The savages produced in the capitalist system

 (picture courtesy of democratsforprogress.com)

Capital is seen, by bourgeois cronies and its lackeys, as an eternal mode of production that has lifted millions out of poverty. According to them it has created wealth at an unprecedented level; it has increased living standards as a result of the high level of technology utilized in production or for base consumption. It has made society come alive and rescued us from the high strung idealism that suffocated us in previous modes of production where we were told to wait until we reached heaven or allah or nirvana to attain escape from degrading poverty. 

Well, the flip side to this is that capital has plundered the world. By so doing  it has created its own brand of savagery. It subjects the mass to poverty and creates wealth only for the few and their lackeys in the petty bourgeois circles. The rest of society, nationally and internationally, subsists on $2 US a day. They are the majority. The high level of technology on display is merely a reflection of the growth of capital that degrades, poisons and smashes the hope of the brutalized working classes. Yes, people consume it and engage in a warped commodity fetish however technology represents the high levels of productivity generated from the majority of the working classes driven on by the petty bourgeois cronies who serve the dominant capitalist. The working classes generate surplus value/unpaid labour time for the capitalist that represents the basis for his profit. The growth in the technological apparatus signifies that the workers are contributing a significant amount of surplus value to the few owners of capital. They are working up more raw materials in the creation of a mass of commodities for sale in the various markets. Even those that produce raw materials are forced to improve productivity in order to drive down unit costs in order to reach all four corners of the globe. It applies to all features of the industrial apparatus which, at times, is itself divided into many spheres in the production of just one commodity. Technology upgrades drive down the cost of production of a particular commodity and devalues the worker and as a result he becomes an appendage of the machine. The more you can drive down the cost of producing the commodity the more surplus value generated and so the living standard of the worker falls because productivity levels would have been increased. The amount of wages paid to the worker represents the amount of time it takes him to replenish him or herself and this represents necessary labour. When  capital drives down the cost of producing a commodity the necessary element to reproduce the worker goes down because the cost of production is now less as a result of technological upgrades. African slavery under  European colonial rule as well as in the US after its independence, is a more extreme example of this brutal form of extracting surplus value. When the pressures of the world bears down on the worker he can be cast out into the void known as the industrial reserve army that exists on the fringes of society. For concrete modern day examples of  the massive exploitation by capital look at the garment factories in Bangladesh, the comments by the wealthy female tycoon in Australia who glorified the $2 wage per day in poorer countries and seemed to upbraid her own expensive workers for not compromising and looking at the stellar example set in the gutter countries. Lastly, there is now a campaign in the US to increase the living wage law because there is a mass of people on the brink of starvation because the wages generated cannot provide for them or their families. Petty bourgeois individuals do not have to worry because they have a high level of education or some level of expertise in some field that allows them to rub shoulders with the dominant elites under capital. 

This system that, for centuries, has relied on exploitation of the mass of a society  in order to benefit the few, inevitably produces savages. I mean by the character of savage someone who has no restraint or no control over their bearings. This would mean that under capital they seek to make a profit at any cost. Savages within the capitalist system, therefore,  represent the decaying element of this so called eternal system. This system has only lifted the mass out of so called poverty because of the savage drive for capital accumulation to benefit the few who grow fat and weary with all of this money. They encourage the growth of their military complex for the purpose of pillaging. A great example is the Opium wars of 1840-42 where savages under the British flag prised open china in order to sell drugs to the people and keep them in a state of passivity and disunity. People who had a great subsistence way of life, in the idyllic days of the peasantry or communal abodes, were uprooted and pillaged and forced to submit to bondage. Check the growth in the African slave trade and the development of slave societies in Latin America and the Caribbean or the growth of capital in Western Europe and America. How can the apologists, caretakers and harmonizers of capital say that they are better off? Expropriation and then expansion; that is the motto. Others would like to take a look at the various tribes in the jungles and say they are savages because they are still tied to nature worship etc but as advanced as we think we are under capital and its great technological apparatus we must not ignore that it was a savage mentality that has brought us to this point. I should point out that I am not critiquing the savages in capital based on petty bourgeois sympathies. If I were I would call for a redistribution of the wealth, an increase in taxes on the rich, politicking for a more harmonious construction of society etc . I am critiquing from the perspective of one who detests the system in its entirety although acknowledging it as a necessary evil in developing the productive forces of society. This is one stage in creating the next phase of society where the working classes that carry out the bulk of production under capital will seize back what is theirs and create a society where production no longer benefits the few or their political lackeys. Instead the benefit would be derived from society which will manage  this massive surplus in order  for the worker to feel like he or she actually belongs in the production process.  

What are the characteristics of the savage(s) under capital? 

They seek profit or cash with a savage determination with no regard to the moral boundaries set by others within the society. The capitalists bombard you with ads by hijacking the media, they come to your door with goods for sale, they exploit their workers to the maximum in order to drive production of a particular commodity or by offering a service so it can circulate in the market. They seek to control every sphere of life whereby people will have to render money to them so that they can live like gods in their private abode. They will run you over in the street in order to get that extra dollar.  They do not care that the workers are being degraded or that they are very invasive. The mob element encourages the growth in criminal behavior that disregards private property. They will steal, rob or murder in order to get the things that can be resold at a profit or be stashed away as a payday. Dominant capitalists and their political cronies use their vast military complex (many historical examples which I will not go into here. Look at most colonial or neo colonial expeditions by the West and Japan in WW2) to invade countries and to plunder them of their wealth and so impose rules that will cater to the interests of their capitalist class who need to make a profit by extending their reach into new markets. They do not care that people are devastated or butchered in mind and body. The so called criminals (I say so called because they merely represent the more naked side of capitalism) sell products or services they know are damaging to anyone even children who cannot digest it. Drugs, gambling, easy money with a high price attached behind the scenes,  prostitution services and pornographic images are one example. They don’t care that people will be damaged by the product. They only care that a profit is being made. The white capitalist system instituted the degrading system of African slavery which was a primary means of capital accumulation. They did not care that the slaves were being brutalized and that the progress of their descendants would be severely affected for generations to come even after they received the token of freedom. They just put a band aid on it and told the descendants to move on. In their arguments you will hear that it was an abominable period in the past and it is time to move on although they always fail to mention that they benefitted significantly.

These savages resist the impulse for social unison. They resist calls to aid from a societal perspective. Even the beggar on the street is given a good beating or a tongue lashing for his impudence. How dear he or she ask for money? They act smug or aloof and this aids in their quest for even more money because it denies them the connection with the individuals they know they will have to brutalize, rape and pillage. They cater to naked self interest primarily. If you have nothing to offer it does not make sense you ask for help. If there is unison it’s at a parochial or cultural level never on a national basis and so they cater only for the needs of their group who will have the same mission. They frown when workers, particularly the brutalized sections of the working class, call for a wage increase. They frown when workers stand up for their rights. They frown when the criminals turn on them although they never make such a cry when those on the fringes of society have to endure criminality on a daily basis. They frown when they are criticized for their excesses.  They always point to the amount of profit generated on their behalf in response. They therefore endorse mass exploitation, murder, plunder and theft as long as it leads to more profit. They do nothing for the greater good.

The savages profane everything in the name of profit. Everything that was seen as a means to unite or inspire the society is torn asunder and lays bare crass materialism. A beautiful woman, for instance, becomes a physical instrument in order to market goods or her sexuality in order to get people to buy products related to that particular image. Romance is a mere token. Some women cling to this tradition not knowing that they will be ruthlessly exploited for sex by some males. Successful personalities who once inspired the populace now demand excessive payment for their duties regardless of the quality of their performance. They demand the payment as their right and convince the people that it is in their best interests to give them money. After this they no longer inspire as it becomes another means for self aggrandizement.  The church becomes a money making machine. Tithes become payment for services rendered or the actual cost for salvation. These are the financial crusades. The integrity of the law is compromised by the fact that wealthy individuals can buy their way out of a mess or into the mess of bourgeois politics. The innocent poor (there are guilty poor obviously) languish in prisons for minor offenses while the rich who steal millions escape with a smile and the pat on the back. Politicians are taught to serve the people but they now seek office on the basis of self interest. They plunder the coffers of debt and tax revenue in order to enrich themselves. They adopt a condescending approach to people and claim it as their right to extract such lofty sums. They rely on pornographic/hackneyed material to spread their conniving messages. The health profession is compromised by the enormous fees to be paid in order to stay alive. Some doctors charge exorbitant fees and see themselves as overly important individuals who encourage you to do this and that for your health with a gold tooth smile. In reality they don’t care about your health they just need to make money for their hospital or their private practice. There is insurance coverage which encourages you to pay premiums on the basis that you must get sick one day. Corrupt and thieving individuals seek to benefit from this system by making fraudulent claims. Once money is involved that’s it because a profit has to be made or it does not make sense. The insurance companies make profits once they get a hold of your money and reinvest it or redistribute it. They collect the money and try to make sure you never get sick. They encourage you to take care of yourself while you  deposit those premiums.  Premiums are always on the rise when the cost of medical technology, drugs and healthcare are considered. Only god can help those who  cannot find the money  to pay for a portion of the price for a medical procedure because your insurance does not cover it entirely. You may also find that it is too costly to keep paying premiums when you can no longer work or are receiving starvation wages. When the time comes to reclaim your money it is a struggle. If you seek help  you are asked immediately by some medical personnel if you have insurance etc or you might as well stay sick when you hear of the cost to care. Lol. Some will help but in the back of their minds they are wondering if you can pay. At times some people must watch their children die from the rabid diseases because they just don’t have the money. There is the profit of the pharmaceutical companies who conduct experiments to find the next magic pill for sale at high prices which would deny it to the majority. The destitute must languish and rot in public hospitals that offer the worst health care services.  This important social service is corrupted by the savage mentality of capital.

Most individuals of society are encouraged to become savages because they are dominated by savages. The social fabric of society becomes torn asunder; many parochial groups are formed in order to preserve naked self interest. Individuals cater to themselves only on the basis of what’s in it for them. They no longer give a helping hand. People are left to rot on the roadside. No more good Samaritans. Those who give a helping hand are taken advantage of mercilessly by the savages. Those who give a helping hand are despised and are encouraged to act for me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Never for the greater good. The individual basis of society becomes a parade for congealed competitors. Each individual seeks the  means to supplant the other even though they shake hands or have a drink together. Social unity becomes an illusion.

These savages represent the decadent or decaying element of capital. The naked self interest promoted by capitalism is reflected in the pursuit of the savages. The revolutionary class normally identifies their  savage behavior as the primary reason why the capitalist system must be shattered. If this decaying element does not lead to revolution then it leads to anarchy and the collapse of capitalist civilization. The West seems to prefer anarchy rather than submit to any revolution of the system. With anarchy some members of the citizenry openly promote their naked self interest in various forms such as corruption (showing preferential treatment for some groups or individuals), mass murder and mass pillage, massive theft. Society cannot be controlled anymore because control centres on the individual(s) that can command some sector of the society with wealth accumulated by mass exploitation, regardless if the wealth is ill gotten. The façade about social unity is shattered almost irredeemably. It is when this anarchy ensues that people come to realize the true nature of capitalism. It is a constantly decaying civilization because it does not promote social unity. It only benefits the few that have accumulated large amounts of capital. How can a system that promotes naked self interest on the basis of private property promote social unity? It just cannot happen.  This is why the savage mentality is all pervasive. There will be no end unless the system itself is smashed.

This brief discussion is at an end although there is more that can be said.