The world’s gone a bit crazy the last decade or so. Seems to be the result of capitalism reaching its inevitable conclusion: “crony capitalism.” If we get rid of the “crony” part, we can have good capitalism, right?
Well, no. Sadly there is no “good” capitalism. This shit pile of a society we’re currently living in is a result of capitalism working pretty much as it’s supposed to. If you’ve got money, you might think it’s working pretty well. Sure. But as long as there is inequality, there will be problems — problems that keep getting worse. Problems that will affect you, eventually, no matter how rich you are.
So, you’re lefties then?
We might have been, once upon a time. But that label means little these days.
It used to mean you cared about social justice, war, oppression and inequality. Now it’s drowning in identity politics and tribalism. Most “lefties” now would let a homeless person starve if they once said something racist.
Much of the left now actively fights against free speech and begs for oppression. They cheered the 2022 crackdown on media platforms which saw many true left wing outlets banned for speaking out against Ukraine, for speaking out against war.
But in terms of economic left and right, we’re definitely on the left. Here the right wing pushes for less restrictions on corporations, monopolies, and the large powers that already control our governments.
Are we pro socialism? Socialism has its good aspects. Even the US has a large number of programs which might be considered “socialist.” But we understand the problems that come from entitlement and removing incentive. However, we think society can do better overall. We believe helping people is the right thing to do — it can benefit us all. Even if it’s just the basics so everyone can survive. When people don’t have the stress of survival they can better contribute to society.
And we can do it — but our governments and media have us thinking it’s too hard. We have the money — we just chose to give it to the Military Industrial Complex and giant corporations instead.
Finding common ground
There’s a middle ground that’s emerged in all this. It’s not the “centre,” the neoliberal agenda that took us down this path. It’s identifying the importance of individual rights, recognising that authorities are corrupt to the core, that the middle class has been stripped of wealth more than ever in history, that our current system is not sustainable for the planet but that neither are lithium batteries and solar panels, that we need to return to a time of mutual respect, of dignity, of listening to each other.
Politically we are more polarised than ever, but the corporations don’t care about any of it — they continue to exploit us, to spy on us, to raise prices, to buy governments, to set the agendas, to distract us with technology, to perpetuate wars. We’ve been successfully divided and conquered.
The root of all evil?
Money is an abstract concept which is disconnected from the natural world. If we continue to pursue growth and consumption, then we are headed for disaster as we come up against the limitations of nature.
There are those who seek to consolidate resources for their own personal advantage, to the detriment of our planet and society. Our survival depends on us sustaining our habitat. Accumulation, greed, and misuse of resources are at direct odds with this.
We could create a benevolent society of peace and an abundance of the things which truly matter if we could just work together.
Those who seek to misappropriate the Earth’s resources for their own ends use division to keep us fighting amongst ourselves. They spread the myth of individualism, competition, under the asinine philosophy of “survival of the fittest,” believing that the natural world survives by conflict. Yet this antiquated idea is driving us into oblivion. Cooperation is where society thrives. In fact cooperation is the only way society is going to survive.
We need to come together, taking society back from the parasites; the greedy; the corrupt; to build a culture we can be proud of; a world of empathy, fairness, and social progress.
Social Rebirth is a collaborative magazine written in Melbourne, Australia.