Humanity appears to be incapable of living together in peace and harmony. Wars and criminal violence plague the planet. So some argue that human beings are inherently brutal, but there are others who say that we are conditioned into violence by the way we are raised, nurtured and the type of conditions and surroundings we are exposed to. People vary and we are all unique individuals – different yet the same – within each and every human being the potential for tremendous good exists (routinely demonstrated in times of need), as does the propensity towards great cruelty. The environment in which we all live, the values and beliefs, these influence us and determine which behaviour traits dominate.
Capitalist conditioning is far the most damaging, as it divides and creates a false and distorted view of others fostering competition and nationalism , creating barriers between us, fuelling rivalries, facilitating conflicts. It is a socially unjust society. Everyone is seen as a commodity to be bought and sold. It’s time for humanity to reject all that divides us and to unite to build a socialist cooperative commonwealth.
§ Everyone is socially equal with no classes.
§ There is an abundance of goods which are freely circulated.
§ Political rule is not dictatorial.
§ All competition has ended.
§ There are no exchange nor markets.
§ People are working together, collectively and creatively.
§ The state has withered away.
Capitalists accuse working people of generally being stupid and selfish and it is only the few, risk-taking entrepreneur capitalists who show ingenuity. But capitalists pay no heed to the fact that workers will engage in all manner of leisure activities such as sport and practice their hobbies. Capitalists also ignore the fact that in cases when workers have control of what, how and when they produce – as in worker self-management or worker cooperative experiments – they have higher rates of motivation leading to more productivity than they do when employed by a capitalist.
If it were true that people had unlimited individual wants and needs and the market only exists to satisfy them all there would be no need for mass advertising to create artificial desires. Many actual wants are neglected if the profit on them is too low. Planned obsolescence makes sure that purchases don’t last long. Products are manufactured to be throw-away and irreparable.
The wealth of capitalists does not trickle-down to the workers. Living standards appear to be better than in the past, higher levels of home-ownership, more consumer goods. But now it takes more than one bread-winner in the home to pay all the bills. Working hours are now longer, with overtime a necessity for many. The amount and burden of debt has increased to keep up with the cost of living. Capitalism has kept people in relative poverty. Capitalism works only for a small minority. The vast majority of people have not benefited from capitalism.
Capitalists use competition for jobs to divide-and-conquer, pitting white against black, native-born against newcomers, using racism and immigration to suppress wages. Unemployment is a necessary part of the capitalist system. An unemployed army of workers is necessary to keep workers from working together and joining unions to raise wages and better their working conditions. Many workers are in poverty, not because they “choose” to stay home, watch TV and drink beer. The “choice” of workers is between working at various kinds of low wage job or starving.
Capitalism is a global system that is far more powerful than any individual nation-state. Capitalism constantly needs new markets and exploits weaker countries for cheap land, natural resources and labour. Nation-states are interdependent. Many of these colonised nations are in debt and beholden to the IMF and World Bank for loans. These banks do not want colonized countries to develop. They were given loans for the support of the tourist industry, growing of cash crops rather than for subsistence or taking care to develop industries that were most efficient in developing the natural resources of their own country.
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