Danny Katch: “Socialism is a society whose top priority is meeting all of its people’s needs, ranging from food, shelter, and health care, to art, culture, and companionship. In contrast, capitalism only cares about any of that basic human necessities stuff to the extent that money can be made of it.”
Nathan J. Robinson: “Because it’s not that capitalism never produces food—you can go to the grocery store—it’s not that capitalism never produces any kind of shelter—you can rent an apartment—it is that it provides it to the extent that money can be made off it, and the moment those human imperatives of the basic needs conflict with the money being made, the money will come above basic needs.”
I do not think that is a full explanation; I think it is partially accurate because it forgets that capitalism also provides certain things and maintains others – erosion but not the dismantling of the welfare system, for example – to keep the social peace, and thus the system protects itself from social conflicts. Of course, that does not mean it always succeeds in keeping the peace and in perpetuating the existent power relations, but it does provide a few things without expecting or intending to make money/profit out that provision. The capitalist state plays its role here. Some material provision – and even raising the standard of living when capitalism allows it – reinforces the belief that the system is working.
What interests the capitalists as a class and the capitalist state after all is that exploitation is maintained to ensure capital accumulation. Contradictions and uneven development of the system though do not allow the system to escape crises, migration, marginalisation, discrimination, riots, violence, crimes, uprisings, wars, etc. and occasionally, revolutions. But that accumulation process needs a suitable environment, and the police, the judiciary, the army, etc. are not enough. Making money in certain spheres has to be accompanied by not making money in other spheres. Reproducing ideas and ideological arguments are also necessary. Capitalists make money out of advertisements and film production, but both industries do not just make money; they play a crucial ideological role too.
Furthermore, you would find millions of people from Switzerland and Norway to Singapore and South Korea who would tell you that their needs were met and they don’t look at the system as a system concerned only with making money. You would also find millions in non-rich countries saying that there is no problem with making money; the problem is not with capitalism per se, but with people or with the way it is implemented, etc. Capitalism also creates myths for free.
Katch: “Simply belonging to various political schools of thought and tradition is so valuable, in part because usually, except for liberalism, it gives you some sense of history and belonging to something larger and deeper than your current moment.” That is a nice advice!
Comedian and writer Danny Katch on how socialists can explain their ideas to non-socialists in a way that is intelligible, friendly, and compelling.
Comments