in the time remaining, to help us understand how the man-made system of capitalism will lead to the extinction of our human species, and so many others.
We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Ten Myths About Capitalism
Overall (I have some problem with the phrasing of #10) I think this is a very good list of the key myths in which citizens are indoctrinated so that they will unquestioningly function to serve the needs of the One Percent ruling class (capitalist class). It is one of the purposes of my blog to run articles that illustrate how false these beliefs are.
As a ruling class, the One Percent has control over all subsystems in society and thus is able to propagate these myths throughout all institutions. This is a very effective indoctrination arrangement because it means total immersion in these beliefs throughout every facet of the lives of ordinary people. To be sure, the ruling capitalist class could use, and has used (e.g. Nazi Germany and fascist Italy), police state methods to enforce compliant behavior, but indoctrination programs are so much more cost effective.
With never-ending wars and the recent economic collapse of the economy, such beliefs are increasingly being questioned by ordinary citizens, some even are engaging in protests that are threatening to the One Percenters and their system of capitalism. Hence, we have seen the growth of prisons, deterioration of our civil rights, fear campaigns about Muslim terrorists and immigrants, police state methods used to crush protests, surveillance of our private communications by government agencies in collaboration with corporations, etc.