- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Re: Consumer culture: base, boring but....free?

In Reply to: Consumer culture: base, boring but....free? posted by Christopher Ketcham on April 05, 1997 at 08:16:41:

The argument of this rather lengthy posting escapes me, though it is obvious that the point is to celebrate Capitalism despite its obvious drawbacks, and to denigrate socialism and its failure as if it ever existed. No distinction however is made between Socialism and that political and economic system that existed in the USSR, China etc. That is, there is no distinction made between the theory of socialism and the reality in those nations that claimed 'socialism'. And yet he is able to distinguish between the 'theories' of Capitalism (Alexis de Tocqueville) and its reality:

"Wealth and property are good; but to make their acquisition the sole pursuit of one's life...is the recipe for the nihilism, emptiness, staleness and stupidity of modern democratic culture... But the sum of our culture is low, boorish, base, at times disgusting, contemptible. So capitalism works: it does not necessarily make us any freer, but does not impinge our freedoms; it does not make the average man think heartily about his social and political situation (as say Russian communism did at its birth), but it does not make him regret that situation; it doesn't foster genius, but atleast doesn't hinder genius if should happen upon the scene. For a real discussion on this, read Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA."

My point is that while Chris demonstrates the ability to discuss capitalism in an intelligent manner by allowing for the interplay between theory and practice by acknowledging the practical drawbacks, while celebrating the high-mindedness of capitalism as a theory of social and economic organisation, he unfortunately fails to extend this balanced discussion to socialism. Perhaps a few readings of the Marxist greats: Marx, Gramsci, Lenin, M.N. Roy etc. might allow for a greater understanding of that which he so readily dismisses - socialism and communism. Dissatisfaction with capitalism (such as Chris tentatively expresses) requires an intelligent and balanced consideration of its alternatives in order to even hope that the misery and dispair that we are all 'free' to feel, and that we are 'free' to impose on others, can ever be eliminated.

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