I’ve been struck by the above video by Slavoj Zizek, which discusses the question, “how do I act in a way to be anti-capitalist?” He argues against the slogan, “Act. Don’t think.” It seemed salient to me in the sense that I’ve written those lines before on this blog: that it is better to take action than to think about taking action.
His main point is that thinking is equally as necessary—and perhaps more important—because even charity as a means of alleviating poverty is not enough. In fact, action might make the problem worse.
I’ve also been inspired by Pope Francis, a spiritual leader who seems to pull no punches: capitalism has been problematic in ways we cannot really describe. It seems to me that our society is a lottery; a select few in the developed world get to enjoy freedom from hunger, poverty, and sickness; meanwhile, over a billion people live for less than $5 a day.
"The worship of the ancient golden calf ... has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.”
“The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.”
I dare say that consumption is antithetical to happiness. For what is happiness? To some, it’s contentment. To some, it’s the affections of friends and family. To some, it’s the sublime experience of nature. To some, it’s the promise of an eternal life beyond a one restricted to this world. But I say to you, you to whom possessions seem to mean so much, what sublime feeling can consumption of materiel induce in you? How many people have to toil 15-hour-days in order to create the phones that you never leave too far from your pockets? For the pants you wear, for the coffee that you drink? You say it’s not exploitation, and it may not be. But I can imagine something better. I can imagine a system that makes poverty impossible. I can imagine a world where no one is poor, in spirit or in riches.
An interesting dichotomy I heard from Zizek on Charlie Rose: why is it that when it comes to science, we hold the belief that anything is possible? We dream of nuclear fusion, traveling to Mars, living in outer space, cloning human beings, growing meat in labs, genetic engineering a new type of human, curing cancer and AIDS (something that seemed so far out of our reach twenty years ago), but we cannot imagine an alternative to capitalism? We cannot imagine deep or even moderate changes to our economic system, as if this is the best system humanity can and has fashioned. So I beseech thee, reader, to think about the ways our human purpose can become a collective purpose for the many and not the few.
If we can imagine, even for a second, winning the lottery, can we not imagine something much more probable?
“When you're born into this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in America you get a front row seat,” Carlin says.
I get it; it’s difficult. How do we even think about a problem that few seem to acknowledge? It’s like a fish asking, “What the hell is water?” But sometimes the most viscerally potent realities are the ones that recede into the background of our attentions. We get to sip our cappuccinos and read about the problems extant in the world: starvation, overpopulation, natural disasters, war, and violence. But I refer to Zizek again and reiterate that simply doing something is not enough. We must do the right thing. This means we cannot assume each act of charity alleviates suffering; sometimes, it perpetuates it by supporting the system which is the cause. If we can imagine a brighter future with renewable energy, less inequality, greater community, and true happiness, we are not too far from the truth. It just takes a bit of faith and love. It takes a dedicated mind faithful to the reality of problems inherent in the capitalist system—one not driven by sentimental impulse or overzealous charity—but an intelligent one willing to put in the effort of coming up with complex answers to complex issues. Have I said something interesting? Radical? If not, respond in your own way, so that discussion may flourish and that ideas may spread.
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