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Authors: Nicole Aschoff
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5
Looking Forward
Capitalism both creates and destroys, and the past three decades have been no exception. Unprecedented generation of wealth, global integration, and technological innovation have been accompanied by a stratospheric rise in inequality, ever-expanding environmental destruction, and a loss of faith in capitalism as the best possible system. Faith has been replaced by fatalismâmost people recognize the deep problems associated with capitalism but doubt the possibility of a better way of organizing society.
Despite their vast wealth and success, the new prophets of capital also recognize these problems, but they havenât lost faith in the possibilities of capitalism. They believe that the solutions to our problems lie in refining the existing political and economic system, expanding the reach of capitalist markets, submitting more and more aspects of our lives to a market logic, and channeling our struggles for a better life through corporations.
The solutions proposed by these new prophets are seductive and resonant. Most of us share the concerns of Sheryl Sandberg, John Mackey, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill and Melinda Gates, and we long for simple, feasible ways to improve society. But the stories and solutions they offer will not end inequality, poverty, alienation, oppression, or environmental degradation. They will not resolve the contradictions of capitalism. Instead, their solutions strengthen existing social relations of power and profit-driven structures of accumulation, and they in fact bolster the very forces that create these negative outcomes in the first place. Paradoxically, they are doing so by voicing grievances against capitalism, forcing the people, institutions, and structures that undergird it to evolve and temporarily work through crises, propping up and strengthening the system for the long haul.
Does this mean that it is pointless to challenge capitalism? That all critiques of the status quo will be absorbed, displaced, or ignored? Capitalism can accommodate the powerful women, the eco-business practices, the essentialist principles, and fund vaccine projects without missing a beat. That is because these critiques and projects do not challenge the in-built drives of the production-for-profit system. But stories and ideas that truly challenge the for-profit architecture are not easy for the existing power structure to absorb, divert, or implement. Were they to be incorporated, they would change the system in fundamental ways, because they are irreconcilable with the status quo. These ideas lay the groundwork for thinking about a very different kind of societyâone that is driven by the dictates of human need, not profit.
What would a radical, anticapitalist model look like? To begin with, the model wonât be a single, unified narrative of change. It will be comprised of thousands of stories, all with their own unique visions for a better world. These alternative stories, though they arenât usually loud enough to be picked up by the corporate media, already exist and are being told by more and more people. As part of the Ear to the Ground Project, longtime organizers and activists NTanya Lee and Steve Williams traveled all around the United States interviewing organizers fighting to make the world betterâa world where oppression and poverty have no place. They found a myriad of collective projects, some new and some old, run by dedicated activists and organizers. 1
This collective vision consists of projects with different immediate goals and philosophies. Some groups fight for environmental justice, while others fight for immigrant rights. Some groups want to organize fast food workers into unions, while others want to get high-stakes testing out of their childrenâs schools. Some groups fight against domestic violence, while others fight for the civil rights of ex-offenders and prisoners. The passions and goals of these groups are formed by the passions and
Looking Forward
Capitalism both creates and destroys, and the past three decades have been no exception. Unprecedented generation of wealth, global integration, and technological innovation have been accompanied by a stratospheric rise in inequality, ever-expanding environmental destruction, and a loss of faith in capitalism as the best possible system. Faith has been replaced by fatalismâmost people recognize the deep problems associated with capitalism but doubt the possibility of a better way of organizing society.
Despite their vast wealth and success, the new prophets of capital also recognize these problems, but they havenât lost faith in the possibilities of capitalism. They believe that the solutions to our problems lie in refining the existing political and economic system, expanding the reach of capitalist markets, submitting more and more aspects of our lives to a market logic, and channeling our struggles for a better life through corporations.
The solutions proposed by these new prophets are seductive and resonant. Most of us share the concerns of Sheryl Sandberg, John Mackey, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill and Melinda Gates, and we long for simple, feasible ways to improve society. But the stories and solutions they offer will not end inequality, poverty, alienation, oppression, or environmental degradation. They will not resolve the contradictions of capitalism. Instead, their solutions strengthen existing social relations of power and profit-driven structures of accumulation, and they in fact bolster the very forces that create these negative outcomes in the first place. Paradoxically, they are doing so by voicing grievances against capitalism, forcing the people, institutions, and structures that undergird it to evolve and temporarily work through crises, propping up and strengthening the system for the long haul.
Does this mean that it is pointless to challenge capitalism? That all critiques of the status quo will be absorbed, displaced, or ignored? Capitalism can accommodate the powerful women, the eco-business practices, the essentialist principles, and fund vaccine projects without missing a beat. That is because these critiques and projects do not challenge the in-built drives of the production-for-profit system. But stories and ideas that truly challenge the for-profit architecture are not easy for the existing power structure to absorb, divert, or implement. Were they to be incorporated, they would change the system in fundamental ways, because they are irreconcilable with the status quo. These ideas lay the groundwork for thinking about a very different kind of societyâone that is driven by the dictates of human need, not profit.
What would a radical, anticapitalist model look like? To begin with, the model wonât be a single, unified narrative of change. It will be comprised of thousands of stories, all with their own unique visions for a better world. These alternative stories, though they arenât usually loud enough to be picked up by the corporate media, already exist and are being told by more and more people. As part of the Ear to the Ground Project, longtime organizers and activists NTanya Lee and Steve Williams traveled all around the United States interviewing organizers fighting to make the world betterâa world where oppression and poverty have no place. They found a myriad of collective projects, some new and some old, run by dedicated activists and organizers. 1
This collective vision consists of projects with different immediate goals and philosophies. Some groups fight for environmental justice, while others fight for immigrant rights. Some groups want to organize fast food workers into unions, while others want to get high-stakes testing out of their childrenâs schools. Some groups fight against domestic violence, while others fight for the civil rights of ex-offenders and prisoners. The passions and goals of these groups are formed by the passions and
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