It's time for my third (of six) introductory pieces, and this time it's politics (do try to contain your excitement). I'm going to explain why I see capitalism, in it's current manifestation, as undesirable and unsustainable, whether capitalism can be modified into a more appropriate form, and a brief look at the alternatives.
What's wrong with Capitalism?
Inequality - The Enemy of Peace, Happiness and Fullfillment
"In a world where 1 % of the population owns 40% of the planet's wealth, where 34,000 children die every single day from poverty and preventable diseases, and where 50% of the world's population lives on less than 2 and a half dollars a day, one thing is clear... Something is very wrong." - Peter Joseph
Like it or not, capitalism is based around inequality. More than that, it thrives on it, and perhaps even requires it to function properly. The foundation of capitalism is private ownership, the pursuit of profit and the accumulation of capital, which inevitably leads to those who have, and those who have not. From the few billionaires to the billions who scrape a living on a few dollars a day, capitalism, especially in its current form, is responsible for the deepest economic inequalities in the history of humanity, and these inequalities only continue to widen.Not only is this level of inequality an abhorrent affront against human decency, it is linked to a whole host of social ills, from social alienation to the level of happiness, and from the number of teenage pregnancies to the suicide rate. Economic inequality tends to augment racial, religious, national and social inequalities.
Inequality is also the prime motivator in the desire for material accumulation at all levels of society, not because it will make us any happier, more fulfilled or healthier (although people often like to think it will), but simply because the enormous inequality and economic philosophy makes people feel that they must try to rise further up the ladder of wealth. Perhaps this is a natural impulse based on 'human nature', twisted by the context of modern society, but is likely to not be as I'll be discussing later (ooo... the anticipation!)
Equality should be one of the highest priorities of all governments, as promoting equality will certainly lead to a more stable, peaceful and productive society. This transition from institutionalised inequality to equality is not possible within the framework of our current economic system based on capitalism.
Poverty - Capitalism's Ultimate Crime
"The world has enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed" - Gandhi
Poverty is, of course, tied closely to inequality. Those who exist in a state of poverty are those who live towards the bottom of the long scale of economic prosperity. Many reason are proposed for poverty, from the failure of the country's government to the 'laziness' of those who live in poverty, but when the issue is looked at closely in the context of our globalised world, only one reason emerges - the unequal allocation of resources, with a disproportionate amount going to primarily northern, 'developed', countries. This arises as a result of a capitalist system monopolised by the north.
Like for inequality, capitalism can thrive off poverty. It is useful firstly as a supply of cheap 'slave' labour, with those in abject poverty forced through their financial circumstances into dangerous, poorly paid and often brutally enforced manufacturing and agricultural jobs. It also serves as a warning to citizens of wealthier countries of the dangers of not fully embracing capitalist ideals (oh, the irony!), thus leading to poorly thought out arguments like 'capitalism is good because we have a high standard of living'. These arguments usually completely ignore the billions around the world who support that comparatively high standard of living, and the level to which resources are diverted to these countries, and away from the so called 'developing' nations.Poverty, just like equality, can not be eliminated in a corporate-capitalist system, since a large number of people living in relative poverty is virtually a perquisite of the functioning of such a system.
Instability - The Death Throes of Capitalism?
With the complex system of investment banks, stock markets and other such institutions with no tangible benefit to the vast majority of the world's people, the dominant economic system of the modern age has shown itself again and again to be highly, and increasingly, unsustainable.
Entire financial crises and recessions have been caused, not because there has been an decrease in the quantity of resources available, a decrease in the workforce size or some destructive event (such as a war or natural disaster), but simply because the risk-based system of investment, stock trading and a myriad of other such elements of the financial world has had a major screw-up. A major cause of the current economic downturn beginning in 2008 was such screw-ups, including the phantom 'derivatives market', which in 2009 stood at over $600 trillion (yes, trillion!) in value.Although this element of instability is not a requisite of corporate capitalism, it currently plays and integral part in the current capitalist paradigm, and is likely to add further instability in the coming years if left unchecked. One thing that can be noted is that (with the exception of the Great Depression) economic crises and collapses have become more and more common over the decades, and increasingly severe, perhaps implying that capitalism is in its final death throes, and may soon make its final spectacular collapse. There is a second main reason for economic instability, which bring me nicely on to the unsustainability of capitalism.
Unsustainability - Infinite Growth faces a Finite World
"Oil depletion and climate change will create an entirely new context in which political struggles will be played out. Within that context, it is not just freedom, democracy, and equality that are at stake, but the survival of billions of humans and of whole ecosystems." - Richard Heinberg
This is, I think, the most important of the arguments against capitalism, at least in its current form, as it shows how this system could potentially lead to societal and environmental collapse that threaten the continuation of civilisation itself. Accordingly, I'm going to spend quite a bit of time on it.
One important element of the consumerist-capitalist system is that it is based off an infinite growth model - that economic growth can continue indefinitely, and that the available resources will continue to increase with demand forever. However, we live on a finite world of finite resources, and so this sort of system can not continue to function for much longer under this premise.
By far the most important of these finite resources is crude oil. Oil is the lifeblood of modern civilisation. It is an incredibly dense energy supply that can be easily transported and used in a wide variety of machines. Without oil human societies would not have been able to grow in the same way they have and continue to, or reach the extraordinary levels of energy usage and societal complexity that we have today. But as everyone knows, oil will run out, but more importantly its production will reach a peak, after which the quantity of oil available per year decreases year on year.
This is known as the peak oil crisis, and there is strong evidence to suggest that it was a major factor in the economic downturn beginning in 2008. Immediately before the market crash, oil prices reached dizzying new heights that had never been experienced before. It looks likely that world oil production in around 2006, which would fit up perfectly with the subsequent rise in oil's price as the demand began to exceed the supply. As oil is required for most of the functioning of modern societies, from transport to agriculture, and from manufacture to electricity production, the astonishing increase in the price of oil helped to cause a major economic contraction. This contraction allowed the price of oil to plummet, thus allowing the now depleted supplies to build up again.
The world economy has begun to pick-up somewhat, and so demand for oil has increased accordingly. However, the initial problem still remains - that the peak in oil production has been reached, and therefore is not able to support much economic recovery at all before the supply again becomes severely restricted. If you look at the price of oil you will see that it remains at around $100 or over. Even a decade ago few people indeed would suggest that oil would ever reach that sort of price, but yet it has, and the high prices are seriously stunting any attempts at recovery. It is highly likely that a recession, or potentially a depression, could be triggered in the next couple of years as demand for oil again far exceeds the diminishing supply. This crisis may begin to be compounded by a peak in natural gas, and eventually in coal, in the next few decades.
Even if we were to ignore the affront to morality that is capitalism-caused inequality and poverty, capitalism can not survive in anything like its current form for more than a couple of decades, and the longer we hold on it to it and languish in its failure, the messier the transition to a new system will be.
Capitalism's Suicidal Tendencies
More than this, capitalism's continuing and increasing appetite for fossil fuels presents an existential threat to humanity. You will know (and should accept) that the burning of fossil fuels is releasing enormous quantities of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, and that these are causing global temperatures to rise in most areas in a process known as global warming.
A temperature rise of even a couple of degrees from current temperatures (likely to occur within a few decades at our current level of fossil fuel consumption) would devastate food production, lead to increased extreme weather, and flood low lying areas. Current predictions for the likely increase in temperature by the end of the century range from 3 to over 10 degrees. When you consider that an increase of only 6 degrees (and possibly less if feedback events such as the release of underground methane caused by increased temperatures are included) would spell the end of most life on earth. Most ecosystems would utterly collapse, food production would become impossible in almost all regions of the world, and humanity would be pushed to the brink of extinction.
Even if you don't care about the immense suffering caused as result of inequalities, poverty and an inherently unstable economic system, you can see that not even you can escape the annihilatory environmental effects that will arise from the continuation of our current system!
Immorality - The 'Human Nature' Fallacy
"Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilised the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilised man is always sceptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on 'I am not too sure.'" - H. L. MenckenThe argument that is probably brought up the most often in the debate of the merits of capitalism is the issue of 'human nature' - that capitalism is the natural outcome of primal human impulses of survival, which includes the accumulation of material goods and the brutal competition with other human beings. Therefore capitalism is the final evolution of human societies, and any other system is impossible because we are intrinsically greedy, exploitative and self-serving.
But this perspective is not based on reality. The earliest human societies (small family and tribal groups) were probably more collaborative than any society since then - they had to be! To survive, prosper and pass on their genetic code they had no choice but to work together in close knit groups, generally with each member taking a roughly equal share. Of course it is a natural human impulse to survive, but it is not natural to do this at the expense of fellow human beings. If it was, humanity would have been unlikely to have survived for very long before people's inability to co-operate lead to them all getting eaten as they slept alone, or the majority not having enough food if one member of the group was hoarding it. In fact, the survival/self-serving instinct is best served through co-operation - you will do far better with a hundred people working with you than by working against a hundred people!
Ultimately capitalism, specifically its prominent consumerist element, cheapens the human condition and the human experience. Consumerism, through advertisements, media and other sources, tells us that we need 'things' to be happy, so we base our lives on the pursuit of these things. Even though advances in technology have given us the ability to partially or fully automate many tasks, thus decreasing the number of hours that we need to work, people now work longer hours than at any time before, just so they can purchase more things. This is, of course, self-defeating. Material possessions rarely give us long-lasting happiness and satisfaction, even though they may appear to for a time, and by increasing the length for which they work, people are given less time to spend with their friends and families, developing as a person and exploring interests - the things that will really make us happy and fulfilled in our lives.
Can Capitalism be Saved?
From all these arguments we can see that capitalism in its corporate-consumerist state can not continue, and should not continue, if we want civilisation to continue in a stable and morally acceptable way (unless you can convince me otherwise in the comments section). Our current system has shown itself to be inefficient, unstable, destructive, unsustainable and morally repugnant, but can capitalism be modified to a more appropriate form? What, if anything, can we learn from the philosophy of capitalism?
What is Right in Capitalism?
There are a small number of elements to capitalism that are probably necessary in a new system. One of these is the importance of hard work, although preferably not for self-gain, but instead for self-fulfilment and helping others. The importance of personal freedom in capitalist philosophy is certainly necessary in a future system that can be considered moral. Aside from these two things, there is precious little that we should take from capitalism in its current form.
Modifying Capitalism
Could capitalism be adjusted to a more stable, equal and sustainable form? The pillars of capitalism - profit, private ownership and the accumulation of capital - would suggest no, since these go against the desirable elements that an improved model of capitalism should have. Trying to accommodate these into capitalism would likely have to mean the twisting of its key tenants, rendering it vastly different to its roots - perhaps so different that it is no longer capitalism.
Capitalism is based on negative traits that people may harbour, and relies on the suppression of positive elements of the human psyche, such as compassion, altruism and a desire to work together. If we are to develop a system that fosters these positive traits, I can see no way that it can be achieved using capitalism as a framework.
We can try to patch up the box that is capitalism all we like, but still it will continue to leak its wealth, spelling untold human misery and suffering. The box threatens to burst entirely, destroying all of civilisation in the process. It is about time that we stopped trying to repair the box, and begin constructing a new one, that is strong, well filled and able to respond to changing times, before it is too late.
Towards the Future
"Where there is no vision, there is no hope." - George Washington Carver
What are we to replace the corporate-capitalist system with? Socialism, communism and sometimes fascism are often portrayed as the only alternatives to capitalism, but extraordinary times call for extraordinary thinking, beyond those which has remained mostly static for decades. We live in a world balanced precariously between despair and hope; between self-destruction and revitalisation. The forces of science and technology continue to advance inexorably, presenting new opportunities that would not have been possible even a few decades ago.
Visions of the Future
"The economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th century. The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity." - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
I implore you to, as I have done, envision the future that you want. Spend time reflecting on your life philosophy, the current state of the world and your own experiences, and try to find what you would like the world to look like in a decade, fifty years, a century, or more from now.
I'd like to think that things like no more war or poverty are a given in your vision, but develop your views more, and always be critical of the conclusions you come to, and of course critical of others' conclusions.
In your future, what is it that drives people? What are the priorities of society? What is the role of government, if there should be one at all? What should the economic, political, social, cultural and spiritual apparatuses present to ensure the best quality of life for the highest number of people?
I'll look more at what my vision is in future posts, but it is certainly impossible to come to the conclusion that capitalism, in any form remotely like the current one with the obscenities of widening inequalities, deepening poverty, increasing instability and potential annihilation that goes along with it, will meet the criteria that a fully thought-out vision should, and I challenge you to prove me wrong!- Daniel
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