I am the voice of the voiceless
I am the exploited, powerless against
the machinations of the exploiter
I am the honest, so my truth
will be used against me
I am the victim of capitalism in America
Consumer Capitalism's Wet Dream
How do they get away with it?
Largely because of the inability of Americans
to organize in any meaningful way
American capitalism contends that
“rugged individualism” is the alleged
line of demarcation between
financial success and failure
Therefore there is no incentive to combat
social or economic injustices unless
they directly, and detrimentally,
impact one’s life
The ideology that sustains capitalism trains us to accept it as a natural and universal development to which we all tend.We're All Victims of Capitalism
Its basic premise is that human beings are unfit for anything better.
We are inadequate to the task of creating a world beyond selfish, narcissistic, consumerist narrowness, in which we are all mutually exploitative and indifferent, in which some thrive in the struggle better than others.
Because human beings are self-interested, 'rational' creatures, constantly devising strategies, sizing one another up, figuring off ways to rip off the mark and track down the latest born sucker.
Because this is the assumption, utopias that capitalism permit us are frequently technophiliac masturbation fantasies, based principally on the transformation of the self.
From eugenics to racial purity, from national service to the furnace of war, from EST to shopping therapy, from evolutionary psychology to neuro-modification - human beings must be forced to adapt.
Capitalism requires us to accept such outrageous and irrational models of human beings.
Any sense that we are capable of utopian promise without being chemically or genetically enhanced by the pharmaceutical industry and the military-industrial complex is conveniently left out of the ideological matrix.
Any sense that humanity is adequate for collective, democratic enterprise with affordable energy, clean water, healthy food and peace is an outrageous heresy that must be extinguished
I am the voice of the voiceless. I am the exploited, powerless against the machinations of the exploiter. I am the honest, so my truth will be used against me. I am the victim of capitalism in America.
Capitalism in America is covertly governed by three unwritten rules. The first two rules work in tandem:
1). Treat others the way you would NOT want to be treated;
2). Always measure the value of human beings by your self-interest, not theirs.
This is why I’m amused when wealthy politicians or televangelists, in their self-serving effort to obtain votes or money, endeavor to profess that America is a “Christian” nation.
Especially since the fundamental tenet of Christianity—“treat others as you would wish to be treated”—is the absolute antithesis to the first rule of capitalism.
This leads to the third rule of American capitalism: By turning luxuries into necessities, businesses can force people to pay whatever they demand.
Some criminologists have argued that part of America’s crime problem emanates from the quest for “instant gratification.”
Instead of saving one’s money to purchase a desired item, people become impatient and more willing to take “short-cuts,” legal or illegal, to obtain this item.
But the problem is not the quest for instant gratification, but the culture of instant gratification that rapidly changing developments in technology have fostered.
By the time a minimum wage worker saves enough money to purchase the latest “must-have” device, it has most likely become obsolete and replaced by a newer, more expensive model. So the incentive to save decreases, while the incentive to borrow money or charge a purchase on a high interest credit card increases.
Computers, cell phones, high definition televisions, and access to the Internet are just some of the luxuries being transformed into necessities by many, if not most, Americans.
But the biggest luxury—the automobile—has already become a necessity, and with it has come the demand for gasoline.
And the oil companies know it.
They also know they can charge whatever they want for this gasoline, and the government will not stop them, nor will consumers boycott them.
Their strategies are simple: First there is the psychologically based “high price/low price” scheme. Its mechanics are simple:
One day gasoline is two dollars a gallon. Suddenly the price jumps to four dollars a gallon. Consumers grumble and moan, but buy it anyway.
A month or so later, the price “drops” to three dollars a gallon. Now consumers have the illusion that gasoline is “a dollar cheaper” when it’s actually a dollar higher!
Then there is the “always an excuse” scheme. Oil companies claim that prices jump during the winter months because of the demand for home heating.
They claim that prices go up in the summer because of the demands of travelers. Then, during the other two seasons, the prices go up so the extra revenue can allegedly be used to search for new sources of oil. And the record profits roll in.
How do they get away with it? Largely because of the inability of Americans to organize in any meaningful way. American capitalism contends that “rugged individualism” is the alleged line of demarcation between financial success and failure.
Therefore there is no incentive to combat social or economic injustices unless they directly, and detrimentally, impact one’s life.
A cogent example of this occurred a few years ago in a mid-sized Midwestern city. The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), a union representing police officers, was campaigning for community support in its battle with the city for higher wages.
However, many of the officers in this union actually entered into another jurisdiction to prevent a pro-labor rally from being held near the premises of an anti-union retailer.
Sadly, even if workers belong to a labor union expectations are not high.
Employers have the ability to engage in strike-breaking through the use of replacement workers, overseas markets provide cheap labor and lax safety and environmental laws.
And many unions have become corrupted or influenced by members of organized crime, who use union dues for their own benefit, instead of for the benefit of the rank-and-file.
In addition, conspicuous consumerism has made America a sedentary nation. People’s definition of “activism” often translates into little more than sending an E-mail or signing an Online petition.
The Internet, the hundreds of television channels, the plethora of video games, the DVDs and Online movies, the DVRs and other such devices keep people cloistered in their own little worlds, oblivious to the injustices around them.
American capitalism thrives on this lack of unity. The power to “divide and conquer” incessantly pits the middle-class against the poor, or one race against another. And all the while the wealthy count their money and laugh. David R. Hoffman @ Pravda