Although this article is formally entitled "Understanding Capitalism", it is really a very positive scholarly review of the book entitled Mindful Economics by Joel C. Magnuson in which, he argues, leads to a real understanding of capitalism. In his introduction to his review, Greanville goes at some length to show that economic theory as taught and interpreted in the USA has over time degenerated into a method to induce a widespread false consciousness in order to obscure how the economy really works for the benefit of a few at the expense and misery of the vast majority.
As might be expected the instruments to mould opinion in a significant manner are jealously guarded by the ruling classes everywhere. In capitalist America, these tools are literally priced out of the reach of most common mortals. This is logical and consistent with the wealth and power distribution of such societies, where the savvier sectors of the plutocracy understand that the monopoly of opinion manipulation is vital to the survival of their system. Outright repression can certainly ensure a level of compliance, sometimes for a generation or two, but in the long run intimidation cannot guarantee political stability or legitimacy. Only covert mind control can deliver that. Thus by far the most efficient solution is when we are made to carry the chains and prisons right inside our heads. Policing our own actions while still believing in our total freedom is simply a diabolically effective formula to ensure perpetual bondage, but to make it fly the system requires the confluence of many critical factors, including the complicity of academia.
