[colinbaker62]

Hello xtremelady and thank you for reading and commenting.

I like very much, your analogy when you compare capitalism to the lottery. To a degree, this kind of comparison is very useful, for there are undoubtedly, winners and losers. You also make a valid point (one that is often overlooked) that capitalist property relations have facilitated great material gains for the human species, not least in scientific knowledge along with the socialisation of production. In this regard, arguably the nineteenth century was capitalism's century, certainly when it comes to Western Europe generally.

In the first paragraph of your reply, you pose a key question when considering the supplanting or otherwise of capitalist relations, asking; "what are the alternatives?". This is, of course, a contentious issue but if I were to answer such a question, I would reply 'social property relations'. Why? It is undeniable nowadays, that capitalistic production is thoroughly social in nature, thanks above all else to mass gains in scientific knowledge, technological developments, human skills, and the subsequent application of such knowledge, technology and skills to various aspects of people's lives, above all through the act of social production. Across the developed capitalistic world, we now have the capacity to produce daily, more than enough to house, clothe and feed the entire population not only in the West, but in the entire world.

Yet we do not do this. Instead, a minority of humans (property-owning capitalists) continue to legally lay claim to the resulting social product as a direct consequence of law-enshrined property relations. Production is social and on a global scale, while appropriation of the resulting social product is a private affair. Under such circumstances, millions upon millions of people work not for themselves in general, but instead for a minority of property owning capitalists. This is the essence of the problem for me, and unless and until such a contradiction is addressed, the inevitable material, and ideological consequences will keep asserting themselves. A good example of this is the point you make in your penultimate paragraph about people you know, harbouring resentment of sorts against immigrants. Such feelings, in my view, are unavoidable in a capitalistic world of uneven and unequal development and a world moreover, in which for some, cheap immigrant labour is a welcome phenomenon that is best encouraged.

It is true as you say that the material gains for many living under conditions of capitalist relations have, in relative terms, been great in many regards when compared to generations past, but even these kinds of gains have assumed an uneven and unequal manifestation. It is now clear to all who wish to see it, that capitalism as a social system, cannot fundamentally address the issue of starvation in developing nations, or Third World debt, or (when it comes to capitalist countries themselves) desperately low wages, or poverty, or unemployment, or economic crises. Can capitalism ever generate full employment while retaining a profit incentive? Can capitalism control once and for all, inflation? Can concentrated economic power (monopolies) ever be controlled in a disinterested manner and for the good of all humanity? Can capitalist states ever refrain from the exploitation of weaker peoples not only within their own borders, but also in other less developed states? One thing is now for certain, capitalism per se, can no longer blame its failings on a lack of resources, scientific knowledge or human skills. These we possess in abundance.

I think you make an interesting point also, when you suggest that little will alter unless and until enough people 'become disenchanted' with a given social system. I fully agree with this statement. It is now necessary more than ever before to introduce Marxist scientific theory into the minds of millions of people as the initial step in any concrete social transition. Without theory, people flounder in the dark. Conversely, without practical activity, theory is never tested in the real world, the only world of which we have any objective knowledge. As you say, small steps first. Without such guiding scientific theory however, people will remain ideologically jailed within the mindset of capitalism and subsequently will continue to think, feel and act in accordance with capitalist property relations.

To return to the overall point of the essay, unless we grasp the nettle and begin challenging this unequal and uneven ownership of productive capacity and the resulting social product, such exploitative societies will inevitably continue to give rise to racial tensions. Just cast an eye to contemporary Israel where neo-nazism of all things is taking root.




Colin