A few years ago I read a bizzare article in one of my country's national newspapers: A member of the mainstream social democratic party was warning everyone about the dangers of the socialists, which is pretty much par for the course. However, in this article he used the argument that trying to abolish capitalism was like trying to abolish weather pattern. Capitalism has existed since the stone age, when neanderthals first startet trading one good with another, and has been a part of human nature ever since.

Now, this is obviously absolute nonsense. In reality, capitalism has existed only for a tiny part of human history, and cavemen trading coconuts for backrubs certainly isn't it. The problem is that this sort of thinking is not uncommon, and is a major problem for the left to overcome. What capitalism actually is or how it functions was never a part of general education when I grew up, which is extremely odd considering it is the driving force behind our societies. It is just something that exist and we have to exist alongside it.

There's been quite a bit written about the post-cold war generations understanding of capitalism as the only possible reality (Mark Fischer for example). This is sadly in line with my own experiences. When having conversations with fellow socialists my age, they are usually unable to really explain what capitalism is, and when describing what sort of society they want it is often just capitalism with a more robust welfare state. In other words, they make last century's social-democrats seem like radicals.

That being said, I think it's a mistake to dismiss these people as clueless or opportunists. Mostly, they are working-class young adults whom capitalism hasn't necessarrily been very kind to, but they're stuck with the liberal worldview that has been drilled into them since kindergarden age. They believe true emancipation of the proletariat isn't possible, instead we can only work to improve the conditions of our own servitude.

So what do you guys think is the best way to break through this view of the world where capitalism is presented as a divine force? Marx is obviously super-relevant here, because historical materialism is a direct antidote to this belief, and offers an alternative, much more accurate understanding of history.

So is the solution to just yell “READ MARX” at all our friends? This might work for people who are already sympathic to leftism but don't really understand theory yet, but is there ways we can raise awareness for working class people who are apolitical or liberal? Obviously, some of them will conclude that capitalism is the best system anyway, but the more people are aware that capitalism is a choice, the more people would inevitably end up turning towards socialism (real socialism, not welfare capitalism) as an alternative.

To me, this seem like a natural place to attack capitalism since the truth isn't really hidden or kept secret, it just isn't actively taught to most people. Even a liberal university course won't tell you capitalism is an eternal part of the human existence. It's already an accepted part of pro-capitalist academia, so surely there are things we could do to make fellow workers question their internalized assumptions about capitalism?

Sorry for effortposting, this has been on my mind a lot lately.

EDIT: Lots of interesting replies, thanks for engaging.

  • star_wraith [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Yes, you're right of course. Capitalism has only existed for a few hundred years. The changes in modes of production should be taught in schools and I don't even think it would be all that controversial of a topic. Yeah, chuds wouldn't like it because the implications are that capitalism is one of several stages, but historically this all seems pretty settled even by non-socialist historians.

    However, I see two issues with trying to comabt ignorance on this issue with the direct approach of teaching history.

    The first issue is... a lot of people really don't like learning about history and there's nothing you can do to change that about them. It sucks, and it doesn't change the fact the changes in modes of production should be taught in schools, but I think the impact of this will be minimal in the short term, but still useful in the long term.

    The second issue is we can't take what people say about "capitalism has always existed" at face value. We have to try and understand what people really mean when they say that (from here on out I'm really just talking about US Americans since that's what I know, ymmv depending on your local circumstances). I think what they mean is, the pursuit of profit has existed for thousands of years. They're talking about exchanging goods and services for money or for other goods and services with prices determined by "willing buyer willing seller". They're talking about how someone has to work to eat and theoretically, working harder or smarter leads to improved material conditions. And I do think they're right in that this is true in European cultures.

    Even if these ideas aren't rooted in Christianity, Christianity has reinforced these ideas in Europeans and their descendants for many centuries. The idea that humans are inherently sinful and fallen creatures. That we're naturally lazy and will shirk responsibilities unless there is some sort of Big Stick out there to punish us for wrongdoing. Fundamentally, it's this notion that there is a fixed human nature that is immutable and that socialism is incompatible with "human nature". Even in people and societies that are no longer very Christian, I see this attitude. It's the effect of centuries of indoctrination.

    So how do we combat this? I think we do that by really striking at the heart of this idea of some immutable human nature. Anthropologists have all sorts of data that shows these notions of human nature are completely bunk. And I think for folks in western societies, we need to get people to understand that the Euro way of doing things isn't some universal human experience. Other societies around the world and across time have operated very differently from how things operated around here. Not that I think people will be all that receptive to this, but I think it would chip away at these ideas of a selfish, fallen human nature and the universality of the western experience.