The ultimate goal for progressives can be described in rather simple terms:
To give both government and capitalism a social conscience.
Or in other words, to win over enough people to establish a government dedicated to a social, ecological and economic justice criteria for all our nation’s people. And not to allow amoral capitalist goals of accumulating profit by any means necessary to dictate domestic and foreign policy. Much, much easier to be said than done!
The stakeholder variety of capitalist interests commonly pursued today benefits a very limited number of people, not the country as a whole. Money talks and rules, few would deny it, left or right.
We are everyday presented with the stock market news falsely presented as the barometer for health for the nation. A market which does not respond to ecological or social welfare beyond how they effect profits and investor portfolios. They spend trillions on defending what it sees as their class interests.
Even staunch supporters of capitalism realize that changes must be made:
“The conversation about stakeholder capitalism is heartening evidence that the business community recognizes that capitalism has gone seriously off track. The obvious criticism is that, while CEOs are well-placed to pursue profits, they are ill-suited to weigh and balance the needs of the environment and many different stakeholders, as has been cogently argued in The New York Times. And so far, the follow-through on the embrace of stakeholder capitalism has been decidedly mixed.”
Harvard Business Review
We’re Facing Earth’s Six Major Extinction
Perhaps any even greater flaw in capitalism today is that it’s ideological mode of operation has led humanity to the brink of self-destruction. The direction of civilization has been tied not to the planet’s (i.e. spaceship Earth’s) welfare, but to its own profit driven pursuit and the welfare of the privileged.
Making it a predatory system and we are the prey.
The result is a planet seriously out of ecological balance, a civilization that is dependent on a primary driving energy force derived from fossil fuel, a global addiction that will certainly cause, and is causing, irreparable damage. One which science characterizes as a massive man-made global extinction event, which would be the six Earth has gone through.
What have they done to the earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged, plundered, ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
Tied her with fences and dragged her down
The Doors, Jim Morrison from “When the Music’s Over”
Unprecedented Slaughter
Capitalism has ravaged the environment, unleashing deadly toxins causing untold cancers and pollution related deaths. Wiped out hundreds of species without a thought or regret. America once had 35 million buffalo, now there are but a few thousand, slain to wipe out indigenous American’s livlihood. Passenger pigeons were so numerous they created weather by blocking out sunlight for miles as their flocks passed. They are now extinct, since 1914, slain simply for feathers attached to hats.
Capitalism along with past governments have given little consideration towards restoring ecological balance, or towards the long term health consequences they spawn.
Not to even mention its failure to reduce the number of conflicts and wars ravaging the planet and its people.
The Ancient Origins of Capitalism
At this point, I expect some readers to suggest that it’s not capitalism that’s causing the crisis, it’s something akin to human nature. While there is more than a kernel of truth in that belief, more needs to be said about human nature.
Specifically, there were factors that eventually led many years ago to predatory capitalist development in modern times. The ancient world’s dominating and developing civilizations had mainly oppressive forms of government and labor based on sharp, antagonistic class differences featuring the deadly war technologies of their time. This helped set the table for the way labor would be viewed by those in future ruling circles.
A Dependence on Slave Labor
The common factor most of the great past civilizations had in common was a dependence on slave labor. Larger and larger settlements developed primitive but revolutionary technologies for the times that were increasingly labor intensive.
Along with the laborious process of making things like a knife, sword, shield, shelter/home/castle. Even building a pyramid. At this time we see the early development of classes of people carrying out different functions and a much greater need for forced as opposed to free labor.
With these tools and know how also came the possibility and likely the desire to escape this difficult and back breaking work, and have someone else do it for you. And the possibility/liklihood of some individuals seeking power and control over this labor. And this is indeed what happened to form the ruling elites. Those that were able to harness labor, especially forced or slave labor, had a distinct advantage to move forward and increase their power and accumulate wealth.
The exploitation of labor became the early measure of wealth and dominance. Leading right up to and including modern times.
Socialism as Practiced: Meet the new Boss . . Same as the Old Boss
Despite its lofty goals, labor relations under socialist attempts often failed to be truly socialized. Nor were economic and ecological realities typically tackled successfully. Attempts failed because capitalism had largely created a dominant global industrial environment sculpted in its own image and likeness that was super resistant to fundamental change.
Ruling bodies or political party leaders were typically not elected, and most were far removed the masses. Workers rarely saw conditions improve for them. The ruling parties, exempted from both poverty and having to perform hard labor, functioned as bureaucracies and acquired control and privilege over labor. They functioned, in effect, as private owners and an elite ruling class. Meet the new Boss . . Same as the Old Boss, it could be said.
These failed attempts at establishing socialism typically inherited an authoritarian capitalist industrial framework and culture that still required a healthy percentage or workers to do dangerous or alienating hard labor.
Soon the leaders became victims of the structures they inherited. Even more agrarian societies developed capitalist industrial frameworks under authoritarian governments. China and the former Soviet Union being the best examples.
Turned out that taking power in the name of socialism was a long ways from establishing a form of democratic and principled collective ownership.
Labor under Capitalism
Labor remained in many ways as it was under earlier systems of monarchy, empires and absolutism. Just take a look at the development strategies employed in the 19th and 20th century. Rapid capitalist industrial development brought along with it deplorable and life threatening work places and pitifully low wages, accompanied by the violent repression of unionizing attempts.
This leopard has not changed its spots and today is attempting to take back many of the benefits gained through decades of labor struggles while at the same time fighting the wave of new unionism sweeping the country. Many workers are still reduced to dangerous and unhealthy conditions and are living in deplorable poverty.
Capitalist Culture: Only Part of the Problem
The culture emphasized in capitalist countries is both predatory and backward in many respects. It tends to block progressive movements as well as undermine attempts at building socialism as well as carrying out socially responsible reform attempts.
Building an effective progressive movement of any kind requires understanding how much our dominant capitalist culture has undermined progressive organizing attempts.
We must accept the proposition that we ourselves cannot be immune from either these problems or the solutions. We are subjected to, and surrounded by, the same influences that gave birth to the MAGA trend. All of us have friends, family members or relatives that have fallen victim to it.
Few of us gravitate towards socialist ideas, even the most oppressed among us. Movies, T.V., Major Media, most Religions and even some Sports are an insidious source of the dominant culture. In more rural areas “political hate radio” is commonly listened to, heavily subsidized by wealthy local sources.
The capitalist elites and their right-wing culture machine often attack liberals, reformers, progressives and the left, while they fake giving a damn for the people falling victim to MAGA sympathies. Some of the many examples of attack canards include:
- linking crime to race rather than poverty
- arguing welfare is bankrupting the government
- spending on social services causes your taxes to increase
- blaming people of color for almost any problem
- insinuating Jews have all the money
- demonizing the poor
- demonizing liberals and progressives
- demonizing democrats
- worshiping the police
- socialism is communism
- socialism is totalitarianism
- socialism is fascism
- abortion is murder
- blaming inflation on liberal policy
- blaming crime on liberalism
- blaming liberals for being weak on crime
- blaming women for being raped
- claiming radical lesbians are in charge of the women’s movement
- calling Obama Care socialist
- calling social security communistic
- blaming unions for higher taxes
Voting and the Mass Movement
Those are only a few of the lies and distortions we have to overcome. That said, we will not succeed in convincing very many Trump voters of their biases or be able to “covert” them to our own points of view with words or arguments.
What does change people is contact with each other and group action. The mass movement and frequent demonstrations, in addition to voting out Republicans, needs to be behind change.
Point of fact, what pushed the Democratic Party to oppose racial segregation, support gay and women’s rights and some members to support the anti-Vietnam protests was the mass movements and sacrifices organizers made behind them.
The world faces self destruction, and that’s not coming from a bible thumping preacher. It’s certainly on the agenda. So is “change or die.” Defeating Trump in November is only the beginning.
The Wheel that Squeaks gets the Grease
Those capitalist elites exerting powerful behind the scenes influence in forming government policy will not willingly become the spearhead for change. It is they who head/own industries most responsible for environmental damage and stand to lose profits if forced to make changes in the way they function.
We must act together and squeak very loudly, loud enough to be heard over paid over elites that can afford lobbyists that often dominate the government’s ear.