Tag: capitalist

There are many groups walking these paths, join them, and pick up a shovel to compost the mess we leave

On this website, I am advocating for a significant shift away from the current consumer-driven, #capitalist society toward a simpler, more sustainable, and equitable way of living. The path to this thinking is the that our modern lifestyles are neither natural nor necessary, to challenges the assumption that the way we live now is the only way to live. By looking to the past, diverse human societies thrived with far less, another way is not only possible but also essential if we are to address the multiple crises we face.

  • Reduced affluence and sufficient living as a meaningful path, this is sufficiency over excess. The idea is to shift from a mindset of limitless consumption to one of sufficiency—having what we need for a good quality of life, but not constantly grasping after more. This would involve a focus on producing durable goods, recycling, and living more close to nature, both ours and the environment we live in.
  • Quality over quantity, emphasizes the importance of valuing quality of life over the accumulation of material wealth. By focusing on what is truly necessary and satisfying, people can live comfortably without the need for constant consumption.
  • Self-sufficiency by shaping local economies. A path to this is the development of self-sufficiency at multiple levels—national, household, neighbourhood, and town. This involves reducing reliance on global trade and instead producing and consuming goods we need to live locally.
  • Communal and cooperative living, with a balancing of individual ownership with communal sharing, where resources like tools, equipment, and services are shared among community members. This is the path to reduce waste and strengthen social bonds.
  • Community engagement, such as voluntary working, would help maintain local resources and commons, fostering a sense of collective responsibility and community spirit.

The necessity of radical change to start to address the environmental degradation, resource depletion, and social mess that cannot be solved with our eyes down worshipping the #deathcult. To lift our eyes and arms we need a radical change in lifestyles, systems, and values. This involves not just changes in consumption patterns, but also a fundamental rethinking of how we organize our economies and societies. There are meany people walking this path, the concept of “The Simpler Way” is an example presented as a practical alternative to the unsustainable and unjust systems that dominate today. There are many other groups, join them, and pick up a shovel to compost the current mess.

Is it a good path linking to these #dotcons?

Woking for the “man” is not voluntary

Let’s look at another issue that for meany people is hidden by “common sense” in our daily #deathcult worship. That wage labour is not voluntary and limits freedom, workers are forced to sell their labour due to lack of alternatives for basic survival. The ability to choose between employers does not equate to freedom in this sense, it limits freedom because workers have no meaningful alternative. Capitalist wage labour alienates workers from their labour, the products of their labour, their human nature, and other workers, This #alienation leads to a loss of freedom and self-realization.

“Wages are determined through the antagonistic struggle between capitalist and worker. Victory goes necessarily to the #capitalist. The capitalist can live longer without the worker than can the worker without the capitalist. Combination among the capitalists is customary and effective; workers’ combination is prohibited and painful in its consequences for them. Besides, the landowner and the capitalist can make use of industrial advantages to augment their revenues; the worker has neither rent nor interest on capital to supplement his industrial income. Hence, the intensity of the competition among the workers.” https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/wages.htm

The capitalist and #socialist perspectives offer different ideas of freedom.

Individual liberty: #Capitalism emphasizes individual freedom to make economic choices without government interference. The ability to own private property, engage in “voluntary” exchanges, and pursue profit in a free market economy. Consumers have the freedom to choose from a variety of goods and services produced by competing businesses. Freedom is defined as the absence of coercion or constraints imposed by others, especially the government.

Collective freedom: Socialism focuses on collective liberation from economic exploitation and the constraints of capitalism. Freedom can not be achieved without basic needs (food, housing, healthcare, education) guaranteed for all. Freedom as the ability to realize one’s potential, which requires access to collective decision-making over economic resources and production.

Capitalist freedom is tied to market mechanisms, socialist freedom involves democratic planning of the economy. Formal vs. real freedom distinguishes between formal (legal) freedom and real (material) freedom, capitalism only provides the former. Capitalism focuses on economic and political freedoms, while socialism expands the concept to include social and economic issues. The elimination of economic constraints on human potential, this is the humanistic path we need to take.

On this path, we need to view justice and freedom as intertwined concepts. True freedom is defined to incorporate justice, equality, solidarity, and universal access to substantive (not just formal) freedoms. The #anarchist and socialist perspectives reject definitions of freedom that ignore this, our “common sense” needs to reflect this.

What tools would we need to take important parts of society away from this mess https://opencollective.com/open-media-network