom
publicised and deprecated in the mass media. In contrast all we
hear about are endless complaints about 'cost inflation' and the
cost of labour in particular. But demand inflation and cost inflation
are, in essence, the same.
The capitalist has many justifications for this double standard, but
they only prove that Capitalism is a double standard socio-
economic system: what is good for the capitalist is good for the
economy and society, what is good for the worker is not.
But the law of demand and supply forces the labourer to try to
improve his conditions whenever there is an increase in the
demand for labour; this is the only time when he has an
advantage and any chance to improve his standard of living
within capitalist economy. He knows very well that when the
demand for his services decreases, he will be promptly pushed
backwards; his employers will have then all the advantages,
which they will not waste in their continuous drive to maintain or
increase their profits while they are pressed by competition.
What the capitalists complain about all the time is, in essence, the
continuous struggle of the workforce to keep up with the cost of
living, and their resistance against the employers' relentless
attempts to extract more production from them without a relative
increase in wages.
There is the waste of energy and resources that has to be paid for
by society.
There are new service industries coming to life all the time, They
strive for self preservation and expansion, as it is in the nature of
all living organisms, and they tend to promote the environment
which has brought them to life.
These are only clues and logical deductions about some of the
main causes of inflation, but I believe that they are very close to
the mark.
CHAPTER XXV.
UNEMPLOYMENT.
********
In this way a new trend has been set within each country and
throughout the world: industries are disappearing from long
established industrial areas, and they are reappearing with new
technology in the more depressed regions of the world where
there is unemployment and capital investment is more profitable.
To pay for these imports, it has to export more and more of its
"agricultural products and timber". Moreover, unemployment is
rising and the gap between rich and poor Americans is widening.
To compete against imports produced by cheaper labour in
modern factories built by the corporations in foreign countries,
American Workers are accepting cuts in wages and conditions,
and many of these transnational corporations are dominated by
very 'patriotic' American capitalists.
During the last two centuries, 'the right to work' has become the
most important issue and expectation in western societies. But
this is only a recent development. Before the advent of Capitalism
in the West, this concept did not exist. It was the 'right to life',
whether openly proclaimed or not, that was the main natural
aspiration of all Human beings in all previous Ages; By no means
was it a right that was always granted and respected. During the
Middle-Ages, in the Feudal system, this natural primordial
aspiration to live was assured to the mass of the people by their
chartered rights to the use of the land for their own subsistence.
For the feudal serfs and peasants the right to life was intimately
connected with the right to work the land and to share its
produce.
No system in the world can deny this right for very long. If any
social system cannot fulfill this basic aspiration, it has no right to
exist it must be replaced.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CAPITALISM, AN IMPEDIMENT TO FURTHER PROGRESS.
********
This general rule and this pressure apply even more when great
gain or great loss of wealth and power are involved. We do not
have to look far to see the evidence of these regressive features
in the present stage of evolution.
Finally, the most evident sign of regression are the economic and
social policies of our present conservative world leaders. To save
capitalist economy they are attempting to bring about economic
and social conditions that were relevant two centuries ago and
could not possibly improve the present situation.
Not knowing what to do, and not wishing to give up, they seem to
have acquired the strange notion that capitalist economy could
continue to expand for ever if they could recreate the conditions
that had been favourable to its birth and early development.
In short, their aim is to put 'capital above all', and make the need
for profitable capital investment the overriding and overruling
consideration above everything else.
Today, this has become more or less the main economic object of
all the main political parties in the capitalist and also socialist
countries. Whether Liberal or Labour, Republican or Democratic or
even Socialist, their main cure for our national economic and
social problems is to undercut the opposition in the international
world markets. To this effect they urge the workforce to make
capital investment more profitable for the capitalists, that is, to
increase the productivity of labour.
By now we should know what this means, and how hopeless it is
in the saturated world market, where over a hundred countries
are already sacrificing their populations trying to do the same!
The positive features that Capitalism may have had in the past
are now turning into destructive trends.
Now technology has overtaken us, and fewer hours are being
worked overall anyway; but, while older people are being flogged
to work until they are “eighty five percent incapacitated” and
pension age is being extended, young generations are rotting in
idleness and despair. Therefore, the goodies that capitalism
produces turn into poison for society.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE SOPHISTRY OF SEPARATION
********
Capitalist apologists seldom explain the capitalist socioeconomic
organism as a single entity in which all factors and groups are
closely interrelated. They prefer to promote the concept of
entirely separate entities, each one performing a specific task for
the good of the Economy and the Nation, as the 'Economy' and
the 'Nation' were separate abstract concepts.
This way of thinking also makes it possible for them to blame any
particular section of society or of the economy for all the
problems, without having to question the basic faults of the
system as a whole: we never hear the word Capitalism
mentioned whenever there is a problem in our socio-economic
organism. In fact, what we are being told all the time is that the
capitalists are always willing to do their duty to increase their
profits and personal wealth for the Economy and the Nation, but it
is the selfish workers who make trouble by refusing to do their
duty to make sacrifices for the Economy and the Nation. (1970s)
We know very well who is blamed in the media most of the time
for our economic problems: the power hungry Unions, the greedy
workers, the 'socialist' Labour party and Government
bureaucracy; businessmen are always the victims.
For example, how many times we hear in the media that the
unions have no concern for the good of the community and are
sabotaging the economy. It sounds like union officials have no
relation to the workforce who, with their families, makes up the
greater proportion of the population, and, therefore, are the main
part of the community, the economy and the Nation.
These attributes are true enough, but the way they are used in
the media creates the impression that a unionist, for example,
may not also be a family man, a commuter, a consumer, a
member of the public, etc. all at the same time.
To suggest in the mass media that a person may have all of these
attributes at the same time, would require an explanation on why
such a person would engage in activities that would seem
detrimental to himself as a family man, as a commuter, a
member of the public, etc.
These suited the people at the time, they were easy to believe,
and they were reassuring. Only when it became too late, people
began to realise their monstrous mistake. Suddenly, those people
who had been persecuted as traitors of the Fatherland became
the heroes of the Resistance. But Germany and the world had
already paid dearly for the promotion of those assumptions.
How much responsibility can be laid on the German capitalists
who financed, and on the middle class and on the media that
helped to promote the Nazi movement? There should be little
doubt that without their help and their passive complicity Nazism
could not have succeeded.
The public media, like the BBC, ABC, RAI etc that were supposed
to present all facts and points of view - Left, Right and Centre -,
after decades of conservative government interference have
completely dropped the Left part, therefore all we have is either
Centre, Right and extreme Right slanted news and comments
influencing public opinion.
So, gradually over the years, a proud party which started with a
socialist platform becomes apologetic about its own name, let
alone the word 'socialism '.
The tragic thing is that the society as a whole has lost the choice
of a distinct alternative. At the elections, the only choice is
between two similar social and economic prospects. For the
superficial person this is democracy, but in practice this is the
disguised dictatorship of the capitalist business class.
It is tragic to see how the United Kingdom, the United States and
other supposedly democratic countries are in this respect no
better than the one party 'banana republics', nor better than what
was the Soviet Union. The people of these countries have no real
choice; they have no alternatives to Capitalism. All their political
parties have become almost the same: they are different only in
form but not in substance.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
ABOUT SUPERFICIAL ASSUMPTIONS.
********
In the competition to win the trade war, any cost or long term
investment in social well being and ecological considerations is
being evaded.
Never before they had such power: now they dominate the United
Nations and they command the military power of the West under
NATO; this power they have already collectively used in the
destruction of the Yugoslav Federation, the Gulf Wars and now
the forever War on Terror . But more powerful of all their armies is
their control over most of the Media because it is through the
Media that they are able to convince and steer the rest of the
society to accept the philosophy and vested interest of their class
as the law of the land.
Socialist countries may not have had our kind of democracy, but
they certainly did not have the monopoly of repression in the
world.
One of the main factors may be that any ruling class can afford to
be democratic when it feels safe, and it becomes undemocratic
when it feels threatened.
There are two main freedoms that people are struggling for in the
world today: one is the freedom of the merchant to exploit, the
other is the freedom of Humanity from being exploited.
In fact, to leave functions that are important for the whole of the
society and should be performed by a government responsible to
the society, to capitalist entrepreneurs and to the law of the
market could be very costly and disastrous.
For example, let's look at the Health Care systems in Canada and
the United States: in Canada there is only one Health Insurance
scheme run by the Government, it covers all the population, the
administration cost per each dollar is very low, for example the
cost of paperwork is one cent in the dollar; In the United States
there are 1500 Health Insurance companies and still 30 million
Americans are not covered, the cost of paperwork is 10 cents in
the dollar, the cost of running this private enterprise army is
astronomical as each of the 1500 companies must spend for their
administration, marketing, advertising etc.; moreover, one of
these companies has been charged with fraud and another 35 are
under investigation. Of course all these companies are providing
profits and a lot of non productive work for a lot of people, but
this is little comfort for those who are sick; So much for replacing
government bureaucracy with private enterprise bureaucracy.
Since 1983 real wages fell nearly 15 per cent; with the billions of
dollars saved in wages, the billions saved by cuts in government
spending, plus many billions of dollars borrowed from foreign
sources our free enterprise businessmen, instead of investing
long term in building the productive capacity of the country, they
started chasing quick profits playing a game of monopoly in
Australia and around the world. Since the 1987 stock exchange
deflation most of these business captains that had been praised
and admired by our politicians, by the media and, consequently,
by the general public went broke.
In 1983 Australia had a foreign account deficit of about 17 billion;
after only eight years, during which our capitalist free enterprise
businessmen were given a free hand, our foreign account deficit
has reached about 150 billion dollars, moreover, instead of having
something to show for such indebtedness, most of Australia's
manufacturing industry has been dismantled, destroyed after
being thrown to the wolves in the "level playing field" of the world
market; moreover half of the best industries that were left had to
be sold to foreigners: - our entrepreneurs could not service their
debts, other Australian companies did not have the money to buy
them out, therefore they had to sell out to foreign investors. On
top of this, the country is in recession, ten per cent of the work
force is out of work with consequent social degradation.
All this in the short time of eight years during which our
businessmen were given a free hand; One could not ask for more
efficiency!
I have just pointed out some of the differences between the easy
to believe capitalist assumptions, and a possibly more objective
assessment. The doubts on the accuracy and honesty of these
assumptions should be so strong that any reasonable person
should think very hard before committing himself and his future
generations to the perpetuation of a socio-economic organism
that can only degenerate more and more into hopelessness,
violence and destruction of the environment.
CHAPTER XXIX.
A SIMPLE PHILOSOPHY.
********
All over the world, concerned people are joining into different
movements with the purpose to solve our social and ecological
problems. But most of these movements seem to be fighting
windmills, as they are expending all their energies in different
directions against the effects rather than the deep causes of the
present problems. This is certainly better than doing nothing, but
it is not effective enough in the short time that we may have
available.
We need time. We must stop or at least slow down for a while and
learn more about ourselves and our environment, solve our
present problems, decide where we want to go, and then proceed
towards the future.
During the last two centuries, after the slumber of the Middle-
Ages, Capitalism has forced Humanity into a breakneck race
without any real thoughts about consequences, and without a real
purpose. We have left nothing untouched, Man or Nature. We
cannot continue this race for ever.
So far only one third of the world has been fully developed into
"consumer societies" and it is still developing further by draining
resources from the rest. We can already clearly see the damage
that we have done to the planet. Let's think now what would
happen to the environment of this planet if the remaining three
thirds of the world succeeded in their attempts to develop into
consumer societies, as the industrial nations have done; nobody
can deny them the right to do the same as they did.
Just let's try to imagine Asia, Africa, South America all producing
and consuming like Japan or the United States - and yet, this is
what they desperately are trying to do. Neither the developed nor
the underdeveloped countries of the world can stop this race.
Why? Simply because, by the very nature of capitalism,
investment of profits in the production and sales of commodities
must continually expand: Therefore there is no way that
Humanity can solve this quandary within capitalist economy
outside a world-wide fair and ecologically sound planned use of
resources.
So far we cannot fix what we have done wrong within our present
system, let alone plan for the future. We have brought about
destructive trends that may be irreversible. We only start to worry
afterwards, when the ravages of our mistakes are upon us.
But Capitalism does not allow us to slow down and think about
the future. It is an uncontrollable force that must expand and
keep on feeding at all costs. When it has reached the physical
natural limits of its expansion, which on this small planet are
becoming more obvious every day, it starts to feed on itself , it
tends to destroy in order to start again and keep on going. We
cannot allow this to continue because our survival is at stake, and
there cannot be compromise on this point.
Capitalism, during the last few centuries, has brought us very far.
But, as we have discussed earlier in this booklet and we can see
every day, it cannot progress naturally any more. It has become
an impediment and also a great danger to Humanity. It must be
discarded; this is not a question of philosophy, religion or politics,
it is a question of natural common sense.
As we have said before, Human beings of different Races,
Cultures and Religions are finally facing one another, and there is
no more space to try to avoid contact. We are still influenced by
suspicion, prejudice and hatred, the products of our ignorance.
Now we must make the choice either to survive together or to
perish together.
The ancient rule of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' was the
Golden Rule in reverse: 'if you do to others what you do not want
done to yourself, then it shall be done to you'.
The Golden Rule is an ancient natural law. Christianity brought
this law a step further: 'it is not enough to abstain from doing
wrong to others, one should love one's fellow Human beings'.
But this is only one side of Human nature that the capitalist like to
publicise so much. There is a better side, and this is the more
prominent in the majority of the Human Race: there is love, self
sacrifice for loved ones and for ideals, good humour, compassion,
etc.
For every bad person in our history there have been a thousand
good ones, for every bad deed there have been a thousand acts
of love and compassion.
Open mindedness,
********
They are still dreaming about the capitalist Global Market but as
politicians they will be forced, directly or indirectly, to bring the
factories back to their voters if they do not want revolution in
their own Countries; therefore more isolation, more nationalism,
more racism and a new more stupid and more deadly trade war to
throw each other out of work.
This raises the question about what would be the essence and the
form of a new socioeconomic organism.
Most of the Trade Unions have lost their former anti capitalist
radicalism. Their leaders have become an accepted part of the
establishment, intent to perpetuate their position of power, and
contented to maintain, if they cannot improve, the conditions of
their members within the framework and the requirements of the
capitalist system.
To conclude, I believe that the need for change has never been so
strong, and that the material requisites for the success of a new
economy and society are now available. What are needed are the
belief that it is possible and the will to begin working to achieve it.
CHAPTER XXXI.
A NEW SOCIETY.
********
We cannot deal here with all the details of a new society. These
are the concern of every individual person or group of people,
They will have to decide for themselves what these details will be.
These depend on many factors which are pertinent to different
situations, environment, Cultures, etc. that have evolved in
different parts of the world.
Here we will try to deal with the general basic principles that can
be accepted by the majority of Human beings because these
principles are obvious, and because they have been the
underlying aspiration of Humanity for a very long time.
These simple principles could form the guiding line for a new
world wide and multiform society. While the practical details are
the concern of every individual and of every different group of
people, and, therefore, they may assume many different forms,
there should be no compromise on the few simple but essential
guiding principles.
In Europe during the Middle Ages there was the land tenure of the
Barbarian Nations; before the development of Capitalism, there
was the feudal form of land tenure entrusted to the nobility by the
King, but everybody had some chartered rights to the use and
produce of the land it was the right to life. Eventually the nobility
took possession and most of the peasants living on their lands
were forced to leave.
Yet, together with all the other activities associated with farming,
they are the most important people in a society because they are
closer than anybody else to the real source of life without which
the cities, with all their industries could not exist. Their labour on
the land produces the primary fuel for Human life and energy.
In figurative terms, of the people who are kept alive by the work
of one farmer, one could become a builder, one a teacher, one a
doctor, etc. This is the basic difference between a simple
subsistence society and one that can grow and flourish.
This is only possible because the land and the work of Man have
produced a surplus of food for the expansion of Human life and
Human activity. It is the task of the society as a whole to promote
the life of useful people, and to discourage the establishment of
parasites.
In the case of farmers working on their own farms, if they love the
land, they should be the ones who husband it. If so they wish,
they and their children should own it as long as they like to make
it productive. To this effect they should be provided with the best
help and facilities, and their status should be commensurate with
their importance to the society. Their value and their
remuneration could be determined by free discussions and
contracts between the farmers, their associations and the rest of
the society.
The main principles about the land are that farming is the most
important industry in a society, that the land should be farmed by
those people who love it and understand it, and that such farmers
should be comfortable and secure for generations, or as long as
they wanted to be productive farmers.
Today, with the speed and power of computing, the exact time
taken to produce any commodity from conception through every
stage of production and finally to distribution could be calculated;
Therefore the total value of all production in the society would be
equivalent to the sum of all the time spent in working by each
individual in the society.
The time of one's life is equally precious for each individual
person; therefore everybody would be entitled to a quantity of
commodities whose time to produce is equivalent to the time a
person has spent working. Some consideration should be given
regarding the danger, difficulty and discomfort of some type of
work, also to the ease, pleasantness of other type of work. The
accrued value that a person has not spent should be accounted
as Credit to that person.
The most important requisite for Human dignity and self respect
is to be able to earn one's living by one's own work and efforts
within a society. Dignity and self respect are destroyed when a
healthy person is forced to depend on the greed or compassion of
others, on begging, stealing, etc. in order to survive.
In the new society every person should have the right and the
duty to work and to participate in the life of the society. Their
dignity and their self respect depend from this participation.
As we have seen before, since the beginning every Human being
had to work to be able to live; therefore, the time of every
person's life is divided between work, rest and leisure.
We should understand the plain fact that the life of every person
is divided in two main parts, an amount of time that one must
dedicate to social production (production is already social), and
an amount of time that one can dedicate to leisure and personal
development. The more efficient and productive the time
employed in social production would be, the more time and
material could be available for rest, enjoyment, learning, and
other projects for the future of Mankind.
As our time is divided between social production and leisure, so
should property be divided in the public property of the means of
production and the private property of our personal belongings.
To sum up, these are the main principles of life and work: Humans
always had to work, and work can be the best tonic for the
Human body and spirit;
There must not be exploitation of Man and Nature; we must
accept that work is a common necessity, and we should try to
make it enjoyable;
We all have the right and the duty to work; only if we are
physically alive and healthy we can pursue our individual personal
activities, spiritual aspirations, etc;
In the new society nothing is given freely to those who are able to
work. As work must be shared, so are the products. The rights of
every person come with the performance of his duties to help and
participate in the social process of production.
By slowing down the pace of the economy, by sharing in the work
and eliminating the more obnoxious elements of capitalist
competition, those people in the community who are slower or
are handicapped should find easier to catch up and participate in
the life of the society. Those who are able and healthy should
become more inclined and would have more time to be helpful.
Most of these officials come from the middle class, and those who
do not, soon tend to join it. Therefore, conservatism pervades all
the higher levels of the capitalist structure.
In public life, only persons who have something to hide or are not
sincere must favour secrecy about activities that affect the public.
The thinking process, the logic and specific data by which we
arrive at decisions that affect the society, and all records of this
process, must be open to all people. The destruction or shredding
of documents should be considered a crime.
Human beings are neither completely good nor bad, and the new
society will not change that.
As a guarantee that the power that this task involves should not
be abused, it should not be entrusted to persons that may
become entrenched and corrupted.
CHAPTER XXXII.
FUTURE PROSPECTS.
********
Humanity is at a crossroad.
There are two main prospects for the future, and within these two
prospects there are many different possibilities.
One of the main prospects is that the course of our evolution may
continue to be determined by the same irrational and destructive
philosophy of our capitalist establishment, given the fact that
they have almost absolute control over the means of persuasion
and coercion; and even more significant, they have a total grip on
the economy and the means of production.
Today there is one very slight hope that such a change supported
or promoted from the top, may be possible in capitalist society. At
least there is a chance that a sizeable section of the middle class
and a section of the managerial class may be enlightened enough
to see the necessity for a transformation, and may see the long
term advantage that such a transformation could bring to the
society, including themselves and their own children.
They are confused about the future, and many may already
realise that there are no rational solutions within the existing
system.
The young people coming out of school would readily take their
position in the economy of the new society. No one would have to
fear unemployment or a loss in the standard of living during a
peaceful planned transformation.
This may be just a dream, but the fact that it may never have
happened on such a scale in our history does not mean that it
could not happen in the future. On the small scale it happens all
the time, within families, within groups of friends, within small
communities and organisations. Why could not this happen in the
larger family of Humanity?
Once the main principles are agreed upon, we should start to put
them into practice wherever we are and within any particular
circumstance in our existing society and economy.
There are many persons of good will in all levels of society and in
every field of activity, and there are a great number of people out
of work, discarded from capitalist economy, who are reduced to a
meaningless existence.
While they are only small minorities they are not a great threat to
the established order, but when a great number of people are
being displaced they become an irresistible force for change.
Ruling elites are very much aware of this, and they are very
carefully monitoring the percentages. From history, this seems to
be the general nature of social change and revolution.
********
They will use any means at their disposal to protect their vested
interests: withdraw their capital, close factories or curtail
production, take the government to the High Court for
infringement of the constitution, as most constitutions of
capitalist democracies have been formulated with the main
purpose in mind to enshrine the supremacy of the right of private
property and free enterprise above all other rights.
From this fact of life we must assume that it would be futile for
any progressive organisation to try to change the capitalist
system by trying to get elected to government unless it has the
support of a very great majority of the population including the
middle class, the police and the army; in addition all its
supporters must have been made conscious of the difficulties and
possible temporary hardships, its plans for reform must be ready
in every detail and also there are practical plans to overcome all
eventual economic, constitutional and foreign financial obstacles.
Moreover, only a country which can be self sufficient in raw
materials and have a fairly advanced industry and technology
would have a chance of success.
At the same time the new government should reform the media.
Without involving the question of ownership, profits and
competition, it should remove the political advantage that media
ownership conveys to any particular class. To this effect the
government should come out and say:
Next it should be made clear the fact that National public debt is
better than National foreign debt.
Some people have done very well: wheelers and dealers and all
their expensive private bureaucracies, legal, managerial, logistic,
public relation, advertising and general hangers on. These people
do not care whether they make their fortunes buying or selling,
selling foreign assets or selling their own country or their
countrymen.
These are true international businessmen, they are monopoly
players on the world's money and commodities markets; they can
live as well in Sydney as in London or Paris. If they are caught
cheating or if they go broke they still are left with a few millions in
their pockets. What they lose is mostly their investors' savings,
and these investors and the rest of the society are left carrying
the debt.
All this really doesn't matters if we take the point of view of the
modern businessman in the present world situation; the concept
of nationality disappears completely in the play of the "global
factory" and the "global marketplace".
While the people elected to govern the country have the duty to
put into action a plan of development that would benefit the
whole of the society, the execution of the plan should be left as
much as possible to private enterprise if they comply with the
standards set by our new socio-economic philosophy.
While the world is divided and under the sway of the philosophy
of greed and selfishness we should not destroy any of our
manufacturing industries, we should maintain the capacity to be
self sufficient in all vital light and heavy industries; the extra cost
that we may have to pay is the cost of maintaining a decent
standard of living and strength; this expense would be offset by
the savings in the cost of unemployment benefits and in the cost
of social degeneration.
We should strive to give the good example to the rest of the world
by being successful in putting our principles into practice, and
joining forces with any other nation prepared to do the same. We
should be generous but not suckers; open minded but not stupid.
We should keep up our guard; there is no point in jumping into a
"level playing field" unless we have made sure that the playing
field is in fact level; we should not forego the national interest of
our society just for the narrow global interest of the international
business corporations.
PART IV
SOCIOECONOMIC ORGANISMS.
CHAPTER I.
Organisms And Societies.
********
Given time, most forms of life can evolve and adapt to a new
environment and to a new ecological situation. It may require
thousands or millions of years. But during rapid or sudden
changes some forms of life may suffer or even disappear, while
others may benefit and take over.
In this chapter I may have already gone too far from the main
topic of this discussion, but this digression may facilitate our
understanding of a Human organism: a socioeconomic system.
CHAPTER II.
SOCIAL ORGANISMS.
********
Self interest and compromise are the glues that keep the many,
often opposite parts of a socio economic system together in a
precarious ecological balance.
One cannot withdraw easily from such a society. If for any reason
the social ecological balance is disturbed and people are left out
or discarded because they are no longer needed, it would be
difficult for them to fit in different occupations and to perform
different tasks, if the organism has stopped growing and there
has been no planning, as is the case with Capitalism most of the
time. For this reason, every individual in the conglomerate of
living organisms tends to cling to the established order of which
he is a part, whether he likes it or not; an order which provides
him with the means of subsistence, as meager or abundant as
they may be.
While one has a place which allows one to survive in the society,
one will tend to accept compromise in the struggle within the
social organism. But when his employment becomes insufficient
to provide the means of subsistence, or when one is discarded or
becomes alienated, then compromise becomes impossible. One
will attempt to change the society or to find or to create another
in which he can fit, either within or outside the existing one.
The natural instinct for a meaningful survival is the motive force
that will keep a society together or will tear it apart.
CHAPTER III.
SOCIOECONOMIC SYSTEMS.
********
Few words, today, are used more often than the word "economy".
When we hear about our economy in the Media, we get the
impression that it is something unchangeable outside and above
our society, more important than ourselves - something like a
god, to whom we must make Human sacrifices.
There have been and still are different types of relations to the
productive forces in past and present Human societies.
Leadership and valour in war was rewarded with land and slaves
to work the land. Taxes had to be instituted for the maintenance
of armies and the construction of roads and other public works -
this was the beginning of the State. Therefore the nature of the
methods and relations of production (the economy of the society)
began to change and became more complex; beside the small
self sufficient independent farmers, large agricultural estates and
commercial enterprises with hundreds of slaves began to develop,
and also an urban population of landless artisans and traders
servicing the needs of a growing more complex society.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
Question 1
I agree, in the main, with your opinion about the long quotes from
Adam Smith, Karl Marx and others. I will relegate them to an
appendix at the end of the essay. I will not eliminate them
completely because I believe that they are important to the main
theme and purpose of the essay. They show how the present
situation is not a new unforeseen and temporary development,
but is the logical consequence of events that have been
determined by the natural laws and mechanism of the system.
They all derive from the same natural economic laws. The relief
could only be temporary, and they have created bigger problems
than those they were meant to overcome.
What became clear to him over one hundred years ago should be
quite obvious to us today. It is mainly because of misinformation
from the media and from capitalist vested interests that today we
are so confused.
Who was Adam Smith? He was born in Scotland in 1723, the son
of a Customs officer. He went to school in Kirkcaldy; he studied at
the universities of Glasgow and Oxford. He lectured in Edinburgh
as professor of philosophy and history. For two years he was the
tutor of the Duke of Buccleuch, he traveled with him to Europe.
There he met some of the great French thinkers of the time,
including Voltaire. In 1776 he published his most important work:
"AN ENQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF
NATIONS". He spent his last years as commissioner of' Customs in
Edinburgh.
Regarding the social classes of his time, Adam Smith had good
reasons to appreciate the generosity of the nobility, "the
proprietors of land”, but he had very little esteem for their
judgment: " ...they are the only one of the three orders whose
revenue cost them neither labour nor care... That indolence,
which is the natural effect of the ease and security of their
situation, render them too often, not only ignorant, but incapable
of that application of mind which is necessary in order to foresee
and understand the consequences of any publick regulation."
Question 2
DEVELOP.
Capitalism has developed for more than three hundred years, the'
troubles we have today are caused by basic natural faults not
weaknesses.
Socialism is a new force and cannot be fully assessed yet. It. has
been the underdog and under constant threat since the
beginning. It is different in every country, and it is too early to say
whether its present problems are just momentary weaknesses or
basic natural faults. When we think about socialism we have been
influenced to think about its worst features by the capitalist
media. There are poor socialist countries, but there is seldom
such misery as we find in most capitalist countries side by side
with the most extravagant luxury.
Coming to the second part of the question, that power corrupts all
systems and what we need to develop are ways to combat this
trend, I believe that even if we had the most honest and hard
working people in command, both in government, business and
union circles, it would not make any difference to the situation of
overproduction and market saturation that we have in the world
today. This situation is the immediate cause of our economic
crisis.
But even if a perfect society may not be possible, it has been the
ideal and aspiration of Mankind since ancient times. There is no
reason why we should not be striving towards such an ideal. We
must try to get as close to it as it is humanly possible.
As the problem of power abuse and corruption has been and still
is common to all systems and societies, it can be considered as a
constant factor that could be ignored in the equation or
comparison between socialist and capitalist economy. The choice
would still be between two different economic systems, the factor
of corrupting power being a possibility common to both of them.
They could have won the support of the progressive people of the
world if instead of pursuing a policy of power they gave a good
example by avoiding taking part in the arms race and by avoiding
the mistakes of the capitalist system by developing alternative
energy saving technologies. It is probable that they cannot trust
the West any more than the West can trust them. They can be
partly excused because we know that capitalism has a longer
history of violent exploitation, and we know also that capitalist
economy prosper by war and destruction.
Question 3
CONFUSION ABOUT OUR ECONOMIC STATE
This question shows that the essay, in its present form, has failed
in its main purpose that was to expose the real causes of the
present economic situation by explaining the basic nature of the
capitalist system.
There are more features of our economic system that are outright
criminal and surpass in cruelty anything in the past; but these are
not the main reason why our economy will be discarded.
Whether we care about social issues or not, the main factor that
will determine a change is, in the words of Karl Marx, that "the
modern labourer of rising with the progress or industry, sinks
deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his own
class. He becomes a pauper. And there it becomes evident that
the bourgeoisie is unfit any longer to be the ruling class in society
and to impose its conditions of existence upon society as an over-
riding law. It is unfit to rule because it is incompetent to assure an
existence to its slave within his slavery, because it can not help
letting him sink into such a state that it has to feed him, instead
of being fed by him. Society can no longer live under this
bourgeoisie, in other words, its existence is no longer compatible
with society."
But the capitalists with their natural merchant cunning are much
smarter, if not necessarily more intelligent and educated than the
rest of society; therefore over the last three centuries, with their
great influence over the media and the power that comes from
their control over the means of production, have succeeded in
convincing most of the public that the interest of the capitalists,
not that of the public, coincides with the interest of society.
It is not for me to say what such a program will be, or how it will
be put into practice. This is what all people of good will must
decide together. If a majority of people, convinced of the
necessity, decides to change the economy, this will become
mainly a technical question on how it could be done with the least
human and ecological disruption.
This is not really a new strange idea, nor a great sacrifice. Every
human being since the beginning has had to work and procure
the necessities for the sustenance of his physical existence, or
has had to get somebody else to do it for him.
Question 4
First of all, who are people of good will? In my opinion these are
people from any background who have not become completely
cynical about humanity and are still interested in a meaningful
future for themselves and their children on this Earth.
People with enough common sense left to see the madness of the
present situation, who still have an open mind and a sincere
desire to discuss and find a practical solution. People who would
be prepared to become active if only they were not so confused
and they knew what to do.
These are the people of good will, and this description would
include most people on this Earth, if it was not for the factors of
confusion and cynicism which has infected and immobilized a
great number of honest human beings.
This last statement begs the question about what this philosophy
could be. The times when one individual could devise a
philosophy are gone forever; today this can only be done by the
corporate intelligence and effort of many. Therefore, all that I, as
an individual, can do is to explain, without pretence and
presumption, my personal point of view within a wider discussion
towards a new philosophy. I will try to do this in the future.
No matter how different our ideas may be, there can be only one
objective reality and, consequently, some ideas must be closer
than others to this reality.
In this search for a solution to their problems, people with similar
perceptions and aspirations will tend to join their forces and form
various groupings.
There are many people today who are frustrated and impatient
about the degeneration of the progressive forces; they are
searching for alternatives that may infuse new life to the
movement. At this moment more and more people, many of them
young and many with families to support, are continually being
discarded by an obsolete contracting economic system. They are
being persuaded to assume the blame for the failures of an
economy on which they have no say or control. They are forced to
sacrifice even the basic necessities, while those in command
disclaim responsibility, get richer and even cover themselves with
titles.
Soon the people who are being discarded will have to awaken
from their stupor and think hard about their survival. When their
life becomes impossible or not worth living, they will look for a
solution. If there is not an honest movement, with a meaningful
and practical program already started, ready to answer their call,
we all may fall victims to the regressive solutions of extreme right
wing conservatism.
I must stop, for now, step down from my 'soap box' and come
back to earth.
Question 5
There are basic differences between man and woman, and a male
chauvinist pig would probably say thank God for some of them:
But So far we are still ignorant about the origin of these
differences and their implications. In our evolution we have
reacted instinctively to the necessities for survival. There was no
malice or intent to do harm on the part of man or woman. Man
was himself cast in a definite role by force of necessity, and by
the will of woman (or consent of woman).
SOCIETY
I can very well imagine that, in the caves, it was woman that
chased out a lazy husband to fetch some firewood or to bring
home some food when she was heavy with a child and she was
looking after the others. Therefore, man acquired bigger muscles
and the mind of a hunter and maker of things.