Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The concrete roots of capitalism’s magical thinking

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

Thursday, September 4, 2014

The concrete roots of capitalism’s magical thinking

Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from his blog Systemic Disorder.

Dolack makes an excellent contribution to an understanding of how capitalists succeed in such a class based system by manufacturing so many illusions to justify their system, to defuse and confuse opposition, and finally to blame the victims of the system when all else fails. Their control over society is rooted in the capitalist concept of property which gives them control over every ideological institution, and thus the ideas and views of its subjects.

Because capitalism requires incessant growth, their system is coming up against finite limits of the Earth. Because the system requires profits for capitalists, the system is also bringing about the destruction of communities and jobs, the slashing of social supports to people who cannot function, wars, economic upheavals, etc. Conditions of human life are rapidly devolving into a tiny class of the rich and a huge mass of the poor, like rich islands in an ocean of the poor. Thus, the engines of indoctrination, propaganda, and distraction are now taking on Orwellian qualities to keep people from being aware of all the crises that are crushing their lives.