Many critics of capitalism suggest that capitalism is not the main
problem in the world. They do not want to appear, in the eyes of the
people and the ruling elite, as too radical or ‘ideological’. But the
forces for social change must embrace revolutionary engagement with
robust ideological clarity: Capitalism is the problem.
"The
ideological deficiency, not to say the total lack of ideology, within
the national liberation movements — which is basically due to ignorance
of the historical reality which these movements claim to transform —
constitutes one of the greatest weaknesses of our struggle against
imperialism, if not the greatest weakness of all." - Amilcar Cabral [1]
What is it about the term ‘capitalism’ that inspires many of us to not
call its name in vain and in the public square? Why is it that many of
us will openly and forcefully critique ‘classism’ but enthusiastically
shy away from condemning capitalism in the same way? After all, we do
publicly name and slam racism, homophobia or heterosexism, ageism,
patriarchy or sexism and ableism. How effective will we be in organising
and rallying the oppressed against economic exploitation without naming
the system that is brutalising the majority?
It is rather telling that Occupy Wall Street’s (OWS) first public
document studiously refrained from explicitly naming the system that is
the source of economic exploitation and domination:
‘As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass
injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write
so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world
can know that we are your allies.’[2]
Some of the oppressive facts of the economic system outlined in Occupy
Wall Street’s Declaration of the Occupation of New York City can be
reformed, in the eyes of many people, without destroying capitalism.
Therefore, most participants and supporters of the Occupy Movement did
not see their embrace of its ‘We are the 99%’ slogan as an indictment of
capitalism:
‘…the results of our 453 interviews at seven Occupy locations indicate
that OWS movement demands are not mutually incompatible with capitalism.
Moreover, for the most part, the OWS movement is neither calling for
abolishing capitalism, nor is it demanding a massive overhaul of
capitalism as an economic system -- less than 5% of all the respondents
we interviewed in the seven Occupy locations made any reference to
ending, abolishing or getting rid of capitalism. Instead, the key
demands we kept hearing in this regard are: elimination of corporate
personhood; the need for campaign finance reform and getting money out
of politics.’[3]
There were other voices early on in the movement who realized that many
supporters of this protest movement had no grievance with capitalism,
but were upset with ‘corporate greed’ or the excesses of the ‘corporate
forces.’ Ha-Joon Chang, an open supporter of capitalism had this to say
about the London occupiers, ‘It is routinely described as
anti-capitalist, but this label is highly misleading. As I found out
when I gave a lecture at its Tent City University last weekend, many of
its participants are not against capitalism. They just want it better
regulated so that it benefits the greatest possible majority.’[4]
William Bowles noted Occupy Wall Street’s focus on ‘capitalist criminals
rather than criminal capitalism’ as well as the general avoidance of
mentioning ‘socialism’ ‘except from the tiny Left contribution
itself.’[5]
The tenuous claim or perception of the Occupy Movement being
ideologically committed to placing capitalism in the dustbin of history
was promoted by many media outlets.[6] On the international front, the
Occupy Movement was also seen as an entity with a strong anti-capitalist
outlook.[7] It is quite instructive that a movement whose spokespersons
did not indict capitalism as the perpetrator or ‘person of interest’ in
the economic suffering of the working-class was still seen as an
anti-capitalist phenomenon. This state of affairs speaks to the
‘ideological deficiency’ or lack of understanding of the nature of
capitalism that exist in society.
Based on the manner in which some political progressives frame their
critique of capitalism, one could reasonably form the opinion that there
are benign or redeeming forms of capitalism. Let's make this clear, all
forms of capitalism are unacceptable and revolting to justice,
solidarity and equity.
There are moments when critics denounce ‘unfettered capitalism,’[8]
‘corporate capitalism,’[9] ‘crony capitalism,’[10] ‘finance or financial
capitalism’[11] or ‘unregulated capitalism’[12] as the source of the
current economic and social exploitation experienced by the masses or
societies across the globe.
These erstwhile critics of capitalism are implicitly or unwittingly
suggesting that capitalism is not the main problem. As such, the actual
message being communicated to the people is that the derivative forms of
this dog-eat-dog economic system are the real issues of concern to the
people’s well-being.
Sam Gindin, former researcher director of the Canadian Auto Workers (now
Unifor after a merger with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers
Union of Canada) and current adjunct professor, recently called
attention to the above problem in his review of Naomi Klein’s book This
Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate:
‘Klein deserves enormous credit for putting capitalism in the dock. Yet
she leaves too much wiggle room for capitalism to escape a definitive
condemnation. There is already great confusion and division among social
activists over what “anti-capitalism” means. For many if not most, it
is not the capitalist system that is at issue but particular
sub-categories of villains: big business, banks, foreign companies,
multinationals.’
‘Klein is contradictory on this score. She seems clear enough in the
analysis that pervades the book that it is capitalism, yet she
repeatedly qualifies this position by decrying “the kind of capitalism
we now have,” “neoliberal” capitalism, “deregulated” capitalism,
“unfettered” capitalism, “predatory” capitalism, “extractive”
capitalism, and so on. These adjectives undermine the powerful logic of
Klein’s more convincing arguments elsewhere that the issue isn’t
creating a better capitalism but confronting capitalism as a social
system.’[13]
Many individuals and organizations have taken the above pragmatic
approach to critiquing capitalism, because we do not want to come
across, in the eyes of the people and the ruling elite, as too radical,
irresponsible or ‘ideological’. In the case of the Occupy Movement, the
use of its widely popular slogan ‘We are the 99%’ pandered to the
ruling-class’s ideological bill of goods that Europe and North America
are predominantly middle-class regions with the working-class being a
minority.[14] The 99 per cent category feeds into the narrative of a
largely middle-class population being confronted with greedy bosses and
politicians who have deviated from the social and economic practices
that defined the golden age (1945-1974) of the capitalist social welfare
state.
With the capitalist ruling-class reduced to a mere 1 per cent of society
and isolated as the spectre haunting the rest of us, the working-class
and liberal petty bourgeoisie were not forced to confront and
interrogate their own ideological support for capitalism. The
ruling-class has imposed its economic and political ideologies onto the
consciousness of the oppressed as natural, self-evident ways of seeing
reality.
It is for the above reason 86 per cent of Americans could support the
Occupy Movement’s position that lobbyists and the economic elite have
too much influence in Washington, while 71 per cent of the people wanted
the prosecution of business officials who caused the Great Recession,
and 68 per cent of them desired the rich to pay more taxes[15] without
being opposed to capitalism.
The Occupy Movement unwittingly advocated class collaboration by
including members of the ruling-class within its 99 per cent category.
In 2012, it was reported that the 1 per cent pulled in a yearly average
income of $717,000 while those outside of that income bracket generated
$51,000.[16] President Barack Obama is a member of the ruling-class but
the combined 2012 income of he and Michelle Obama totaled $608,611.[17]
The employment income levels of the American Supreme Court justices, the
Vice-President and members of Congress are below $300,000.[18] Are we
to believe that Obama, the Supreme Court judges and most of the
politicians in Congress are members of the 99 per cent?
If we use net worth to determine inclusion within the 1 per cent, many
members of capitalist ruling groups would find themselves within the 99
per cent. The 2010 average net worth of the 1 per cent stood at $16.4
million[19], while the median net worth of the members of the House of
Representatives and the Senate came in at $1,008,767 in 2012.[20] The
Obamas’ net worth was estimated at $1.8 – $6.8 million in 2012.[21] Some
members of Congress are clearly within the top 1 per cent of wealthy
Americans.
It is only an uncritical grasp of political economy or an underdeveloped
class analysis that would put Barack Obama, the Supreme Court justices,
all members of Congress and even many chief executive officers within
the ranks of Fanon’s ‘wretched of the earth’. How is it possible for the
political and economic foxes of American capitalism (ruling-class
elements) to be placed in the same henhouse as the chickens (the 99%)?
We do not need to wonder about the identity of the group that is going
to end up as breakfast, lunch or dinner in such a Kumbaya-like scenario!
Many progressive individuals and organizations seek acceptance as
credible voices or representatives of the people in their attempt to get
a seat at the negotiation table of the oppressors. There are political
actors who are infatuated with the common sense adage ‘You can catch
more flies with honey than with vinegar.’ Therefore, they will not
publicly name and confront capitalism as a system of class exploitation
and economic oppression in the global North. It is foolhardy of
individuals and organizations that want social change to crave the
blessings of the forces of oppression by throwing ideological softballs
at capitalism and other systems of domination.
The above path will only lead to collaboration, betrayal and the
undermining of movements for social emancipation. It is fundamentally
necessary to speak truth to power and the powerless, because it is
needed in our organising, mobilising and educational work to end
capitalist exploitation. Further, the agents of revolutionary
transformation ought to play the long game, and not ponder to
opportunism and pragmatic politics.
In many, if not most, social movement organisations, there is a tendency
to give insufficient attention to the systematic ideological
development of their members. In order to get around the low level of
class analysis or understanding of capitalism, it is necessary to
organise study groups to correct this area of ideological deficiency.
Furthermore, the public education work that is carried out with and
among socially dominated groups ought to develop creative ways to foster
class consciousness, class solidarity and a sound understanding of
capitalism.
The forces for social change ought to approach the process of
revolutionary engagement with the oppressed with disciplined patience,
robust ideological clarity and an infatuation with truth-telling. They
must be clear in their understanding and articulation of the basic fact
that capitalism is the problem as expressed below by the Black Left
Unity Network (notwithstanding the reference to the 1%):
‘The Black left is fighting on all fronts against all forms of
oppression. A central point of unity is that all of our struggles can
advance only to the extent that we mount a full assault on the
capitalist system. Capitalism is the basis for the 1% control of this
society and the source of our misery.’[22]
By
Ajamu Nangwaya
from here with footnotes
Succinctly put, bravo! There are multiple ways to foster class consciousness, class solidarity and a sound understanding of capitalism, so let's forge ahead as we are individually able and solidify the shared aim to bring an end to the capitalist system for the benefit of all humanity.
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