#I mean they keep exploiting students minimal wage

[blondefoxmedic]

So I am not getting my old job back. Fuck them :(

[comrade-meow]

This past week, screenshots of a private chat between well-known YouTube Marxist The Finnish Boleshevik, and a 16 year old girl emerged, in which FinBol describes in graphic detail his grotesque fantasy of raping this underage young woman. 

There is a common thread among these YouTube “Marxists” who have a love for sexual deviance and degeneracy like Jason Unruhe, Matt Florence, Pierre Tru-dank, et all: they are LARPers. For those unfamiliar with the term, LARP stands for Live Action Role Play. It’s basically Dungeons and Dragons in real life with foam swords, but it can also be applied to a certain type of bad praxis; i.e. talking a lot and doing little. 

Given the fractured state of the revolutionary left in the United States (to the extent that a revolutionary left actually exists), and in many cases, the western world in general, it should come as no surprise there has been a proliferation of “Marxist” LARPers; self-proclaimed leftists who (literally) wave the red flag, and make numerous YouTube videos about how Stalin did nothing wrong, but are unable to engage in any meaningful way with workers in their own real world community. For “Marxists” like the aforementioned, Marxism is not a guide to action, but a means to gain an identity (and be an edgelord).

Other types of LARPers should be familiar to those who have spent any time on the left: Third Worldists like the Red Guards who publish incomprehensible screeds on how first world workers are parasites; Trots who show up at every vaguely progressive event selling newspapers; keyboard cult leaders with authoritarian fantasies who are obsessed with demanding ideological purity and absolute obedience; that one guy who goes everyone with a print-out portrait of Bashar Al-Assad pinned to his shirt, handing out fliers on why we need to “defend” the Taliban; third world petite-bourgeois students who love queer theory and chose kissing the ass of western academia over working with revolutionary movements in their home countries. I could go on. 

Because of the modern capitalist state’s extraordinary means and ability to coerce, co-opt, and outright repress any nascent revolutionary movement, we are all to some degree LARPers. This is as much a self-criticism as it is a criticism. It is difficult, if not impossible, to envision a socialist revolution in the west, let alone in the United States, without some kind of major outside support. 

But this is not an excuse to do nothing, and wallow in nihilism and cynicism. Any amount of education and engagement will help further our goals in the long run, even if immediate tangible results are minimal or non-existent. The following are some guidelines to help avoid the pitfalls of LARPing. Most of these are developed based on my own firsthand experiences and investigations, and should in no way be considered comprehensive or definitive.

As the great African revolutionary Amílcar Cabral said, “Tell no lies, claim no easy victories.” There is a tendency to get over-excited when discussing revolutionary theory and practice, and often it falls into the camp of romanticism. Building a viable revolutionary socialist party is hard work, and will not happen overnight. Potential comrades need to know from the start that victory is neither easy nor imminent; treating it as if it is will only attract flakes. Similarly, success must not be treated as a substitute for victory. For example, Socialist Alternative continued to trumpet Kshama Sawant’s election to the Seattle city council as a major victory for socialism in the US, even though in the big picture, it meant very little, and the restraints of using bourgeois institutions as anything other than a bully pulpit emerged quickly. Instead of using her election to illustrate these points, they chose the easy way out of treating a small success as a major victory. To their credit, they have made progress in moving in the opposite direction; the SAlt website home page contains not a single article about Sawant.

Drop the fixation on political correctness and crude identity politics. Sorry, but “queer liberation” is not the future, and attacking workers for using words like “faggot” isn’t going to win you points. Political correctness is a product and tool of the ruling class. The overwhelming majority of workers don’t have time to worry about if their language meets the standards of blue-haired campus activists. This is not to suggest that misogyny, homophobia, racism, and other reactionary behaviors should be ignored, but behaviors are different from words, and battles need to be picked carefully. Tone policing the single mother janitor who works all night for minimum wage isn’t going to win you a comrade, but it may win you a kick in the ass.

The Beatles may have been reactionary bourgeois popstars, but they were right when they said “If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao/You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow”. Look at the Communist Party of Great Britain-Marxist-Leninist; all they do is show up at rallies with giant Stalin portraits and banners. Save the Stalin and Mao for the initiated. Most people don’t care about the Moscow Trials or the Cultural Revolution. They care about making ends meet. By all means, once they’ve been won over to revolutionary socialism, break out the Little Red Book, but until then, engage with them on their terms, not your terms. When picking material for new recruits, go for the accessible and succinct; for example, Mandel’s An Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory over the unabridged edition of Capital, or even short video lectures by David Harvey or Richard Wolff. Material that people can engage with when they have a few minutes of free time. There’s a reason reformist organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America are growing while more theoretically robust Marxist-Leninist organizations are ossified and stagnating.

Have a sense of humor. Few things are more alienating than being overly serious and gloomy. There’s a tendency among many leftists to look down on humor, and some of that ties in with the fixation on political correctness. Humor isn’t politically correct; it’s often crude and offensive, but it is an excellent way to present complex ideas in a way that is accessible and engaging (I can’t keep emphasizing the need to be engaging enough, it’s the foundation of both recruiting and keeping cadre).

Center women. And by women, I mean humans of the female sex (it’s sad that needs to be said). Women are not just oppressed, but straight up exploited, and they bear the brunt of capitalism in a very thorough way. Many leftist organizations remain male dominated, using women as tokens, or as gophers. Denounce pornography and prostitution, and exercise vigilance against sexual harassment; transgressors should be dealt with firmly and swiftly. Since most women are mothers, and perform more labor outside their “official” jobs, there needs to be child care at events so that mothers who don’t have the means to arrange it themselves aren’t shut out from political activity.

Read as much material as possible. Having good practice requires good theory, and reading Wikipedia pages isn’t enough. And don’t limit yourself to just reading Marxist texts, read bourgeois theorists, too. Mao was an expert on all of the major classics of Chinese literature and philosophy; he was able to attack reactionary traditionalism in such a thorough and pointed manner, because he had researched what it was he was attacking. And remember Marx studied under Hegel, who considered the Prussian Catholic absolute monarchy as the ideal form of state. If this sounds like a defense of the well-rounded classical education, that’s because it is.

As I’ve already said, the above suggestions are not meant to be comprehensive or definitive, nor are they listed in any particular order. The main purpose of this piece is to be a conversation starter. If we have any hope of building a socialist future, we need to get serious about how we approach our own practice.

Originally published at longestmarch.blogspot.com on April 12, 2018.

[jimbartholomew]

“Because the cops don't need you and man they expect the same”       Bob Dylan, Just like Tom Thumb’s Blues

America, as continents go, was big, wide-open and sprawling when it was “discovered” by Europeans. It presented tremendous opportunities for anyone who would be willing to exploit the abundant resources contained in the Western Hemisphere. The English weren’t the first ones to figure this out, but once the Spanish, French and Dutch began to benefit from their American colonies, the English came on strong, pushing the limits of “Mercantilism” until full-blown Capitalism popped out.

Capitalism is a great system for exploiting resources to develop wealth. Unfortunately, along with wealth for some, comes poverty for others. The trick is to be one of the people that benefits rather than one of the resources. Capitalism has little to offer resources that no longer produce wealth. Those resources become expendable. One example of a played-out resource is the Appalachian Mountains. Once the coal was gone, that country was left to fend for itself; and that included the land and the miners. It is not good to become an expendable resource under American Capitalism.

It is an establish fact that America is tough on the people it does not need. I say this from the standpoint of an older member of the work force, as well as a student of American History. Luckily, although I no longer serve a purpose as a producer within the system, being recently retired, I still have value as a consumer, so I am safe for a while. I hope. When the day comes that I can no longer play a role within the system, I, too, will become expendable.

Two recent cultural “happenings” (for lack of a better word), the recent Covid Pandemic and the epidemic of videotaped killing of black Americans by the police, have torn away the curtain to reveal the truths regarding who in America today is considered essential and who is expendable. How else can anyone possibly explain the blatant indifference to the deaths in nursing homes and elderly facilities, and the murder of primarily young black men who were not convicted of Capital offenses? I don’t mean for this to be an anti-Republican screed (Democrats are not without fault here), but the current administration and the Senate have been particularly slow to react when faced with these issues. The virus victimized the elderly and the poor first and foremost; the police “happen” to kill black people. The greatest fear expressed by the President and the Majority Leader McConnell during the nation’s shutdown was that doing what the experts said would save lives, would hurt the economy, by which they mean mid-sized business owners and the Stock Market reliant class. The administration’s response to the epidemic of violence was to decry the “war against the police”. It is clear where they stand. It is equally clear who matters to them. There are people in America who are expendable.

None of this should come as a surprise to anyone with a little knowledge of American History. America has always been indifferent to the suffering and abuse of people that were not willing to give their all for America’s wealth, even when it came at the hands of government agents. The elimination of indigenous people because they were in the way of American expansion is the subtext behind every story of “Manifest Destiny”, and at the heart of official government policy, from the very beginning. Start with Columbus and the Taino, observe the Pilgrims with the Wampanoag Indians of eastern Massachusetts, follow the Trail of Tears, and end with the hunt for Chief Joseph; the course of American Empire is ineluctable. Native Americans were not acceptable as citizens, and would not be slaves, therefore they would be eliminated. Their land was needed, but they were expendable.

The willingness to accept and condone the murder of black citizens by Federal, State and local policing agencies is well-documented and beyond question. It is one more aspect of the same fact: black Americans have always been seen as expendable by the majority culture. If you are at all shocked at my saying this, take even a quick look at the historic record. Once slavery was ended in the South, except for a brief period of time during Reconstruction, the prevailing actions of the government were aimed at minimizing black participation in American life. Sharecropping, the Black Codes, the KKK all followed from a single stream of thought: black people in America were expendable.

Over the years, the black community has worked hard to been seen to serve a valuable purpose within American Capitalism, beyond the limited role of black consumer. The value of black workers, athletes, musicians and scholars has been recognized, and yet there are still far too many people who feel that contributions to our culture by black men and women were not really necessary. There has always been more money and energy expended keeping black people “in their place” than helping them take their rightful place as full members of society. The length of time it has taken for America to become outraged at the incarceration and killing of young black men specifically, speaks to the fact that the dominant culture in America sees black people as expendable.

The current administration’s war against primarily Spanish-speaking immigrants – both legal and illegal – shines a clear light on America’s willingness to punish and suppress populations that it sees as expendable. The cruelty of the measures used against people seeking asylum, often from economic and political situations that we have helped create, shows clearly that we simply don’t value their humanity. The most often presented argument from those in power to creating clearer paths to entering the country is purely economic: farmers, orchards and some industries need these workers. This simply attests to the fact that they are only wanted as long as they perform an economic function. By limiting legal immigration, and keeping Hispanic workers on the fringes of society, businesses can actually benefit by keeping wages low and benefits non-existent.

In recent years, America has identified an entirely new group of people that it doesn’t really need: young people. With older people retiring at a later age, there simply aren’t enough jobs for restless and ambitious youths. The solution has been to keep them in school a lot longer and tie them down with an incredible debt burden. Give them a Master’s Degree, $150,000 in (unforgiveable) debt obligation, and an entry level job somewhere and they will serve their purpose as consumers and will keep quiet. Provide them with drugs and the internet and maybe you won’t have to worry about why they’re still living in your basement. Of course, the social and economic elite doesn’t want this for their children; luckily they can afford the private schools that we see more and more as part of their educational agenda. The willingness of the authorities to forcefully suppress the youth movement known as Occupy Wall Street was a clear sign that the Majority Society was more than willing to marginalize and criminalize children who were not willing to accept their assigned role and stay quiet.

Between the social and economic (read: white) elite and the expendable masses, is a thin blue line of police officers, who toiled under a simple mandate: “Protect us and our property. Do whatever you need to do, as long as we don’t need to see it on the nightly news”. And the police fulfilled this mandate, as well as they could, for a long time. But as the need to maintain order and safety in a world in which the distance between the haves and have nots continued to grow became more and more difficult. It became harder and harder to use the once-tolerated methods of policing without causing local, and now national, outrage. Camera phones reveal the story of what happens to expendable people who step out of line in America. It is not a new problem. It is also not a problem of police training, or “bad apples”. It is a long standing part of the American justice system. It has been part of the deal for a long time; now we can see it acted out, in living color.

Where things go from here is anyone’s guess, but this situation will not be able to continue as it is. One possibility is outright fascism, which is historically the form of government that emerges when the middle class is threatened. Our only hope to avoid the anarchy and repression that looms, is to change this country at a fundamental level. The first step is to understand and face our History. America has always presented itself as a nation under Democratic rule – every man with an equal say in the way we will be governed. The reality has been vastly different. Bridging the gap between the promise and the reality will be necessary if we can ever hope to bridge the other gaps; the gap between white America and people of color, the gap between those who own America and those who built it and maintain it, the gap between those who think themselves to be irreplaceable and who have been treated as expendable.

[vigilancesaga]

The following is chapter one of the first work of Faustina Vitrus modernly known as Faustina Stoicae.  She was born in the town of Ardea just outside Ostia in the 332nd year of the Second Age to a potter and a scribe.  She spent her late teens and early adulthood assisting both her mother and father with their jobs and listening to the famous philosopher Vergilius Maro speak in the streets.  When she was 22 she wrote her first philosophical treatise which she published under the pseudonym Orator Tacere meaning ‘silent speaker’ to indicate her status as a woman in Ostia.  Uniuersum Esse (meaning The Universality of Being) covers the beginning of her beliefs concerning religion, society, class relation, and a concept she refers to as the “dangers of feeling.”  She introduces the concepts of Caecus Quaerere, Sive Fluens Socialis, Decipiat Eadem Unio, Neutralitatis in se, and Universae Contradictio.  She wrote two more books adding on to her concepts introduced in Uniuersum Esse (Labor Est under the name Nullus Clarisimi and Absurdum Rationalitate under the name Tenebris Lucet), but the concepts introduced in Uniuersum Esse entirely reshaped the culture of Ostia and eventually Lacus as well as established the state ‘religion’ Stoicorum.   

Uniuersum Esse

By Orator Tacere (Faustina Vitrus Stoicae)

Primo Capitulo

While I write this I hear the traders in the market calling out their products while the working class clamor for wages so as to provide for self and family.  I can hear the upper class in their towers in Ostia setting in motion the machinations through which the cockroaches they call peasants will scramble and turn to them for aid, guidance, and  providence.  I can hear the wealthy politicians in the public squares and the poison they disseminate as beneficial when it truly serves wealth masters in keeping these cockroaches under the boot.  I can hear the wealthy high priests professing matters of divine will that serve to keep the cockroach content with the bootheel, never seeking a lot in life free of such despotism.  The social and capital hierarchy is a food chain but those at the bottom do not realize  that they are the prey nor that the predator even exists.  The upper strata of society know that they are staring into the eyes of a great beast and have established extensive and powerful stratagems to ensure the beast does not awaken.  I seek to awaken that beast, the working class.

When Mankind was born they instinctively looked to the sky and searched for a higher being to guide them, a higher power that would provide and explain the numerous unexplainable phenomena.  Mankind inherently seeks deity and faith, a being or beings that will aid them in the unbearability that were their lives.  When a child is born they look to a parent to provide guidance, but an adult has similar inclinations but no tangible figure akin to a parent.  Therefore, they turn to intangibility to provide explanation for the Sun, the animals, and their own behavior.  It has been forgotten who established the religion practiced in Ostia and the Palus Swamp, but it is clear that these deities were specifically established to explain surrounding phenomena: Tin the patriarch and god of the sky was strong and powerful and his exploits as a cad mark many of his stories, which have often been seen as a reason and justifying factor in seeing woman as a vessel for bloodline continuation.  Uni the matriarch, marked in theological texts as an emotional, jealous woman and often seen as an antagonist against Tin and his mistresses carrying his spawn.  Cel the goddess of the earth is mentioned once in holy texts as the being that birthed the earth and is specifically never mentioned again, perpetuating the idea that women serve only to act as vestibules for man’s seed and nothing more.  Many other deities are marked in Ostian religion but none are more interesting than Turms.  With the other deities it is obvious that they are meant to explain tangible phenomena such as the sun, sky, moon, and earth or intangible concepts such as war, love, death, or motherhood but Turms is the god of trade and currency.  Turms is the manifestation of upper class manipulations of working class faithful by having them actively worship the greed and capital they provide the wealthy through their labors.

Turms is not the only example of such a phenomena nor is he the first or last example, Turms is merely to most blatant example of manipulation of the working class population via religious means.  The ethics and moralities espoused by the high priests are justifications for upper class manipulations and oppression such as the idea that suffering and toiling amongst the working class is a positive development that will be rewarded in an afterlife.  Religious officials are claiming to provide solace from the suffering people are experiencing but, rather than alleviating such suffering, they are making promises on which they never need deliver.  They are providing people with a sense of security while the world burns down around them.  Disease, famine, and poverty plague these communities that are propped up with the ideas that their suffering will be rewarded while those that make their suffering possible and continued reap the benefits of medicine, education, and wealth.  The high priests, however, do not seek to pull the teeth from the great beast for the patricius but merely redirect its attention.  The high priest in the Alta Semita region of Ostia, Gnaeus Pacuvius, regularly advocates to temple attendees that the gods and goddesses disavow violence in its many forms.  However, Gnaeus Pacuvius has publicly absolved many wealthy politicians of their sins of violence against women as well as his advocation for the many wars the empire wages.  Therefore, the morality of violence in Ostian religion is that it is unethical to commit acts of violence unless the offender is wealthy or sanctioned by the state.

 The ruling classes use religion and deities as an auspice to convince the working class that they answer to a higher power, that through faith and worship they are equal in a cosmic sense.  In the holy text Verborum Dierum, Tin tells the prophet Cato Priscus “The blind seeking of wealth is the sign of a weak mind and an unworthy soul.  The rich will stand by my side when the mountains to the west bow to the wind.”  However, during readings of the holy text this line is never read instead reading lines from Laran the god of war justifying the nobility and honor in specific forms of violence.  The ruling classes have homologized religious teachings and dogma to become a tool for maintaining their hold over society.  They maintain the facade that they answer to a force above themselves when in fact they occupy the highest orders of societal strata and acting as if they answer to the same forces and rules as the working class establishes and entrenches the idea that the classes are equal on a cosmic scale.  

This leads to my next observation: the use of religion and  to establish culture and traditions by upper classes.  When the wealthy cannot feasibly create laws to collar the great beast without being obvious, they introduce norms into society so that they do not have to enforce the standards they created, such standards are maintained by society itself.  But to create such norms without alerting the populace is a nearly impossible task, unless an institution that thrives on blindness and faith already is used to undertake such a task.  In Ostia and its surrounding fiefs, women are largely regarded as property and have minimal rights to property, work that may result in legitimate capital, or political representation.  These oppressive policies against women may be traced back to wealthy political figures with strong ties to the religious community.  High Priest Gnaeus Pacuvius regularly discusses these oppressive societal norms, claiming they are not tyrannical or unjust in nature, but serve to value women as beautiful beings that should not concern themselves with trivial or trying ideas such as politics or business.  He justifies this position by quoting a passage from the religious leader and student of Cato Priscus, Porcius Cotta “Moreover, those of the female sex shall not teach nor usurp over a man but will  exist in a subservient silence.  For the Father of All created man to do his bidding both in toiling in the fields and articulating in council chambers and the Father of All created women to create beauty in the world, a world made ugly by men, a world made for men.  That considered, women must dress with modesty.  A woman must show her beauty with her abilities as a wife and ripeness for childbirth.”   Due to this quote and the pervasive nature of religion and the wealthy’s hold over its teachings, women in the Ostia region are treated as mere objects and property.  Women are seen in society as a vase: they must be beautiful to find worth and they are only used as a container for seed.  In order for the lower class to successfully cast off their chains they will require the help of women, such a revolution will not occur until social norms designed to be oppressive of women are abolished.

In order for religion and society to evolve naturally, both must be controlled by the general masses rather than the wealthy few.  Religion shapes society, culture, and norms but if religion is shaped by those that stand high above society then society itself becomes little more than a stage on which these individuals can feign godhood.  However, in the hands of the people, then society becomes a place where all may live in a harmony to a point where the religious aspect of society is no longer needed as a catalyzing agent for social change.  With the upper strata of society pulling on the puppet strings of religious institutions, such institutions have become a method of resisting change and stagnating society as a whole.  When these institutions become an arm of political forces, they lose the ability to legitimately advise people how to live their lives.  As a result, the current religious institutions of Ostia must be abolished and rebuilt from the ashes.

The new religion of Ostia must be one based on logic and rationality rather than beliefs based on faith and unfounded metaphysics.  When people can question an action’s rationale and its consequences, then the people will have the necessary education to govern themselves.  When a mysterious metaphysical figure commands physical beings to behave in a certain way, then people are not learning the consequences of that behavior’s antithesis, they are merely following hollow commands blindly.  When a glassblower tells an apprentice to place the pontil on the base of a bottle being blown but provides no explanation why they must do this then the apprentice has learned nothing and the glassblower has failed as a teacher.  Similarly, when a society follows the laws and rules of metaphysical beings that have provided no explanation thereof then society has learned nothing and that religious institution has failed as a teacher.  Logic is the greatest of teachers as it drives society forward in an eternal quest for the truth in all things.

[skeptic42]

Capitalism

I hope you don’t mind, but I like don’t like conversations to get too long.  (And this can be a huge topic.) 

@shadowkat678​:

You’re giving far more logical points than a lot of people, and I agree with the communism thing. I don’t know what exactly I would call myself, but democratic socialist so far fits best out of any. Though first and foremost anything I decide on issue wise reflects my personal morals over any party or political compass.

My issue is it only lets a very small few get ahead if they weren’t already, and of the time it tends to be for those who already had a advantage. And that’s talking about the capatilist factor, not other factors. Which people tend to forget. For example, more people are getting to college now to get ahead, but with help from more government assistance. In my state we now have the Tennessee Promise, which allows college graduates with two years of community college. A lot of capitalist supporting citizens and government officials didn’t like this, but it allowed people to get in who never would otherwise. People were calling it socialist and communist left and right, yet the more programs we’ve been getting the more people have been getting access they simply didn’t have before.

From what I’ve seen, capatilism creates a illusion. It tells you that something can be achieved and lets it happen in cases to keep down consent. It’s commonly exploited blue collar workers in that regard, and I personally find it horrible morally.

You’re right with all systems having issues, but I value choice and individuals, and the way they way it often advertises itself to “give hope to the common man” while showing the exact opposite through history really rubs me. Same problem with communism.

Thanks, I try to think things through.

Communism is actually the oldest form from what I’ve read.  It works on the small scale, i.e. tribes, where social pressure works to prevent, or minimize, someone leaching off of others.  It also generally ensures that there are none that go without.

When a society grows large enough that socialism get enshrined into law is where the problem begins.  People can leach off the system and are guaranteed a slice of the pie.  Some people who can work will choose not to when the difference is minimal.

I also favor a democracy with socialistic tendencies.  How can America become “great again,” while letting so many suffer?  How can we minimize abuse of socialistic aspects?  There’s no easy answer.  America is very much into independence, but views interdependence (relying on each other, a.k.a. teamwork) as dependence.  Watching The Pursuit of Happyness, there’s a powerful scene where the father and son end up sleeping the a bus station bathroom.  I was like, I can understand why England provides housing for people with children.  A damn near foreign concept in the States.

I’m not a fan of either party, hence I’m an independent, but I hate the republican party more than the democrats.  Politicians are all basically liars, or deluded, to a degree, but the hypocrisy of the republican party is far greater, and the denial of science is downright shameful.

Education is one of the more powerful tools a person has.  Once you have it, no one can take it away.  It’s also the best way one can get ahead.  I don’t possess a college degree, but the training I got in the military, and the hard work I put in, afforded me the opportunity to land a great job.  I have taken classes toward a degree, but life has a way of getting in the way of plans.  I’ll probably spend my retirement doing university classes that interest me and reading all these damn books cluttering up my office.  The best thing that this has afforded me is the opportunity to put my child through college, and stress the importance of an education.  My parents couldn’t do that for me, they did the best they could, it’s up to me, the great underachiever, to make the most of it.

Tennessee Promise sounds like a great thing.  I think it would be wonderful if higher levels of education were free.  (I think the end of HS should be the point at which people can choose to step out of the education system or continue on.  And people can step back in at any point later on.)  But there are people that think that if everyone has a degree, then degrees are worthless.  It’s like in the movie the Incredible when Syndrome says, “That way everyone can be a Super.  Because when everyone’s Super then no one’s Super.”  I think this is very faulty reasoning, and those people are afraid of having to work to distinguish themselves from everyone else.  People do hate when others get things for free, feeling that they’ve somehow been cheated.  And a lot of times they feel that working toward equality is granting advantage to others isn’t right.  Mind you, advantages that they have.

Capitalism does create an illusion, but it can create hope.  A friend of mine watched an interview of a British rock star (he couldn’t remember who, it was a long time back).  The interviewer noted that he lived in the States and asked about what differences he sees.  The rock star said, “In America, when you drive by in a Rolls Royce, even the poorest man looks up and says, ‘One day that could be me.’  In England, when you drive by in a Rolls Royce, people just want to tear you out of it.”  I think it all depends on what you do with that illusion.  People are happy when everyone has the same.  When someone has more, then things get ugly, discontent and jealousy grows, even if someone works hard to achieve success.  I can understand the feeling, a friend of mine was telling me about how well her son was doing and the successes he’s had, he was near my age.  I wasn’t so much jealous as frustrated with lacking the drive that he had.  He worked hard, she instilled that drive in him the same way her parents (farmers) instilled that drive in her and her siblings (13 in all).  Everyone of her brothers own his own business.  I had to take a step back and look at things and realize that my road had been different.

Sorry, I’m drifted a bit.

I have to admit a bit of mixed feelings toward the relationship between blue and white collars.  Business owners set wages and markets help determine that.  Skills and merit do have an effect, and education helps toward improving one’s lot in life.  I do accept that there will always be a divide between the rich and everyone else.  But not being rich doesn’t mean being poor.  Yes, the rich do exploit the system, Goldman Sachs, Enron, and WorldCom are perfect examples.  In capitalism there is reward that motivates (most) people.  (The lazy, like the rich, will always be with us.)  Communism lacks that reward and has to resort to less friendly forms of motivation.  Socialism isn’t necessarily a balance between the two.

As a society advances, it must decide what harmful parts of it need to be addressed.  Do we let homeless people sleep in the street, or do we provide housing?  Do we let medical bills bankrupt people or provide universal health care?  Do we provide better and higher education or do we leave it to circumstance to determine who gets educated?  Do we let student loans cripple young people for decades?  Each way we turn has “benefits” and “costs.”  It almost comes down to money vs. humanity.

People are important.  Choice gives them power over their lives.  So far, even with all of it’s problems, capitalism does provide the most choice.  It’s what people do with that choice that matters the most.

I think the greatest benefit so far is a combination of democracy, capitalism, science, and humanity.

I can understand your frustration with capitalism and you have some very valid beefs.  My frustration is more with people who are deluded into thinking that capitalism is the greatest thing of all and that there are no problems with it, and with the rich who tip the balance toward greed at the cost of humanity.