It’s them or us!

Our ideas about society, our consciousness, reflect the social environment. Capitalist society never stands still, and so the ideas about it also never stand still. Planning for use would require a tremendous increase in the forces of production whereas fascism is tearing down these forces at an unprecedented rate. There is utter confusion concerning the meaning of planning and the distinction between production inside the factory walls and in society as a whole. Marx drew a distinction between the orderly planning of production inside the factory and the resulting anarchy of production in the whole of society despite this factory planning. True enough, within the sphere of its control, the global corporations introduces some order. As Engels wrote :

“When we pass from joint stock companies to trusts which control and monopolise whole branches of industry, not only private production comes to an end at that point, but also planlessness.”

Capitalism introduces planning of production in an entire sector of economy (each in its own sector), but this still does not and cannot mean control of all economy. Monopolies can in some sense control production for the market (for their own bloated profits), but they cannot control the market itself. The proof of this was the last crisis and the one before that one – and the next one and the one after that. Reformists cannot abolish exchange, the market, competition, crises.

No matter what workers believe or what politicians  whether on the right or the left, say our wellbeing is inconsequential to capitalism’s pursuit of profits. The working class must sacrifice its welfare and the welfare of future generations in order to ensure the comfort and security of the ruling class. Workers,get paid only as much as is necessary for our survival or as much as we can extract (i.e., win through trade union struggles) from the bosses. Our strength lies in the fact that, in spite of all our superficial differences, we all really want the same things — to live happy, productive lives with the goal of providing an even better future for our children. The capitalists try to convince workers that we have to compete amongst ourselves to gain improvements in our lives. That we have to win out over others of our class to rise to the top. But that’s only true as long as we continue to believe we have no right to the full amount of wealth that we produce. And as long as they can continue to blind us to our strength as a unified force with the power to claim all the wealth we produce for ourselves to be shared by all, and for the good of future generations.

The fundamental problem with capitalism is that it can’t increase their profits and our standard of living and protect the planet all at the same time. It’s one or another! Or, more accurately, it’s them or us! The only way capitalism can maintain or increase their profit-margins is to plunder the planet for more resources as cheaply as possible while forcing workers to sacrifice their well-being, the well-being of their children and future generations, for basic survival today. As long as capitalism survives, the Earth’s natural habitat will continue to suffer from capitalism’s toxic and wasteful production practices, endangering the future for all of us. The truth is, we can put an end to this capitalist insanity.

There is a real alternative — an independent, self-organised, democratically-run revolution to ensure the happiness and well-being for all. We can put an end, once and for all, to the system of capitalism because it’s an insane way to use the world’s resources, and inhumane manner to treat the world’s people. In fact, it’s barbaric. And it simply doesn’t have to be this way.

The ruling class wants us to believe that they can do what they want; and that we are powerless over them. The truth is, they are only as powerful as we allow them to be because we massively outnumber them. We all want the same thing, to share the wonders of the Earth, and preserve its bounty for the future. Our hope for the future lies in massive, organised resistance to capitalism’s brutality. Capitalism is all that’s standing in our way of choosing Paradise over Hell.