Somebody on Twitter/X:
Genuinely, I DO NOT like the concept of capitalism. I don’t want to work my job every day. I want to make art. I want to be in my garden. I want to feel something.
What does any of that have to do with capitalism? I have a thoroughgoing capitalist job with a big corporation. I do not work every day – there are things called weekends, holidays, and vacations – I make art (novels), I have a wonderful garden, and I feel a great many things. Nothing about capitalist life keeps people from feeling things or making whatever the heck they want.
Besides, does this tweeter know anything about socialism? Because, trust me, people under Real Existing Socialism had to work a great many days and struggled to feel things beyond resentment at the totalitarian system that was keeping them down.
There is no system that allows lazy people to enjoy a decent lifestyle while idling around their gardens making art that nobody else is willing to buy.
People.
1 comment:
I think you're missing the point. It's not that people dislike capitalism -- I suspect most people in the West don't really have anything to compare it with. Maybe older people in Eastern Europe. But that's about it. It's more that politicians in the West, and especially in the US, have conflated capitalism with democracy, and told the electorate that criticism of one is criticism of the other. Hence, the standard insult Republicans thrown at anyone criticising the crony capitalism of the current administration: 'We might be corrupt, but you're a communist.'
No, the problem is that capitalism promised material improvements in life, including less work and more leisure. You don't need to be an historian to say that, in most ways, life for a working man was better in the 20th century than in the 19th. Setting aside the world wars, life generally improved in most ways: life expectancy, disposable income, labour saving appliances in the home, better food, etc.
But could you put your hand on your heart and say life in the 21st century is better than the 20th? Can a working man expect to start a job at 18, buy a house within 10 years, get married, start a family, and the look forward to owning his home outright and having a pension to retire on?
That's the problem. It's not capitalism as such, but the impression that while the rich have indeed got richer, everyone else is being left behind. Wealth inequality is increasing, housing is nowhere close to affordable, jobs are becoming more difficult to get and less secure. AI might solve some of these challenges, but more than likely it won't, and though its disruptions will benefit some -- and perhaps future generations -- a lot of people in work today, will be left behind.
I think, John, you can do better than 'cute' comments on people who aren't as smart as you. A tweet isn't meant to be an academic essay. And someone being unhappy they have to stack shelves for an online retailer instead of painting landscapes is not stupid. It's human.
Post a Comment