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Anti-Capitalism Goes Mainstream: Review of “Capitalism: A Love Story” « The End of Capitalism
Anti-Capitalism Goes Mainstream
Michael Moore's New Film Names the System and Presents a Radical Democratic Critique
Alex Knight, October 16, 2009
Capitalism: A Love Story, which opened in 962 theaters earlier this month, is Michael Moore's most ambitious work yet – taking aim at the root cause behind the injustices he's exposed in his other films over the last 20 years. This time capitalism itself is the culprit to be maligned in Moore's trademark docu-tragi-comic style. And by using the platform of a major motion picture to make a direct assault at the root of the problem, Moore has created space in the political mainstream for a radical conversation (radical meaning "going to the root").
It's a conversation that is desperately needed as the economic crisis continues to devastate low- and middle-income Americans in spite of President Obama's and Congress' efforts to stop the bleeding by throwing trillions of dollars at the banks. Yesterday, Democracy Now! reported that while the Dow Jones topped 10,000 for the first time in a year, foreclosures have reached a record level of 940,000 in the third quarter. But with this film airing in major chain cinemas across the nation, the normally taboo topics of how wealth is divided, who owns Congress, and how vital economic decisions are made are now open for discussion in a way they haven't been in the U.S. for decades.
In Capitalism, Michael Moore features the reality of the economic crisis for America's usually-invisible poor and working class. The movie begins with a family filming their eviction from their own home. In a terrifying scene, we watch from inside their living room window as 7 police cars roll up to throw the ill-fated family onto the street for failing to make their payments. Moore explained in an interview, "You see [a foreclosure] really for the first time from the point of view of the person being thrown out of the house." This same bottom-up viewpoint carries the audience through the rest of the film, from the stories of kids in Pennsylvania sent to private detention centers for minor offenses by judges who received kickbacks from the prison company, to airline pilots whose wages are so low they have to go on food stamps.
By grounding the viewers in the human costs of out-of-control capitalism, Moore finds firm footing for launching his attacks on the Wall St. firms who he believes are responsible for this crisis. As the film points out, the richest 1% of Americans now control more wealth than the bottom 95%, a sorry state of affairs that has grown steadily worse since the 1980s. Ronald Reagan, Alan Greenspan, and his two buddies Larry Summers and Robert Rubin are implicated in Capitalism as responsible parties behind the gutting of regulations and the deliverance of the federal government into the hands of the bankers.
Michael Moore's conversations with congressmen and women about the $700 billion bank bailout passed last October best illustrate this transfer of sovereignty. The congresspeople are remarkably candid in their dismay at what was essentially a blank check to Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup. Representative Baron Hill from Indiana recounts that the bailout bill was pushed through Congress in a similar manner as the Iraq War authorization, under threat of catastrophe and terror. Marcy Kaptur, congresswoman from Ohio, however, does one better. "This was almost like an intelligence operation," she laments. And when Moore asks her if the bailout represents a "financial coup d'etat" by the bankers, she responds, "I could agree with that. Because the people here [pointing to the Capitol] really aren't in charge. Wall Street is in charge."
We also see Kaptur's courageous honesty on the floor of the House, urging Americans to resist foreclosure by remaining in their homes. Detroit sheriff Warren Evans stands out as another hero in the film when he announces he will cease foreclosure evictions in his jurisdiction because of the damage to the community caused by making more houses vacant and more families homeless. Moore also features grassroots organization Take Back the Land, which has dramatically responded to the crisis by moving evicted families back into their homes in the Miami area.
Regular folks fighting back against a system that is depriving them of income, housing, health care and other basic needs is inspiring stuff to watch, and it's not something we're used to seeing up on the big screen. Capitalism displays this grassroots defiance surprisingly well by humanizing those on the bottom of the pyramid. One man whose farm is foreclosed angrily warns, "There's got to be some kind of rebellion between people who've got nothing and people who've got it all." His words are buttressed by a behind-the-scenes look at Republic Windows & Doors, where laid-off workers occupied their Chicago factory and refused to leave until receiving their promised severance pay. For Moore this represents the kind of direct action that everyday people must now begin to take to protect themselves from having to pay for the misdeeds of the wealthiest one percent.
This call to action is well taken. However, one piece lacking in the film's analysis of capitalism is how the system of economic power interlocks with other structures of oppression, for example U.S. imperialism, patriarchy and white supremacy. Capitalism affects different people in extremely different ways, and while some fear losing their jobs, others fear imprisonment, rape, or even being hit by a drone attack. But Michael Moore seems to avoid a conversation about racism, sexism and homophobia in order to appeal to a mythical homogeneous American working class. And besides a brief comparison to Rome, the movie also shies away from discussing the U.S. role in the world and how a militaristic foreign policy serves the interests of corporate and financial elites – even though opposition to the wars in Afghanistan/Pakistan and Iraq have never been greater.
Another weakness is how Moore handles Barack Obama with kid gloves. Even while his economic advisers are skewered in the film, President Obama's role in the bank bailouts is downplayed, and he comes out looking like a champion of the people, or at least a potential champion. In this respect Michael Moore bestows honors like the Nobel Committee, not so much for what the president has done, but for the "hope" of what he might do.
So what does Michael Moore propose as an alternative to capitalism? Not socialism, but a kind of economic democracy – an opportunity for average folks to have a say in how their money is used, from the workplace on up to the government. Moore takes us inside co-ops in America where workers vote on decisions about finances democratically, and where salaries are equal and adequate for everyone in the company. In one factory, assembly line workers and the CEO each make about $60,000.
To reinforce his economic prescription, Moore even dug through archives to recover lost footage of FDR's long-forgotten proposal for a "Second Bill of Rights," which called for guaranteeing meaningful work and a living wage, decent housing, adequate medical care, and a good education for every American. It is striking how such common-sense ideas in our current political climate appear dangerously radical, even coming from the lips of a U.S. president. It seems the overriding purpose of Capitalism: A Love Story is to flip these expectations on their heads. For Michael Moore, guaranteeing basic economic security is as American as apple pie; what is radical is a system that would deny such prosperity to bolster the wealth of a tiny few.
If there is to be any solution to the economic crisis that doesn't involve millions more people thrown out of their homes or dropped from their health care, it will have to involve a sharp break from a system that values private profits higher than meeting people's basic needs. To this end, Michael Moore has done a great public service by making a film that is essentially an invitation for views outside the bounds of established mainstream discourse to propose what might be done about the economic quagmire we now find ourselves in. It is time for an American Left to come out of the wilderness and speak out with proposals for better ways of organizing our economy. I see no reason to be any less bold than President Roosevelt was 65 years ago.
Here is an excerpt from President Roosevelt's 1944 "Second Bill of Rights" speech:
"We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.
This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.
As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
- The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
- The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
- The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
- The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
- The right of every family to a decent home;
- The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
- The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
- The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being."
The End Of Capitalism? What Lies Ahead?
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The following exchange between Michael Carriere and Alex Knight occurred via email, July 2010. Alex Knight was questioned about the End of Capitalism Theory, which states that the global capitalist system is breaking down due to ecological and social limits to growth and that a paradigm shift toward a non-capitalist future is underway. This is the final part of a four-part interview. Scroll to the bottom for links to the other sections. Part 3. Life After Capitalism MC: Moving forward, how would you ideally envision a post-capitalist world? And if capitalism manages to survive (as it has in the past), is there still room for real change? AK: First let me repeat that even if my theory is right that capitalism is breaking down, it doesn't suggest that we'll automatically find ourselves living in a utopia soon. This crisis is an opportunity for us progressives but it is also an opportunity for right-wing forces. If the right seizes the initiative, I fear they could give rise to neo-fascism – a system in which freedoms are enclosed and violated for the purpose of restoring a mythical idea of national glory. I think this threat is especially credible here in the United States, where in recent years we've seen the USA PATRIOT Act, the Supreme Court's decision that corporations are "persons," and the stripping of constitutional rights from those labeled "terrorists," "enemy combatants", as well as "illegals." I should also state up front that I have no interest in "writing recipes for the cooks of the future." I can't prescribe the ideal post-capitalist world and I wouldn't try. People will create solutions to the crises they face according to what makes most sense in their circumstances. In fact they're already doing this. Yet, I would like to see your question addressed towards the public at large, and discussed in schools, workplaces, and communities. If we have an open conversation about what a better world would look like, this is where the best solutions will come from. Plus, the practice of imagination will give people a stronger investment in wanting the future to turn out better. So I'll put forward some of my ideas for life beyond capitalism, in the hope that it spurs other people to articulate their visions and initiate conversation on the world we want. My personal vision has been shaped by my outrage over the two fundamental crises that capitalism has perpetrated: the ecological crisis and the social crisis. I see capitalism as a system of abuse. The system grows by exploiting people and the planet as means to extract profit, and by refusing to be responsible for the ecological and social trauma caused by its abuse. Therefore I believe any real solutions to our problems must be aligned to both ecological justice and social justice. If we privilege one over the other, we will only cause more harm. The planet must be healed, and our communities must be healed as well. I would propose these two goals as a starting point to the discussion. How do we heal? What does healing look like? Let me expand from there. Five Guideposts to a New World I mentioned in response to the first question that I view freedom, democracy, justice, sustainability and love as guideposts that point towards a new world. This follows from what I call a common sense radical approach, because it is not about pulling vision for the future from some ideological playbook or dogma, but from lived experience. Rather than taking pre-formed ideas and trying to make reality fit that conceptual blueprint, ideas should spring from what makes sense on the ground. The five guideposts come from our common values. It doesn't take an expert to understand them or put them into practice. In the first section I described how freedom at its core is about self-determination. I said that defined this way it presents a radical challenge to capitalist society because it highlights the lack of power we have under capitalism. We do not have self-determination, and we cannot as long as huge corporations and corrupt politicians control our destinies. I'll add that access to land is fundamental to this definition of freedom. The group Take Back the Land has highlighted this through their work to move homeless and foreclosed families directly into vacant homes in Miami. Everyone needs access to land for the basic security of housing, but also for the ability to feed themselves. Without "food sovereignty," or the power to provide for one's own family, community or nation with healthy, culturally and ecologically appropriate food, freedom cannot exist. The best way to ensure that communities have food sovereignty is to ensure they have access to land. Similarly, a deeper interpretation of democracy would emphasize participation by an individual or community in the decisions that affect them. For this definition I follow in the footsteps of Ella Baker, the mighty civil rights organizer who championed the idea of participatory democracy. With a lifelong focus on empowering ordinary people to solve their own problems, Ella Baker is known for saying "Strong people don't need strong leaders." This was the philosophy of the black students who sat-in at lunch counters in the South to win their right to public accommodations. They didn't wait for the law to change, or for adults to tell them to do it. The students recognized that society was wrong, and practiced non-violent civil disobedience [video], becoming empowered by their actions. Then with Ms. Baker's support they formed the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and organized poor blacks in Mississippi to demand their right to vote, passing on the torch of empowerment. We need to be empowered to manage our own affairs on a large scale. In a participatory democracy, "we, the people" would run the show, not representatives who depend on corporate funding to get elected. "By the people, for the people, of the people" are great words. What if we actually put those words into action in the government, the economy, the media, and all the institutions that affect our lives? Institutions should obey the will of the people, rather than the people obeying the will of institutions. It can happen, but only through organization and active participation of the people as a whole. We must empower ourselves, not wait for someone else to do it. Justice is supposed to protect the weak and oppressed from the strong and powerful, but in capitalist society it too often plays out as the reverse. As I write this, the Oakland police officer who shot Oscar Grant in the back and killed him was just handed a verdict of "not guilty" for murder, and found "guilty" of the lesser charge of "involuntary manslaughter." How can it be "involuntary" if he was caught on video putting a gun in Oscar's back and pulling the trigger? Is it because the police officer is white and Oscar Grant was black? What would the verdict have been if the roles were reversed and the police officer had been shot in the back? This isn't justice, it's injustice. So to reach an ideal future, we would need to eliminate systems of oppression that benefit one group, like whites, at the expense of another group, like people of color. Racial justice aims to overturn this disparity. Of course we also have to put an end to patriarchy, the domination of society by men. Women have been organizing for centuries to gain equal rights, and to live without fear of violence or silencing. Theirs is a struggle for justice, too. Queer and trans justice mean that everyone should have the basic right to express their sexual preferences or gender identity however they so choose. Finally, I don't think we can speak of justice as long as society is divided into rich and poor. A just society would ensure that everyone has access to resources to meet their basic needs, like food, housing, education, health care, transportation, clean water and air, and everything necessary for a decent livelihood. The concept of intersectionality is also crucial. It means we must appreciate the complex ways that different forms of oppression intersect with one another. A simple example is that the injustice experienced by a black woman is different than for a white woman or a black man. These are not new concepts of justice, but I advocate them proudly. Sustainability is such a buzzword these days, with corporations adopting sustainability statements and selling us "green" products, that it's close to becoming meaningless propaganda. In a deeper sense, sustainability means human economy existing in harmony with the rest of the planet's ecology, rather than as an alien force outside it and exploiting it. I draw inspiration for this definition from the work of the late, great social ecologist Murray Bookchin. Bookchin also theorized that "the domination of nature by man stems from the domination of human by human." In his book The Ecology of Freedom he points out that humans lived for 95% of our history as interconnected members of the web of life, and that it was the rise of class society about 10,000 years ago that first divided humans into rich and poor, and alienated us from the Earth's natural balance. Class societies are committed to exploiting the land, air and sea for all they can provide. The ruling class sees their human subjects and the environment as things to use for enriching themselves and gaining power over other class societies. If they fail to do this, they themselves risk being conquered by more powerful neighbors. Class hierarchy therefore can never be sustainable. Jared Diamond and others have written in detail how the Babylonian, Mayan, Roman and many other empires have collapsed because they abused their ecosystems faster than those ecosystems could restore themselves. This is why the Now that this global class society appears headed towards its own collapse, I would expect continents, nations, and regions to go their own directions. This makes it hard to envision exactly how sustainability will develop in the future. What works in the cities might not work in the country, and the same could be said about drylands and wetlands, North and South, etc. One point that seems clear is that technology must be appropriate to its surroundings, because you can't use wind turbines where there's no wind, or solar panels where there's not enough sun. Appropriate technology means that it must both serve human need, while also respecting the needs of the ecosystem on which it depends. Permaculture is an example of an appropriate technology for growing food – the idea is that gardening should actually restore the soil and nourish the ecology. I'll add that the movement towards a sustainable future must be global, pursuing all of humanity's shared long-term benefit. Instead of competing, we must work together, learning from each other's successes and failures. One sustainability success story is the organic revolution in Cuba. Around 1990, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the loss of cheap oil for the island nation of Cuba. Cuba had entirely depended on that oil for their food production, as they maintained an industrialized agriculture system heavy on machinery and petrochemicals. I should add that this industrial food model is the model the IMF and World Bank have pushed on most of the world. In neoliberal language, this was called the "Green Revolution." But without oil, this industrial model cannot produce food. The Cubans recognized this in the most visceral sense – facing an economic collapse that literally threatened starvation. They had no choice but to begin to rapidly transition all food production over to an organic model. Petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides were abandoned, in favor of "biofertilizers" and "biopesticides," natural solutions that mimicked the work of ecology. At the same time, tractors were replaced with human and animal effort, and the entire population had to relearn the farming skills of their ancestors. Gardens suddenly appeared on rooftops, in backyards and vacant lots, and the government raised farmers' pay above that of engineers. Amazingly, despite being enclosed within a persistent US embargo, this genuine Green Revolution succeeded. No Cuban starved, though everyone lost 20 pounds, and today about half of Havana's produce is grown within the city limits. As the global oil and energy shortage deepen, the entire world will need examples like that of Cuba. It is not just that the economy must use less resources than it does now. We have to face the equally important question of how to distribute the resources that exist. Transitioning to a sustainable path means prioritizing necessary economic functions like food production over wasteful and irresponsible expenditures on things like weapons or luxury items. For this reason, the transition away from a highly industrialized, capitalist model need not bring poverty and stress. If we use this opportunity to re-prioritize our economy towards meeting human and ecological needs, downscaling can actually improve quality of life and community self-reliance. Last on the list of guideposts, but certainly not least, love is the force that ties everything together. I don't speak of the sappy, saccharine love that comes in the form of millions of throwaway Valentine's cards and gifts every year. What we need is a guide towards respect for life and all creatures, and a spirit of support and cooperation with our fellow human beings. This force, I believe is deep, genuine love. The kind of transformative love that writer bell hooks talks about when she writes, "Love will always move us away from domination in all its forms. Love will always challenge and change us." If capitalism is a system of abuse, the task ahead of us is fundamentally one of healing. In any abusive relationship, where one asserts control over another through physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual violence, the only path to healing is first to end the abuse. For this reason, we must continue to speak up and challenge the violence capitalism perpetrates daily against the planet and all of humanity. However, we must also understand that the survivor, or the recipient of the abuse, may not recognize their partner's behavior as abusive, and will typically internalize some amount of shame and guilt, feeling that they brought the treatment on themselves. They may justify the abuse by believing that they deserve it as punishment for real or imagined wrongs. Even if the survivor names the abuse, they may stick with the relationship and futilely try to "change" or "reform" their abuser. Perhaps they will lower their expectations by reasoning that they cannot "do any better" than this relationship, and so will resign themselves to the abuse. Meanwhile the abuser is likely to attempt to isolate the survivor from friends, family, or other potential sources of support. As time goes on, the survivor is likely to feel increasingly trapped and powerless. The situation is not going to get any better until they end the relationship and rediscover their independence as a self-reliant entity. I believe this analogy helps clarify why the population living under capitalism often does not appear eager to rebel against the injustices of the system. We have come to internalize our abuse, feeling powerless to escape it, and not recognizing that there are other ways to live. Every one of us has experienced abuse in this system. It comes in many forms, including (but not limited to): poverty, racism, repression of sexuality, pollution and environmental injustice, violence in our communities and schools, police brutality, sexism, ableism, neglect from parents or loved ones, isolation, sexual violence, imprisonment/punishment, and the private hell of domestic abuse. Without the support to be able to name this abuse, and go through the process of healing our wounds, too often we hide our scars and hope the pain will go away. When it doesn't, we are left with anxiety, depression, addiction and mental illness. Love can set us free. We must commit to loving ourselves in a deeper sense than many of us ever have. Capitalism uses propaganda, distractions, and boredom to numb us to the violence and enclosures it perpetrates, and often it is easier to remain numb than to deal with our emotional trauma. We have tuned out. We ignore the pain and anguish our bodies are communicating to us, and remain silent. Loving ourselves is really about committing to a process of healing: healing our bodies, healing our minds and our spirits, healing our communities, and healing the planet. I believe in our capacity to heal. First we must name the abuse – the social and ecological crises we are experiencing, and move past the shame of victimhood. We may have participated in capitalist society, and really believed that it was right, but we did not deserve to be treated this way. Next, we must end the relationship with capitalism that is responsible for the harm. When we take this step, the future will open up and we will see immense opportunity in every direction. We will experience a sense of liberation, finally grasping the independence and self-empowerment that we have always been capable of. A Society That Values Life If we follow the five guideposts of freedom, democracy, justice, sustainability and love, I believe the path will lead towards a society that values life. Capitalism is clear that it values money – profit – and not much else. With this single-minded focus, it leaves the well-being of humanity and the well-being of the planet too far down on the list of priorities. Those should be the top priorities. What is more important than life? This imbalance is the root of our troubles. It's the reason our era is an era of war, poverty and unemployment, consumerism, drug and substance abuse, corrupt politicians, and ecological catastrophe. We live in a society that straight-up doesn't care about us. It cares about someone if that individual can make a profit, but if not, it doesn't care if they're lying facedown in the gutter. Perhaps we've come to accept it, but this is totally backwards logic. It flies in the face of every system of morality, every major religion, and simple common sense. What if we reversed the priorities and created a society that valued life more than it valued numbers on a spreadsheet? What would that look like? Conflicts resolved through dialogue and reconciliation rather than violence? Sharing when we've got enough and our neighbors don't? Asking for help when we need it, and actually receiving it? Listening to our elders and our youth, and I mean really listening? Working meaningful jobs that make a difference in the world? Spending more time in our gardens, volunteering in the community, or playing with our children? Overcoming addiction and mental illness? Doing what's in our hearts, and not just what will make the most money? Does this sound unrealistic? Then remember the figure I quoted in response to the second question: $17 Trillion [PDF]. That's how much money the US government has given to the banks since this crisis began, according to Nomi Prins. It's such a huge number that it's hard to fathom what that means. Let's put it in perspective. On May 30, the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan hit a total of $1 trillion. So the bailouts have cost about 17 "wars on terror," in just a year and a half. The group Rethink Afghanistan made a Facebook application that suggests alternative ways we could have spent that 1 trillion dollars wasted on war. On the list: $12 billion to "hire every worker in Afghanistan for a year," $930 million to clean up the BP oil spill, $23 billion for "health care for 1 million children for one year," and the list goes on. The website Global Issues also estimates the following costs for universal access in all the world's poor countries: $9 billion to provide clean drinking water and sanitation, $12 billion for reproductive health for all women, and $13 billion for basic health and nutrition. Even if these figures are underestimated, it seems clear that we could eradicate global poverty and eliminate the conditions that breed terrorists for just a fraction of the cost of occupying the Middle East with US soldiers and keeping capitalism on life support. What would you do with $18 trillion? I trust the reader could come up with all kinds of good ideas! For myself I want to see every community self-sufficient with electricity and heat, coming from clean and renewable energy sources. Let's make solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal, passive solar, and most importantly, energy efficiency, available to everyone regardless of income. We have the resources. We have the technology. All we need is the power to change these priorities. Every day, people all over the world work towards gaining this power. Impoverished communities, youth and students, people of color, disabled folks, women and trans folks, workers, lesbian, gay and queer folks, religious and ethnic minorities, indigenous communities, and allies are organizing daily to end the trauma of capitalism and move towards a society that values life. This struggle is as old as time. As long as oppression has existed in the world, people have been organizing to undo it. If the End of Capitalism Theory is correct, then right now we find ourselves at a historic crossroads, where the old order of oppression is breaking down under the strain of ecological and social limits. Will it be replaced by a new form of oppression, perhaps even more violent and authoritarian, or will we begin to heal and put an end to oppression once and for all? It's a question that only we can answer through our actions. Many people across the US and the world are trying to answer this question. We are getting smarter at creating approaches that integrate both ecological justice and social justice. More and more people are beginning to see that economic growth is not the goal. The capitalist economy is large but poor – it does not meet the needs of the majority of humanity or the needs of the planet. We can create an economy that is smaller but richer. Some examples of people who developing and spreading this knowledge are the Detroit, more than any other city, displays the hope springing from the cracks in capitalist crisis. Detroit was once the home of the automobile industry, the example of technologic progress in America. That industry has fled and left tremendous disinvestment and poverty in its wake. But solutions are coming from the community. Poor black people are turning vacant lots into urban gardens and organic farms, so that now Detroit has more urban agriculture than any city in the US. Detroit City of Hope, an effort connected with 95-year-old long-time community activist Grace Lee Boggs, is helping to coordinate efforts between community organizations re-imagining sustainable development in what used to be the "motor city." Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Detroit shows us that by joining together in a spirit of mutual aid and healing from trauma, regular people can begin to create a new world, now. What If Capitalism Survives As you point out, any theory can be wrong. So what if capitalism survives this crisis as it did the others? In that case, I see two possible outcomes. Option 1 is that the world literally comes to an end, either because of catastrophic climate change or nuclear warfare. The planet fries, the seas boil, and all life ceases, including humanity. This possibility is too horrific for me to imagine. I also happen to think it's less likely than the second. Option 2 is that either through renewed enclosures on the planet and the poor, pure dumb luck, or some combination of the two, President Obama and the world leaders manage to get the global economy back on a trajectory of growth, for another few decades. Perhaps they push through "cap and trade" and sell the atmosphere to polluters, opening up a new market for speculation. Or similarly they could force into existence a climate deal that includes REDD agreements that privatize pristine forests and displace the indigenous communities that have lived in them for thousands of years. Maybe they pump enough oil out of the tar sands, known as "the most destructive project on Earth," and waste a lot of money on more nuclear reactors and ethanol plants in desperate attempts to mitigate some of the effects of peak oil. Slavery could be reinstated, perhaps along with debtors' prisons to house the millions of Americans unable to pay back their student loans, credit cards, and mortgages. Or the ruling class could fall back on the tried-and-true strategy of escaping economic crisis by launching another war. They might enlist non-profits, academics, and even some "leftists" to promote the project by calling it neo-Keynesianism, or a Green New Deal, or some other snazzy title. It sounds plausible. The problem with this option is that these are all, at best, temporary fixes. The fundamental contradiction of a system that requires endless growth on a finite planet would remain in place like the force of gravity on an airborne vehicle. It's not the kind of thing that can be delayed forever. Once the fuel runs out, that sucker's going down. Capitalism has stayed in the air through a lot of crises in the past, but it has only managed to buy more time until the next storm hits and throws the system into jeopardy even more starkly. Sooner or later, capitalism will lose its forward momentum and there will be no technological fix, no new miracle energy source, no new round of enclosures that can pull it from its nosedive. The End of Capitalism Theory says this day will probably come sooner rather than later, and in that sense it's a hopeful theory. But I think if we study the evidence of the ecological limits, like how soon peak oil is hitting, and the social limits, like the turmoil in China, we'll see the system is either sputtering and about to go down, or has already entered freefall. If capitalism is already hurtling towards the rocks, then I believe the severity of the current crisis – which everyone agrees is rivaled only by the Great Depression, and this time is a much more global crash – begins to make sense. That's what theories are good for, after all, helping us make sense of our experiences. Thanks for the wonderful questions! Alex Knight July 2010 Alex Knight is a proponent of the End of Capitalism Theory, which states that the global capitalist system is breaking down due to ecological and social limits to growth and that a paradigm shift toward a non-capitalist future is underway. He is working on a book titled "The End of Capitalism" and seeks a publisher. Since 2007 he has edited the website endofcapitalism.com. He has a degree in electrical engineering and a Master's in political science, both from Lehigh University. He lives in Philadelphia, where he is a teacher and organizer. He can be reached at alex@endofcapitalism.com Michael Carriere is an assistant professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where he teaches courses on American history, public policy, political science, and urban design. He is currently working on a book, with David Schalliol, titled "The Death and (After) Life of Great American Cities: Twenty-First Century Urbanism and the Culture of Crisis." He holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Chicago. Click the links below for more of the interview: 1. The current financial crisis is clearly a moment of peril for both individuals and the broader system of capitalism. But would it also make sense to see it as a moment of opportunity? Part 1. Crisis and Opportunity 2. Capitalism has faced many moments of crisis over time. Is there something different about the present crisis? What makes the end of capitalism a possibility now? Part 2A. Capitalism and Ecological Limits Part 2B. Social Limits and the Crisis 3. Moving forward, how would you ideally envision a post-capitalist world? And if capitalism manages to survive (as it has in the past), is there still room for real change?
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Monday, August 2, 2010
Beyond the Human Imagination
Beyond the Human Imagination
What is Shamanic imagination and how does it differ from ordinary, everyday concepts of reality?The Construction of Shamanic death can be seen as the release of the imaginistic from the confines and parameters of the dualistic and mundane mood of consciousness. This area cannot be accessed through the modes of thought that are prior to initiatory experience of death. A new mood structure has to be encountered in order to understand the imaginistic. I use the word encounter because the first principle of understanding this area is the realization that death means the death of the prior form of consciousness and the releasement from all aspirations to ego-related control structures.
The term "mood structure" is used with care. The entrance into this territory is sometimes described as a ‘tracking’ or a form of ‘scenting’. It is related to what we understand by an emotional response rather than an analytic one. It is aligned to a feeling and a sensing, a form of remote sensing which defies attempts at entrance by logocentric methods. All that the rational achieves in any attempt to enter this region is to reinforce the inadequacy of this approach in our minds. In The Mushrooms of Language, Henry Munn describes the entrance into the imaginative world of the shaman.
"Let us go to the cornfield looking for the tracks of the spirits' feet in the warm ground. So then let us go walking ourselves along the path in search of significance, following the words of two discourses enregistered like tracks on magnetic tapes."
(in Harner p.89:1973.)
and
"Let's go searching for the tracks of her feet to encounter the sickness that she is suffering from. Animals in her heart? Let's go searching for the tracks of her feet, the tracks of her nails. That it be alleviated and healed where it hurts. What are we going to do to get rid of this sickness? and
(Ibid.p.92)
In this sort of experience the relationship between language and thought is not the subject and object directed form of thought of mundane experience. Rather, the shaman is the prey of language. The imagination of death becomes new imagination precisely because the imagination has been released, or prised by death, from the strictures of the mundane consciousness.
"It is not I who speak," said Heraclitus, "it is the logos." Language is an ecstatic activity of signification. Intoxicated by the mushrooms, the fluency, the ease, the aptness of expression one becomes capable of are such that one is astounded by the words that issue forth experience. At times it is as if one were being told what to say, for the words leap to mind, one after another, of themselves without having to be searched for : a phenomenon similar to the automatic dictation of the surrealists except that here the flow of consciousness, from the contact of the intention of articulation with the matter of rather than being disconnected, tends to be coherent: a rational enunciation of meanings. Message fields of communication with the world, others, and one's self are disclosed….."
(Ibid.p.89.)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
TEXTURES OF THE NEIRIKA THE FACTICITY OF DEATH
TEXTURES OF THE NEIRIKA
THE FACTICITY OF DEATH
All thought process forms a texture. A physical thing, a body of understanding and perception which cannot be limited by any prior conceptions. This is the construction of reality and is possibly far more physical and material than some may have thought. There is no conclusive verification for this point of view. Only recent discoveries in physics and psychology point towards this area. But these research discoveries provide a texture in-the-making, composed of many strands from physics to painting. This texture of thought can be understood through the Shamanic construction of death.
If one takes all of the developments in modern tech-culture, from holography to music, then it seems that there is an underlying configuration which points to the emergence of something new… a new texture which we cannot recognize as yet, being as we are, blinded by the textures and constructions of the cultural dependencies that we have inherited and continually recreate.
These textures are not easily describable according to the dualistic notations of thought and language that are our tools. What is needed is the alchemical change, the transmutation to find the prima materia. But this must take place within the modern context, which cannot afford nostalgia or the unearthing of old symbols to cling onto once again. Hence the meaning and significance of death for the development of a new consciousness.
The Neirika is a term which alludes to the unknown; but the unknown, not as an exit, but as an entrance. The texture of the Neirika is expressed in this passage spoken by the Eskimo Shaman Aua, in an altered state of consciousness, encountering a "shore spirit". The discovery of this spirit is a profound and moving passage which shows the importance and almost indescribable joy at the revelation of a consciousness which is beyond the fetters of dualistic thought.
In the above passage we are confronted again by the apparent paradox of joy and dread and the meaning that issues from the entrance into death and the Neirika.
In order to go any further in this discussion we would have to leave the comfort of this form of discourse and enter into the poetic. The realization of the imagination of death brings another mood with it. Each culture, each individual has his or her unique entrance into this reality. Here we could begin to talks of the agent. The visceral engineer who is an entrance and exit from this world. We could begin to talk of the textual figurations who are like angels and who also have the quality of technological machines. But this would, in a strict sense, fall outside of the ambit of this these essays.
THE FACTICITY OF DEATH
" Across the horos there stretches a great veil or curtain ( Katapetasma), which bears the secret pattern of all things....For this reason the whole panorama limned on the curtain is spoken of as the ontological world of really existing things, depicting innumerable multitudes of creatures in all their diversity, and through all their vicissitudes.(p.34/35.Walker: 1983.)
The Picture of himself that a man is familiar with on earth is nothing compared with what is drawn upon the changing tapestry above. In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus remarks, 'when you see your likeness, you rejoice. But when you will see your image ( eikon) which came into existence before you, which neither dies nor is manifested, how much will you endure?"
The door that usually remains closed until death called Neirika. This is the cosmic portal between ordinary and non-ordinary reality. Both a passageway and a barrier.(P.4.Halifax:1982.)
All thought process forms a texture. A physical thing, a body of understanding and perception which cannot be limited by any prior conceptions. This is the construction of reality and is possibly far more physical and material than some may have thought. There is no conclusive verification for this point of view. Only recent discoveries in physics and psychology point towards this area. But these research discoveries provide a texture in-the-making, composed of many strands from physics to painting. This texture of thought can be understood through the Shamanic construction of death.
If one takes all of the developments in modern tech-culture, from holography to music, then it seems that there is an underlying configuration which points to the emergence of something new… a new texture which we cannot recognize as yet, being as we are, blinded by the textures and constructions of the cultural dependencies that we have inherited and continually recreate.
These textures are not easily describable according to the dualistic notations of thought and language that are our tools. What is needed is the alchemical change, the transmutation to find the prima materia. But this must take place within the modern context, which cannot afford nostalgia or the unearthing of old symbols to cling onto once again. Hence the meaning and significance of death for the development of a new consciousness.
THE NEIRIKA
The Neirika is a term which alludes to the unknown; but the unknown, not as an exit, but as an entrance. The texture of the Neirika is expressed in this passage spoken by the Eskimo Shaman Aua, in an altered state of consciousness, encountering a "shore spirit". The discovery of this spirit is a profound and moving passage which shows the importance and almost indescribable joy at the revelation of a consciousness which is beyond the fetters of dualistic thought.
Joy, joy(p.146.Kalweit:1988.)
Joy, Joy,
I see a little shore spirit,
A little aua,
I myself am also aua,
The shore spirit's namesake,
Joy, Joy!
"These words I would keep on repeating ," he recalls, "until I burst into tears, overwhelmed by a great dread; then 1 would tremble all over, crying only, 'Ah-a-a-a-a, joy, joy! Now I will go home, joy, joy!
Then I sought solitude, and here I soon became very melancholy. I would sometimes fall to weeping, and feel unhappy without knowing why.
Then, for no reason, all would suddenly be changed and I felt a great, inexplicable joy, a joy so powerful that I could not restrain it, but had to break into song, a mighty song, with only room for the one word: joy, joy! And I had to use the full strength of my voice. And then, in the midst of such a fit of mysterious and overwhelming de- light, I became a shaman, not knowing myself how it came about. But I was a shaman. I could see and hear in a totally different way…."
In the above passage we are confronted again by the apparent paradox of joy and dread and the meaning that issues from the entrance into death and the Neirika.
In order to go any further in this discussion we would have to leave the comfort of this form of discourse and enter into the poetic. The realization of the imagination of death brings another mood with it. Each culture, each individual has his or her unique entrance into this reality. Here we could begin to talks of the agent. The visceral engineer who is an entrance and exit from this world. We could begin to talk of the textual figurations who are like angels and who also have the quality of technological machines. But this would, in a strict sense, fall outside of the ambit of this these essays.
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