Capitalism in the neoliberal version has exhausted itself.
Financial sharks do not want to lose profits, and shift the main burden of debt
to the retirees and the poor. A ghost of the "European Spring" is
haunting the Old World and the opponents of capitalism explain people how their
lives are being destroyed. This is the topic of the article of a Portuguese
economist Guilherme Alves Coelho.
There is a well-known expression that every nation has the
government it deserves. This is not entirely true. People can be fooled by
aggressive propaganda that shapes thought patterns, and then are easily
manipulated. Lies and manipulations are a contemporary weapon of mass
destruction and oppression of peoples. It is as effective as the traditional
means of warfare. In many cases, they complement each other. Both methods are
used to achieve victory in the election and destroy unruly countries.
There are many ways to handle public opinion, in which the
ideology of capitalism has been grounded and brought to the level of myths. It
is combination of false truths that are being repeated a million times, over
the generations, and therefore become indisputable for many. They were designed
to represent capitalism as credible and enlist the support and confidence of
the masses. These myths are distributed and promoted via media tools,
educational institutions, family traditions, church memberships, etc. Here are the
most common of these myths.
Myth 1. Under capitalism, anyone who works hard can become
rich
The capitalist system will automatically provide wealth to
hard-working individuals. Workers unconsciously formed an illusory hope, but if
it does not come to fruition, they will be blaming themselves only. In fact,
under capitalism, the probability of success, regardless how much you may have
worked, is the same as in a lottery. Wealth, with rare exceptions, is not
created by hard work, but is a result of fraud and lack of remorse for those
who have greater influence and power. It is a myth that success is the result
of hard work and, combined with luck and a good dose of faith, depends on the
ability to engage in entrepreneurial activity and level of competitiveness.
This myth creates the followers of the system who support it. Religion,
especially Protestant, works to support this myth as well.
Myth 2. Capitalism creates wealth and prosperity for all
Wealth, accumulated in the hands of a minority, sooner or
later will be redistributed among all. The goal is to enable the employer to
accumulate wealth without asking questions. At the same time the hope is
maintained that sooner or later workers will be rewarded for their work and
dedication. In fact, even Marx concluded that the ultimate goal of capitalism
is not the distribution of wealth but its accumulation and concentration. The
widening gap between the rich and the poor in recent decades, especially after
the establishment of the rule of neo-liberalism, has proven the opposite. This
myth has been one of the most common during the phase of "social
welfare" of the postwar period, and its main task was the destruction of
the socialist countries.
Capitalist society has no classes, therefore the
responsibility for the failures and crises also lies on all and everyone has to
pay. The goal is to create a guilt complex for workers, allowing capitalists to
increase revenues and pass expenditures onto the people. In fact, the responsibility
lies entirely on the elite consisting of billionaires who support the
government and are supported by it, and have always enjoyed great privileges in
taxation, tenders, financial speculation, offshore, nepotism, etc. This myth is
implanted by the elites to avoid responsibility for the plight of the people
and oblige them to pay for the elite's mistakes.
Myth 4. Capitalism means freedom
True freedom is only achieved under capitalism with the help
of the so-called "market self-regulation." The goal is to create
something similar to a religion of capitalism, where everything is taken as is,
and deny people the right to participate in making macroeconomic decisions.
Indeed, the freedom in decision-making is the ultimate freedom, but it is only
enjoyed by a narrow circle of powerful individuals, not the people, and not
even the government agencies. During summits and forums, in the narrow circles
behind closed doors, the heads of large companies, banks and multinational
corporations make major financial and economic decisions of strategic nature.
The markets, therefore, are not self-regulating, they are being manipulated.
This myth has been used to justify interference in the internal affairs of
non-capitalist countries, based on the assumption that they have no freedom,
but have rules.
Myth 5. Capitalism means democracy
Democracy can only exist under capitalism. This myth, which
smoothly follows from the previous one, was created in order to prevent the
discussion of other models of social order. It is argued that they are all
dictatorships. Capitalism is assigned such concepts as freedom and democracy,
while their meaning is distorted. In fact, society is divided into classes and
the rich, being ultra-minority, dominate over all others. This capitalist
"democracy" is nothing but a disguised dictatorship, and
"democratic reforms" are processes opposite to progress. As the
previous myth, this one also serves as an excuse to criticize and attack
non-capitalist countries.
Myth 6. Election is a synonym of democracy
Election is synonymous with democracy. The goal is to
denigrate or demonize other systems and prevent a discussion of political and
electoral systems where leaders are determined through non-bourgeois elections,
for example, on the virtue of age, experience, or popularity of candidates. In
fact, it is the capitalist system that manipulates and bribes, where a vote is
a conditional term, and election is only a formal act. The mere fact that the
elections are always won by representatives of the bourgeois minority makes
them unrepresentative. The myth that bourgeois elections guarantee presence of
democracy is one of the most entrenched, and even some left-wing parties and
forces believe it.
Myth 7. Alternating parties in office is the same as having
an alternative
Bourgeois parties that periodically alternate in power have
alternative platforms. The goal is to perpetuate the capitalist system within
the dominant class, feeding the myth that democracy is reduced to the election.
In fact, it is obvious that two-party or multiparty parliamentary system is a
one-party system. These are two or more factions of one political force, they
alternate, mimicking the party with an alternative policy. People always choose
an agent of the system, being sure that this is not what they are doing. The
myth that bourgeois parties have different platforms and are even oppositional,
is one of the most important, it is constantly discussed to make the capitalist
system work.
Myth 8. The elected politician represents the people and can
therefore decide for them
The politician was granted authority by the people, and can
rule at will. The purpose of this myth is to feed the people with empty
promises and hide the real measures that will be implemented in practice. In
fact, the elected leader does not fulfill that promise, or, worse, starts to
implement undeclared measures, often conflicting and even contradicting the
original Constitution. Often such politicians elected by an active minority in
the middle of the mandate reach their minimum popularity. In these cases, the
loss of representation does not lead to a change of the politician through
constitutional means, but by contrast, leads to the degeneration of capitalist
democracy in the real or disguised dictatorship. The systematic practice of
falsification of democracy under capitalism is one of the reasons for the
increasing number of people who do not go to the elections.
Myth 9. There is no alternative to capitalism
Capitalism is not perfect, but it is the only possible
economic and political system, and therefore the most appropriate one. The goal
is to eliminate the study and promotion of other systems and eliminate
competition using all possible means, including force. In reality, there are
other political and economic systems, and the most known is scientific
socialism. Even within the framework of capitalism, there are versions of the
South American "democratic socialism" or European "socialist
capitalism". This myth is intended to intimidate people, to prevent the
discussion of alternatives to capitalism and ensure unanimity.
Myth 10. Savings generate wealth
The economic crisis is caused by the excess of employee
benefits. If they are removed, the government will save and the country will
become rich. The goal is to shift the liability for capitalist debt payment
onto the public sector, including the retirees. Another goal is to make people
accept poverty, arguing that it is temporary. It is also intended to facilitate
the privatization of the public sector. People are being convinced that savings
are the "salvation" without mentioning that it achieved through the
privatization of the most profitable sectors whose future earnings will be
lost. This policy leads to a decrease in state revenue and reduction of
benefits, pensions and benefits.
(Source)
* Russian translation
(Source)
* Russian translation
Related links
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