Welton reveals the religion that really guides people's lives in capitalist countries. This religion also has a holy trinity: private (economic) property, markets, profits. It was originally the religion of only a tiny minority of European burghers 300-400 years ago, but the practice of their religion resulted in the accumulation and concentration of vast wealth which has over time given this minority the power to put their stamp of interests and beliefs on every institution of our societies.
Yes, capitalism is today's religion; its values and beliefs guide all significant actions in today's world. They have accomplished this by stealth so that few people are aware of how their religion has taken control of the way we think and live. Hence, few of us realize that this tiny sect has grown into a monster that is devouring our lives and our planet.
Doesn’t everyone know that the god we serve requires clear cut forests, depleted oceans, empty oil wells, toxics dumped into the biosphere? ....
Everyone also knows, deep down, in their heart of hearts, that the god we serve actually has no life of its own. In Capital, volume 1, Marx imagined that the god of the market was like a vampire who “lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.” This monster feeds on the life force of the natural and human worlds. It needs men and women as slaves who have energy and the motivation to work endlessly with others to produce the goods.
