A gun without a bullet is a toy. An ideology, a political system, a set of ethics, without the power to push it down peopleÆs throats, is a word-play, a fiction, a fantasy, or just simply an entertainment. All ideas, all religious or secular ideologies, and all systems which end with the suffix æ-ismÆ fall into this category. The debate about "Capitalism and Alternatives" poses the following question: What games should we play? What ideas should we amuse ourselves with? The answer is obvious: we should be free to play with all of them and invent even more.
However, the situation changes dramatically when we ask ourselves: Which of those constructs should we force down peopleÆs throats? The answer, of course, is : "None of them!"
Simon Kongshoj described Communism as: "Not just a political system, but a complete philosophy, with a set of ethics ( e.g. a necessity ethics[?]), a socio-economic theory and a metaphysical theory (materialism). To ram this mouthful into unreceptive skulls of the unsuspecting populace would require a dictatorship on the scale of the now defunct Soviet Union, with cadres of political komissars, secret police, informers, political rallies, cangaroo courts, summary executions, public confessions, forced labour camps, etc.
I do not want to imply that it is only indoctrination with Communism which requires violent means under a dictatorship. Socialism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, et al. could also not get very far without bloodshed. It suffices in this connection to recall the Christian Crusades, Grand Inquisition and the present-day events in Algiers.
I do not view æcapitalismÆ as an ideological, religious, or political system. It is rather equivalent with freedom. What is so nice about it is the fact that it is not a philosophy. Its ethic is simple: buy what you want and sell that which other people want to buy. Capitalism leaves you in peace. It does not creep under your skin or between your bed sheets. It does not try to indoctrinate you with some weird ideas; it does not try to make you worship this or that deity, to love anything or anybody, to wear a constant grin on your face to prove that you are happy, to be more greedy, or less so, etc. It gives no hoot about womanÆs hair showing from under her scarf or whether the male assumes a missionary position in his amorous advances.
Because Capitalism equates with freedom-to-play with any political doctrines, and because it guards against one ideological group violently taking over and shackling another, there could be no alternatives to it. It would be irrational to exchange the freedom to play with any political ideologies for the opportunity to ram down peopleÆs throat one of them and then wait for a bloody revolution to regain that freedom which one did not need to lose in the first place.
Now adding to the above freedom the profusion and the variety of consumer goods, the high standard of living, the ease of getting around and communicating with others, and above all, the ease of getting out and moving to the greener pastures elsewhere on this planet, one can come only come to one conclusion: We live in the best of all possible worlds and there are no Alternatives to Capitalism. However, Capitalism could be made even prettier if the ugly blemish was removed from its face, i.e. the insistence that a man who did not work should not be allowed to eat, and then finding (with expertsÆ help) all sorts of excuses to feed him (and thus wasting the hard-earned taxpayerÆs dollars). Buying things wholesale is more economical than buying them retail. Prepayment for food staples is move convenient and less expensive! Go for it!
Walter Prytulak
