01.06.24
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I wrote this text for two reasons. The first one is my 14 year-old brother. He asked me what communism is and whether it is the opposite of fascism or capitalism, both or none. He doesn’t believe that, of course. But he also doesn’t really know and most information about the topic is highly controversial, politicised and complicated. Secondly, I wrote this because I feel like instead of of debating how a better world should look and how to get there, I end up trying to make people understand why we need to change something and why our current mindset, our economy and society has to change - why it always has to change, never stand still. My brother tells me that many of his friends ask you “are you a fascist? are you a communist then?” As if they were black and white and there was nothing in between. I dedicate this text to them.
I want to talk about this topic, not from the perspective of my own beliefs, my own opinion - although of course the entire text is just my opinion in a way - but rather from the perspective of the curious thinker that I am. Let us wonder and explore the world together and I hope we will all be able to agree on the fact that we have to take action and finally start discussing all our ideas of what action to take.
To answer this question we have to understand that words name things in the world or represent ideas. For instance we have decided that the red juice and slightly acidic fruit is called apple. Apples did exist before we named them. Ideas, on the other hand don’t really exist outside of our minds, books or films. Most of us know what StarWars is but what does the word mean? StarWars. For some people, like my father - certain generation of westerners I suppose - it evokes emotions. Nostalgia for instance. Younger people who have grown up with the latest movie might associate StarWars with ridiculous, budget-wasting CGI bullshit. And yet StarWars is all of that: The inspiration and imagination, the universe and the reality of a sexist and racist, billion dollar industry that transforms the so-called celebrities into lifelong reality TV shows.
Why talk about StarWars when I am supposed to talk about capitalism. I thought this example might be less politicised, controversial and a little more relatable - less abstract.
Just like StarWars, capitalism (and any other -ism from fascism to communism to Confucianism) is an idea - a thought in somebody’s imagination. The way the StarWars Saga turned out is probably very different from what George Lucas imagined it, but factors like profit, equality and inclusion played a big role in the process (I am sure that all films would be much better - in fact the world would be better - if nothing had to necessarily and always turn a profit, but surely people of colour or women didn’t play the same role in George Lucas’ imagination either!). There are always pros and cons, which is why the are no absolute answers, no totally right or completely wrong.
Questions like “Is communism better than capitalism?” Or both answers to this question are completely stupid. The point is that we are talking about ideas. The reality is different. So let’s talk about the reality of capitalism then, shall we? Well… First of all people spoke about capitalism as early as in the 18th century and I guarantee you they did not anticipate the extent of globalisation and advancing technologies and their direct effect being and overall better living standard and the impeding doom of climate change (or nuclear wars). This means that using the same word people refer to very different things at different times… Even apples have changed! They used to be less juicy, less shiny, less sweet… and less gene editing and chemicals.
Therefore we should focus on what capitalism is right now and statements like “capitalism is responsible for the overall living conditions and comfort that we have today” or the opposite of blaming capitalism for the current environmental crisis are utterly false and absurd. You can’t blame an idea - ideas don’t do anything (wrong). Especially when different people at different times referred to very different ideas when talking about capitalism! People do things wrong. People cause problems. When they believe in an ideology like capitalism, communism or Christianity for instance. Then they start invading Iraq or go on crusades.
But even right now, different people think and feel very differently about capitalism. Just like StarWars. In Panama and Vietnam, capitalism is widely recognised as the best socio-economic and political system, considering the country’s past. Perhaps a North Korean would disagree, perhaps not. But it is clear that the majority of intellectuals that means professors, scientists and writers in the west generally denounce capitalism and call for its overcoming. This is very ironic because mostly the privileged among the privileged - the educated citizens of former colonisers and current trade and exploitation leading countries are the ones speaking.
So are we actually further from understanding what capitalism is now than before? Just a vague idea that is somehow very personal or what? I would say that just like all -isms, capitalism is a bubble. A huge bubble of ideas, realities, histories, connotations and implications, pros and cons.
So why would people, including me, call for the abolishment of capitalism and what do they mean. I can obviously only speak for myself and as we have just seen it is very difficult to use such a vague word like capitalism at all, but I mostly refer to the core principles of capitalism and its real-life implications today.
Simply put, capitalism is very complex and different capitalists argue for completely opposite Ideas, but at the core it is about profit. Not about constant and stable revenue. Not even about a steady increase. It is all about exponential growth. More. And more, more, more!
Commonly a country’s economic growth is measured as GDP (Gross domestic product) in percent. This is the first real-life implication of “capitalism” (or to be much more precise and correct: of exponential growth); it puts emphasis on the numbers, on the green percentages. Something abstract. Nobody counts how many hospitals and train stations have been built, how many people have access to good education and how happy people are (apart from Bhutan…).