Schooling: A Capitalist Indoctrination
by BJ Murphy
The specialization of ones own diverse abilities has become, at least from what I've seen here in America, a way of life now as the school system increases based on capital, but decreases based on intellectual, intelligent learning towards those going to school, in what used to be, for the path of higher learning. Why is it that one chooses to only specialize towards one goal, despite the vast possibilities of learning much more? Is there not a sense of merely educating your mind towards all, rather than towards a simple goal of an entirety of life? What we face today are universities pumping out workers for self-beneficial reasons in the name of capital.
I cannot help but wonder where exactly this nation is heading when I see hardworking students entering college to learn, but then come out as debt-riddled workers leaving without a true goal in mind, due to the goal being achieved already & now just ready to be partaken upon. Whether the student is paying to go to college, or has already paid to go, & is merely working already to pay the state back after getting a nifty loan for a possible 4 year degree, the problem is dead center of it all, the students are paying to learn or for what they learned. Is there not a better way of handling this? I never seemed to understand the concept of paying to make a better of yourself, when the payments brought forth is used as the limitation of how much you better yourself.
Three things are created through capitalized schooling: the rich, the workers, & the poor. All of which is achieved by how much money one can cough up, rather than the willingness to learn all that can be learned. We hear the reasons for going to college from kindergarten to senior year of high school - to find out who you are & what you want to do. But how can one find out who s/he truly is & what s/he's capable of when one is limited to how much s/he can learn? This is where I find that the educational system has turned into a workers factory for the consumers of specialized learning to be consumed, themselves, later down the road.
Venezuela has recently started a revolutionary new approach to schooling. What this plan contains, which was created by his brother Adan Chavez, is the beginning of nationalizing the school systems. What this allows is free education to all that wants to participate. Now, he made it fair to where he allowed private schools to continue, but they had to follow by rules, for private schools shouldn't indoctrinate whatever lessons are felt to be presented. This is all being paid for through State income, for Venezuela has dedicated itself towards a new way of educating their people. France has been using this type of schooling as well, where all students are allowed to go to college for free. The rules are that each student that participates will do the same thing, but will be granted all learning capabilities, allowing the student to work towards a higher way of bettering themselves. This is one of the main reasons why France statistics show that students there get much higher math scores, rather than the U.S. which ranks 24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, & 26th of 38 in problem solving.
Though, as I am a supporter in this type of learning system, I feel that this is merely the beginning of a transitional stage towards a much more higher way of learning than we are beginning to see now. We are now realizing that making a better of our people & teaching them as much as possible, while giving them equal opportunities through education, is a far more effective approach than the dying out method of putting a price to people's education. Though, there is still money being used, which is through the use of taxes. Even though I am for this method far more than how America runs it's school systems, I feel that, until money is completely taken out of the picture of educational reform, we will never truly give students the type of education that they deserve, better yet, is a necessary possibility.
Where does money play into the educational system? To pay for books & materials? No, since these are all manufactured by the use of resources & can be provided without the use of money. Man doesn't even manufacture these books any longer, & most importantly, we don't even need books anymore due to computer-based alternatives. So that just leaves us with the materials for teachers, which plays into the same effect as books do. These are not manufactured because of money. Money only plays as the conditioning of making man do unnecessary labor. And, like the books, are now manufactured by machines, not man. Man makes the machines, but this could be done without money, for people that create these machines do it for the love of doing so, not the money. Money was there to allow these workers to live in a capitalized society. Though, if there's no monetary system, there's no need.
So, now that books & materials are now knocked out of the category, what else does money play into? That's right, the teachers. Again, plays the same as I was saying about boring labor to humans which could be replaced by machines. Though, machines wouldn't do that good in teaching, not human-based in my opinion. Which is where my other point comes into effect. People do what they love, because they love doing it, not because money might be involved. I've written & published 3 books so far & I receive no profit from it, except for maybe $1 or 2. I love writing books, so I'll do it for free. So, let me ask you this - would you rather be taught by a teacher who loves teaching, or be taught by someone who's just doing it for the money? See my point?
One thing that I've noticed when I was in high school was that school started to become a military recruiting area. Our scores began being evaluated & observed to try & find potential for what the military are looking for. I remember taking the ASVAB test, where I was told I could find out what all I'm good at & what I could be looking for when I go to college - notice how they push you into only specializing into one subject. I took the test, & a month later I was told that I did excellent in all categories, & practically that I could do whatever I wanted in life. This brought a good thing to my life, pretty much lifting my hopes up for a better future. But then a few weeks before school was to end I get a knock at my door from home. I open it up & there an army recruiter was standing by my door. I wasn't sure why, since I never signed up for anything, due to my opposition against the wars that are being waged. I allowed him to come in & talk to me. The first thing he brought up was the reason why he was at my house, which really made me start wondering what the school systems are really trying to pull off from all this. He said that he reviewed my ASVAB test & was impressed at my scores. I was then informed that the tests were being evaluated by the military to try & find people with the best scores to try & pull to their training. After letting him have his say, I politely told him that I wasn't interested & showed him the door. That was the end of it, but the realization of what the HIGH SCHOOL is doing to help the military really puts a new perspective on me on where the educational system is going.
The point I'm trying to get out of this is that we are being taught within our educational systems, not to make a better of ourselves, but to find a job & do that job until we retire. This all happens while the "educational" system profits off of you & your activities. The system that controls this nation profits off of the workforce, so why should we fuel the state that controls us? Education is what creates who we are in the future. So it's not surprising on what our school's have become after taking a look on how the workforce operates these days. I know what you must be thinking - if one doesn't specialize on a certain subject how can we get someone like doctors? The problem I have about this idea is that we are conditioned to believe that one must partake in such niche roles in society, which is only used to help profit the system. Questions were brought forth by someone that I know on a forum which directly related to the points being made here:
Should the guy building bridges be forced to build bridges his entire life? Should he be allowed to do something else when he no longer enjoys building bridges?
These are great points that need to be brought into attention. Should a person be forced to remain in such a job that he no longer loves doing? Sure, we're not exactly forced to stay in a job, but when you quit you have to mention that in your next job application. If you're fired then that goes into a record for your next employment to look over & is used to decide on whether you should be hired or not, & let's not forget the difficulties & stress brought forth when wanting to start on a new degree pathway through our capitalized educational system. This is merely used as an illusion of choice on what we want to do. Another point that needs to be realized on why it's hard to just quit your job & try searching for a new one is that, in a monetary system, bills need to be paid, & stopping the flow of income in the search of your newly desired job costs a lot of money - the military then comes in around this time of pressure & desperation within one's life.
Another question that might be asked would be, "how will things get done?". The answer to this is simple - in similar ways on how things get done now. The only difference would be that people will not be forced to do the same work their entire lives, unless they want to that is. Let's not forget that a lot of the roles which are being performed today within society will no longer be around any longer in the next coming decades. Man (mankind) should be freely allowed to do what they want to do within society, yet the profitable specialization idea seems to have become the alternative to 'freedom to work'. For what I feel to be a capitalist indoctrination within our educational systems, this needs to end now.
The main point out of all this is that it all starts through education. This is the very source of why things are what they are in life, especially within the workforce. If we are to start such a new revolutionary way of thinking, it must begin with education. Until we begin to realize this, I fear of what is to come to this nation's future.
“In a communist society there are no painters, but at most people who engage in painting among other activities.” ~Karl Marx
Question Everything...Deny Nothing
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Why The Monetary System Fails & Where I Stand Because Of It
Why The Monetary System Fails & Where I Stand Because Of It
by BJ Murphy
Here in America we operate under an economic/political system called Capitalism. Now, during its laissez faire times, it operated quite functional & did grant great opportunities for many people. We felt that this was the system for everyone, that we had finally found a system that'll work 'til the end of days. But, something happened. Even though Capitalism allowed man to fulfill their desires & sheer-wants within life, it turned man into what they are to this day - self competent greedy creatures. We became obsessed with the myth that we called "The American Dream".
What this problem brought was a coming dark age in America - the great depression. The greediest of the greedy, the corporate banks, finally got exposed when stock market crashed after being abused over & over again. Then, for years after that, unemployment grew to a staggering 25% in America because of the stock market crash. The only thing that helped bring people back to work was the public works relief program (The Civilian Conservation Corps) that was put in place during the depression.
It was said that one would've been given around $30 a month for working in the works program, but the profit wasn't what brought people back to work, nor was it the reason why the country stayed within balance & control. It was the resources brought forth as the people that worked were granted food, clothing, & medical care for him & his family. This sparked a new way of working in America as it employed close to 3 million men. But, even though 82% said that they preferred the public works relief program, it was later shifted into a military construction organization once we entered World War 2. Since then, the once great works program changed forever & never came back.
What this showed us though was that profit didn't matter when it came to keeping a nation stable & taking care of it's people. What mattered was the workers & the resources given to these workers to make what was accomplished possible. Though, seeing where it then shifted away from such a revolutionary new way of working into such a old way of getting along with other countries, it showed that really didn't learn our lesson & were bound to fail once again.
This is when late 2008 showed up. Once again, stocks had fallen & unemployment grew once again. And guess what? It was because of the same reason as last time. We got too greedy & overused all that we had once again. As of right now, the unemployment percentage is now at 10.2%. Agreed, we are not, as of right now, as bad as it was during the great depression, but understand that we went to 10.2% in a matter of only a year, when the great depression lasted from 1929-1939, & some even point out that the depression went even longer after that. So, if we continue to go along this rate, we will be, within the next decade, for worse than we had experienced during the great depression.
What solutions were brought forth? Well, as bold & straight-forward as President Obama was, his solution of bailing out the very banks that caused our, right now, great recession really didn't help anything, & rather made things much worse. Bailing out the people was apparently not an option to President Obama, nor was it to our oh so gracious government. It is definitely apparent that we are not learning from our past mistakes. So what can be done to help us pull out of this increasing 2nd disaster in our nation?
I wonder if our government will ever take a second & think back on what we did the other time. Maybe, just maybe, we can start the public works relief program again? You know, the very program that helped us pull out of the depression originally. But, until we learn from our past mistakes, nothing will come to our aid, & I fear of what comes next as we continue the increase of unemployment in America. But, I feel there is hope, for if what I've learned from our past mistakes that has changed me into who I am now, maybe the rest of the world, for those that are still rational enough, can change too. But what of me has changed?
Before I went into politics, & during my early few years beginning in politics, I was a capitalist supporter. I felt that money was the way to go & that getting an education meant that I could get a job where the big bucks roll. I wanted to get rich, & didn't give a fuck who I was hurting in the process, nor did I care what was happening due to capitalist exploitations. Then, after learning of the true horrors & problems behind the capitalist system, I then turned to Socialism/Communism. For my entire ideal changed from profit before people to people before profit.
Though, for a couple years now, I've become something different after learning all that I've said as of right now, & it's that, of course, the capitalist system is a failure, & that the monetary system is completely insignificant when it came to us pulling out of the things that capitalism brought us into. So, I ran into a problem. From as much as I had read during then, although Socialism played in the effect of people before profit, profit still exists, despite its irrelevancy in the past & present successful working programs. I was then wondering if Communism is really the ideal that I really want to support, & I almost came to disbanding it all together & try finding something else. Then I found Anarcho-Communism (Libertarian-Socialism).
Anarcho-Communism: a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct or consensus democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations, workers' councils, and a gift economy through which everyone will be free to satisfy their needs.
What is granted within this system is the abolition of the state & money. I was skeptical of course because I wasn't sure what exactly this system supports as well, besides the abolition of the state, money, & private property. So, I did my research on it for the last 2 years & tried understanding more & more how it works, if it works, & what we could achieve from it. I have to thank the 2008 stock failure though, because it then finally came to me that I had come into complete support of Anarcho-Communism. Though, before I move on to where my believes have revolved into, I'd like to give a couple examples of how Anarcho-Communism HAS worked in the past, allowing direct-evidence that it can succeed:
Anarchist Catalonia: 1936 - 1939: was the self-proclaimed stateless territory and anarchist society in part of the territory of modern Catalonia (Spain) during the Spanish Civil War.
In 1936, the main anarchist movement, CNT-FAI, decided, after several refusals, to collaborate with the Spanish government of Francisco Largo Caballero. During the Spanish Civil War, many anarchists outside of Spain criticized the CNT-FAI leadership for entering into government and compromising with communist elements on the Republican side.[citation needed] Indeed, during these years the anarchist movement in Spain gave up many of its basic principles; however, those in Spain felt that this was a temporary adjustment, and that once Franco was defeated, they would revert to their libertarian ways.[1] There was also concern among anarchists with the growing power of Marxist communists within the government. Montseny later explained: "At that time we only saw the reality of the situation created for us: the communists in the government and ourselves outside, the manifold possibilities, and all our achievements endangered."
Anarchism was frowned upon by the government of the Spanish Republic, which considered the anarchists a threat and disloyal to both the Republic and the war. Clashes were particularly vicious between Soviet-backed communists and anarchists, since the movements often found themselves completely at odds with each other (see Barcelona May Days). Much of Spain's economy was put under worker control; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia, the figure was as high as 75%. Factories were run through worker committees; agrarian areas became collectivized and run as libertarian communes. Even places like hotels, barber shops, and restaurants were collectivized and managed by their workers. In some places, money was entirely eliminated, to be replaced with vouchers.
Another improvement was in the area of management. Before the revolution, streetcars, buses, and subways were each privately owned by separate companies. The union decided to integrate and consolidate all transportation into an efficient system without waste. This improvement meant better facilities, rights of way, and incomparably better service for the riding public. Fares were reduced from 15 to 10 centimes, with free transportation for school children, wounded militiamen, those injured at work, other invalids, and the aged.
The newly "liberated" zones worked on libertarian principles; decisions were made through councils of ordinary citizens without any sort of bureaucracy. In addition to the economic revolution, there was a spirit of social revolution. Some traditions were deemed as "oppressive" and done away with. For instance, the idea of "free love" became popular.
The Spanish Revolution sparked a new way of living & showed that it could work. The only reason it is not here today is because the Franco forces grew tired of such a system & decided to slaughter all of the people living within Anarchist Catalonia. This genocidal attack showed that this way of living was a threat to all Corporate-Fascists in this world from the past to now. Though, this way of living was not a first, but merely a few year forgotten idea. Which brings me to my next example:
Anarchist Ukraine (Free Territory): 1919 - 1921: was the territory controlled by the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Nestor Makhno where an attempt was made to form a stateless anarchist[1] society in part of the territory of modern Ukraine during the Ukrainian Revolution.
Hetman Skoropadsky, head of the Ukrainian State, had difficulty trying to occupy Ukraine as he was confronted by Makhno's Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine. Thus, he was finally called back to Germany after the collapse of the German western front. In March 1918, the RIAU succeeded in defeating the Germans, Austrians, Ukrainian Nationalists, and multiple regiments of the White Army.
At this point, the military role Makhno had adopted in his early years shifted to an organizing one. The first congress of the Confederation of Anarchists Groups, under the name of Nabat ("The Bell Toll"), issued five main points: suspicion of all political parties, rejection of all dictatorships (mainly those organizing over people), negation of any State concept, rejection of any "transitory period" or "proletarian dictatorship", and advocated the self-management of all workers through free workers councils (soviets). These were in clear contrast to Bolshevik views.
The color that this anarchist group used to distinguish itself was black, as that was what its military was considered - as opposed to Tsarist "Whites" and Bolshevik "Reds."
From November 1918 to June 1919, the Makhnovists claimed to have established an anarchist society run by the peasants and workers in what they controlled of Ukraine. It was located approximately between Berdyansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye (then known as Alexandrovsk), and Dnepropetrovsk (formerly Ekaterinoslav). According to Makhno, "The agricultural most part of these villages was composed of peasants, someone understood at the same time peasants and workers. They were founded first of all on equality and solidarity of his members. All, men and women, worked together with a perfect conscience that they should work on fields or that they should be used in housework... Working program was established in meetings where all participated. They knew then exactly what they had to make."
According to the leaders of the RIAU, society was reorganized according to anarchist values, which lead Makhnovists to formalize the policy of free communities as the highest form of social justice. Education was organised on Francesc Ferrer's principles, and the economy was based on free exchange between rural and urban communities, from crop and cattle to manufactured products, according to the theories of Peter Kropotkin.
The Makhnovists said they supported "free worker-peasant soviets" and opposed the central government, which was elected by the soviets. Makhno called the Bolsheviks dictators and opposed the "Cheka [secret police]... and similar compulsory authoritative and disciplinary institutions" and called for "freedom of speech, press, assembly, unions and the like". Political enemies of Makhno stated that the Makhnovist government was similar to a republic over the area they controlled. According to anarchist historian Paul Avrich, the Makhnovists "'voluntary mobilization'... in reality meant outright conscription, as all able-bodied men were required to serve when called up" and summary execution was used in military discipline. A declaration stated that Makhnovist revolutionaries were forbidden to participate in the soviet secret police known as the Cheka, and all formal militias and police forces including Cheka-like secret police organizations were to be outlawed in Makhnovist territory. Historian Heather-Noël Schwartz comments that "Makhno would not countenance organizations that sought to impose political authority, and he accordingly dissolved the Bolshevik revolutionary committees". However, the Bolsheviks accused him of having two secret police forces operating under him.
The once great Socialist Revolution did turn into an authoritarian Bolshevik take over, which this great Anarcho-Communist nation spoke out against. The only reason it was then defeated was because of propaganda that was released by the Bolsheviks because they viewed Makhno as a unreliable threat.
The Bolshevik press alleged that leaders in the "Free Territory", rather than being elected democratically, were appointed by Makhno's military clique. They claimed that Makhno himself had refused to provide food for Soviet railwaymen and telegraph operators, that the "special section" of the Makhnovist constitution provided for secret executions and torture, that Makhno's forces had raided Red Army convoys for supplies, stolen an armored car from Briansk when asked to repair it, and that the Nabat group was responsible for deadly acts of terrorism in Russian cities.
So, of course, the very system of Anarcho-Communism has been attacked within history because of what it represents & what it could bring to the entire world, if only the world embraced it. Now, let me get to where my beliefs stand & how I feel it is necessary for us to immediately transition ourselves into, which I will get into after this.
We have enough resources in the world to sustain every man, woman, & child's needs ten times & over. We've just been taught to believe that competition & the self-gain of money is what is to be achieved through life, rather than it being a petty want that really is obsolete to what the people & the planet needs. Since schooling, we were taught that if fought against each other then it would bring the best of someone, rather than realizing everyone's unique ability & putting them together to make something truly better. Instead of putting us in groups & help each other fix a problem, or help figure out how a certain formula works, we instead are taught that you have to compete yourself to get an A, despite the fact that there are people with known disabilities that could prevent a person in achieving such a goal. So instead of all getting an A because you brought yourselves to achieve a better in all, we are taught to fight for that A. We put pressure to our minds instead of actually educating it, which is what getting an education is suppose to represent.
Again, we are taught that if money is involved then we are gaining rewards in doing a particular goal, rather than achieving that goal because of the greater good it brings & represents. We are taught to believe that when money is involved, then it brings the greater good of a person & a product. This ideal is flawed in itself, because of how money is the youngest of ways of how an economy works, compared to how we've operated economies within the past. What we don't realize is that it's not the money that makes such great products, but rather the resources available that bring such a product to life. Money is completely obsolete towards its production. It just operates as a mere want in one's self-gained ideal.
Though, we have a problem. As we all can see, machines are replacing man within the work force. Even though the machines will remain producing the constant production of materials, man will eventually not have the money to buy such materials. We will have all the resources there for every man to divulge themselves upon, yet they can't because of the lack of money. Which is where I point out one of the many flaws in operating a monetary-run system. Machines won't get paid, but are still able to produce such products by the practically limitless amounts of resources brought in. So why is man prevented from partaking on the satisfaction of their needs? Where does the money go when used? What is it used for after that? Nothing. it just becomes an endless cycle of the swap of hands. It becomes an unnecessary problem towards the majority of people in the world. But machines can't do everything, just like man will eventually not be able to do everything as well. Mass production will be a machines job, as the building of machines will be mans job, along with many other emotionally-driven critiques in life.
So another question is put forth. Do we do the things that we love to do, because we get paid doing it, or because simply we love doing it? Almost every person will tell you because they love doing it, rather than because they get paid doing it. People partake in boring jobs because of money, so how does this problem get fixed. Well, we're already seeing the solution, but we are instead worrying about it rather than seeing it's necessary potential. And that is the use of machines to keep the production of production alive & going, while man remains doing what they love to do, without the worry of money getting in between of what they need, such as a home, food, electricity, transportation, health care, education, & so forth. We eventually become so psychologically aware of what needs to be done to keep such a sustainable life, that money becomes irrelevant in our lives.
There is no need to force people into doing something. This only leads to more problems. We instead must change the very mindset of how we operate everything. Beginning with education & how we are educated to do things in life. This is not indoctrination, but rather a higher way of learning than what we've been given in the past. This goes to how we stop overpopulation as well. We can't force people to stop producing more children. We can't implement a one-child act upon our society. This implementation would lead to more problems than it would help. We must rather give people the facts & what they can do to help make all that surrounds them better for not only them but for everyone else as well. We will eventually let go of our selfish ways by choosing to make the right decisions by not having 10 kids. This applies to everything else that is known to be the right thing to do.
When I went through school I was taught that killing was bad. That stealing was bad. And so on & so forth. To this day, I refuse to even kill animals or be a helper in the killing of animals by being vegan. To this day I refuse to steal anything from anyone & refuse to play the stock market because of how I perceive this as just a legal way of stealing. My mindset was educated to where I adapted to what I learned from such an environment. Though, why does man steal in the first place by robbing a store? Or why does man decide to murder someone or something? 9 times out of 10, your answer will always lead to money problems or problems gained from what is surrounded upon them. Though, we've been shown that being a killer plays out from a psychological effect of our genetic structure in the brain & how it operates, mainly due to damage, whether from childhood or birth, in the frontal lobe of our brain. Though, this knowledge was gained because of the education learning system that allowed one to understand such an advanced understanding of how the brain works & what it could lead to. Money didn't help that person learn. Though, it could play in effect if a certain person can be able to afford to learn such a needed study.
Which leads to one more problem of how we operate within this monetary-based system. We all come to the conclusion that the only way we will be able to put ourselves away from the monetary system & away from the fallacies that we have been driven on how to operate within our own lives would be through the educating of our minds. But, through our system, we must be able to afford the education before we are able to learn from it. Which brings in another example of money getting in the way of a need that is already there & can be used 10 times & over towards every man, woman, & child in this world. What is money used for anyways for education? Resources that is already provided & to pay people to teach students. But are the teachers there because they want to teach or because the money is good? Do you really want to be taught by someone that is only there for the money, or would you rather want to be taught by someone that loves to teach & would actually be there to make sure you are given your full potential within the learning process? I would hope you choose the 2nd one. But the only way we will be able to find out what our full potential is & what we truly want to do is by getting the education needed towards every study to try & reach such potential, rather than paying tons of money on a certain subject that you may not want in the future. If you find a subject that you don't like, then try a new one. If not that one, then another will be available. Yet, money will not be in the way this time.
So money is completely obsolete in this world, & shouldn't even be used today. But since it is, & we are running under a monetary-system, we must gradually change the very way we live & change how we operate completely. Which is where I see socialism as a great benefit to allow man to understand that people must always come before profit, & so this will eventually lead the understanding of how profit, itself, shouldn't come at all, but rather people first & people only, as we operate under a resource-based economy. Only then will mankind be truly free. Is this a utopia? No, this is beyond utopia. Nothing is more erroneous than a utopia world. This is merely a logical, & scientific new approach towards a possible way of living. This is not a dream, this is the future of possibility.
So, I present a logical new way of living that can uphold all of man's, woman's, & child's needs & provide a highly advance way of achieving our desires in life while all of our needs are fulfilled. Now, because I have always said that I'm a Socialist, I wasn't lying & I'm still not lying. Yes, I do consider myself as a supporter in Anarcho-Communism, but I'm also a supporter in the economic system that I feel is the best way of transitioning ourselves away from the monetary-capitalist-system & into a resource-based economy. And that economic system is Democratic-Socialism.
What a Democratic-Socialist economic system can achieve is change the very mindset of how we've perceived the way we operate ourselves in this nation. To change from profit before people to people before profit. It also brings equality & democratic rights to the working class people. The way I've always learned & taught myself to understand is that Socialism is merely the economic system that changes the political system, Capitalism, into Communism. Though, as I would read from the works of people such as Karl Marx, I would always ask myself how this is really a true change when all we are doing is changing ourselves to use less profit & more for the people into the exact same thing later on. So what did we achieve really? If Socialism, which is the idea of people before profit, is only the transitional stage between one system(Capitalism) to another (Communism), then shouldn't we go further than people before profit, rather than stay the same?
That's where Anarcho-Communism came to me as a savior to not only myself but a way that I felt could help save our nation, along with the world. Instead of merely staying the same after a transitional period, we should complete the cycle we started by eliminating profit all together. Capitalism runs under the idea of profit before people, then Socialism transitions that idea into people before profit. We are now moving profit out of the way, though still keep it as we gradually change our way of living. And so, the last, logical thing to do is to push it out of the way completely after that, which is what Anarcho-Communism does, & allows for a resource based economy to finally operate as the monetary system's replacement. This is where I stand, & I have to thank history for showing me this truth that I feel everyone must try & understand. I would also like to thank The Venus Project's designer, Jacque Fresco, for enlightening me to this new way of thinking.
Question Everything...Deny Nothing
by BJ Murphy
Here in America we operate under an economic/political system called Capitalism. Now, during its laissez faire times, it operated quite functional & did grant great opportunities for many people. We felt that this was the system for everyone, that we had finally found a system that'll work 'til the end of days. But, something happened. Even though Capitalism allowed man to fulfill their desires & sheer-wants within life, it turned man into what they are to this day - self competent greedy creatures. We became obsessed with the myth that we called "The American Dream".
What this problem brought was a coming dark age in America - the great depression. The greediest of the greedy, the corporate banks, finally got exposed when stock market crashed after being abused over & over again. Then, for years after that, unemployment grew to a staggering 25% in America because of the stock market crash. The only thing that helped bring people back to work was the public works relief program (The Civilian Conservation Corps) that was put in place during the depression.
It was said that one would've been given around $30 a month for working in the works program, but the profit wasn't what brought people back to work, nor was it the reason why the country stayed within balance & control. It was the resources brought forth as the people that worked were granted food, clothing, & medical care for him & his family. This sparked a new way of working in America as it employed close to 3 million men. But, even though 82% said that they preferred the public works relief program, it was later shifted into a military construction organization once we entered World War 2. Since then, the once great works program changed forever & never came back.
What this showed us though was that profit didn't matter when it came to keeping a nation stable & taking care of it's people. What mattered was the workers & the resources given to these workers to make what was accomplished possible. Though, seeing where it then shifted away from such a revolutionary new way of working into such a old way of getting along with other countries, it showed that really didn't learn our lesson & were bound to fail once again.
This is when late 2008 showed up. Once again, stocks had fallen & unemployment grew once again. And guess what? It was because of the same reason as last time. We got too greedy & overused all that we had once again. As of right now, the unemployment percentage is now at 10.2%. Agreed, we are not, as of right now, as bad as it was during the great depression, but understand that we went to 10.2% in a matter of only a year, when the great depression lasted from 1929-1939, & some even point out that the depression went even longer after that. So, if we continue to go along this rate, we will be, within the next decade, for worse than we had experienced during the great depression.
What solutions were brought forth? Well, as bold & straight-forward as President Obama was, his solution of bailing out the very banks that caused our, right now, great recession really didn't help anything, & rather made things much worse. Bailing out the people was apparently not an option to President Obama, nor was it to our oh so gracious government. It is definitely apparent that we are not learning from our past mistakes. So what can be done to help us pull out of this increasing 2nd disaster in our nation?
I wonder if our government will ever take a second & think back on what we did the other time. Maybe, just maybe, we can start the public works relief program again? You know, the very program that helped us pull out of the depression originally. But, until we learn from our past mistakes, nothing will come to our aid, & I fear of what comes next as we continue the increase of unemployment in America. But, I feel there is hope, for if what I've learned from our past mistakes that has changed me into who I am now, maybe the rest of the world, for those that are still rational enough, can change too. But what of me has changed?
Before I went into politics, & during my early few years beginning in politics, I was a capitalist supporter. I felt that money was the way to go & that getting an education meant that I could get a job where the big bucks roll. I wanted to get rich, & didn't give a fuck who I was hurting in the process, nor did I care what was happening due to capitalist exploitations. Then, after learning of the true horrors & problems behind the capitalist system, I then turned to Socialism/Communism. For my entire ideal changed from profit before people to people before profit.
Though, for a couple years now, I've become something different after learning all that I've said as of right now, & it's that, of course, the capitalist system is a failure, & that the monetary system is completely insignificant when it came to us pulling out of the things that capitalism brought us into. So, I ran into a problem. From as much as I had read during then, although Socialism played in the effect of people before profit, profit still exists, despite its irrelevancy in the past & present successful working programs. I was then wondering if Communism is really the ideal that I really want to support, & I almost came to disbanding it all together & try finding something else. Then I found Anarcho-Communism (Libertarian-Socialism).
Anarcho-Communism: a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct or consensus democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations, workers' councils, and a gift economy through which everyone will be free to satisfy their needs.
What is granted within this system is the abolition of the state & money. I was skeptical of course because I wasn't sure what exactly this system supports as well, besides the abolition of the state, money, & private property. So, I did my research on it for the last 2 years & tried understanding more & more how it works, if it works, & what we could achieve from it. I have to thank the 2008 stock failure though, because it then finally came to me that I had come into complete support of Anarcho-Communism. Though, before I move on to where my believes have revolved into, I'd like to give a couple examples of how Anarcho-Communism HAS worked in the past, allowing direct-evidence that it can succeed:
Anarchist Catalonia: 1936 - 1939: was the self-proclaimed stateless territory and anarchist society in part of the territory of modern Catalonia (Spain) during the Spanish Civil War.
In 1936, the main anarchist movement, CNT-FAI, decided, after several refusals, to collaborate with the Spanish government of Francisco Largo Caballero. During the Spanish Civil War, many anarchists outside of Spain criticized the CNT-FAI leadership for entering into government and compromising with communist elements on the Republican side.[citation needed] Indeed, during these years the anarchist movement in Spain gave up many of its basic principles; however, those in Spain felt that this was a temporary adjustment, and that once Franco was defeated, they would revert to their libertarian ways.[1] There was also concern among anarchists with the growing power of Marxist communists within the government. Montseny later explained: "At that time we only saw the reality of the situation created for us: the communists in the government and ourselves outside, the manifold possibilities, and all our achievements endangered."
Anarchism was frowned upon by the government of the Spanish Republic, which considered the anarchists a threat and disloyal to both the Republic and the war. Clashes were particularly vicious between Soviet-backed communists and anarchists, since the movements often found themselves completely at odds with each other (see Barcelona May Days). Much of Spain's economy was put under worker control; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia, the figure was as high as 75%. Factories were run through worker committees; agrarian areas became collectivized and run as libertarian communes. Even places like hotels, barber shops, and restaurants were collectivized and managed by their workers. In some places, money was entirely eliminated, to be replaced with vouchers.
Another improvement was in the area of management. Before the revolution, streetcars, buses, and subways were each privately owned by separate companies. The union decided to integrate and consolidate all transportation into an efficient system without waste. This improvement meant better facilities, rights of way, and incomparably better service for the riding public. Fares were reduced from 15 to 10 centimes, with free transportation for school children, wounded militiamen, those injured at work, other invalids, and the aged.
The newly "liberated" zones worked on libertarian principles; decisions were made through councils of ordinary citizens without any sort of bureaucracy. In addition to the economic revolution, there was a spirit of social revolution. Some traditions were deemed as "oppressive" and done away with. For instance, the idea of "free love" became popular.
The Spanish Revolution sparked a new way of living & showed that it could work. The only reason it is not here today is because the Franco forces grew tired of such a system & decided to slaughter all of the people living within Anarchist Catalonia. This genocidal attack showed that this way of living was a threat to all Corporate-Fascists in this world from the past to now. Though, this way of living was not a first, but merely a few year forgotten idea. Which brings me to my next example:
Anarchist Ukraine (Free Territory): 1919 - 1921: was the territory controlled by the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Nestor Makhno where an attempt was made to form a stateless anarchist[1] society in part of the territory of modern Ukraine during the Ukrainian Revolution.
Hetman Skoropadsky, head of the Ukrainian State, had difficulty trying to occupy Ukraine as he was confronted by Makhno's Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine. Thus, he was finally called back to Germany after the collapse of the German western front. In March 1918, the RIAU succeeded in defeating the Germans, Austrians, Ukrainian Nationalists, and multiple regiments of the White Army.
At this point, the military role Makhno had adopted in his early years shifted to an organizing one. The first congress of the Confederation of Anarchists Groups, under the name of Nabat ("The Bell Toll"), issued five main points: suspicion of all political parties, rejection of all dictatorships (mainly those organizing over people), negation of any State concept, rejection of any "transitory period" or "proletarian dictatorship", and advocated the self-management of all workers through free workers councils (soviets). These were in clear contrast to Bolshevik views.
The color that this anarchist group used to distinguish itself was black, as that was what its military was considered - as opposed to Tsarist "Whites" and Bolshevik "Reds."
From November 1918 to June 1919, the Makhnovists claimed to have established an anarchist society run by the peasants and workers in what they controlled of Ukraine. It was located approximately between Berdyansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye (then known as Alexandrovsk), and Dnepropetrovsk (formerly Ekaterinoslav). According to Makhno, "The agricultural most part of these villages was composed of peasants, someone understood at the same time peasants and workers. They were founded first of all on equality and solidarity of his members. All, men and women, worked together with a perfect conscience that they should work on fields or that they should be used in housework... Working program was established in meetings where all participated. They knew then exactly what they had to make."
According to the leaders of the RIAU, society was reorganized according to anarchist values, which lead Makhnovists to formalize the policy of free communities as the highest form of social justice. Education was organised on Francesc Ferrer's principles, and the economy was based on free exchange between rural and urban communities, from crop and cattle to manufactured products, according to the theories of Peter Kropotkin.
The Makhnovists said they supported "free worker-peasant soviets" and opposed the central government, which was elected by the soviets. Makhno called the Bolsheviks dictators and opposed the "Cheka [secret police]... and similar compulsory authoritative and disciplinary institutions" and called for "freedom of speech, press, assembly, unions and the like". Political enemies of Makhno stated that the Makhnovist government was similar to a republic over the area they controlled. According to anarchist historian Paul Avrich, the Makhnovists "'voluntary mobilization'... in reality meant outright conscription, as all able-bodied men were required to serve when called up" and summary execution was used in military discipline. A declaration stated that Makhnovist revolutionaries were forbidden to participate in the soviet secret police known as the Cheka, and all formal militias and police forces including Cheka-like secret police organizations were to be outlawed in Makhnovist territory. Historian Heather-Noël Schwartz comments that "Makhno would not countenance organizations that sought to impose political authority, and he accordingly dissolved the Bolshevik revolutionary committees". However, the Bolsheviks accused him of having two secret police forces operating under him.
The once great Socialist Revolution did turn into an authoritarian Bolshevik take over, which this great Anarcho-Communist nation spoke out against. The only reason it was then defeated was because of propaganda that was released by the Bolsheviks because they viewed Makhno as a unreliable threat.
The Bolshevik press alleged that leaders in the "Free Territory", rather than being elected democratically, were appointed by Makhno's military clique. They claimed that Makhno himself had refused to provide food for Soviet railwaymen and telegraph operators, that the "special section" of the Makhnovist constitution provided for secret executions and torture, that Makhno's forces had raided Red Army convoys for supplies, stolen an armored car from Briansk when asked to repair it, and that the Nabat group was responsible for deadly acts of terrorism in Russian cities.
So, of course, the very system of Anarcho-Communism has been attacked within history because of what it represents & what it could bring to the entire world, if only the world embraced it. Now, let me get to where my beliefs stand & how I feel it is necessary for us to immediately transition ourselves into, which I will get into after this.
We have enough resources in the world to sustain every man, woman, & child's needs ten times & over. We've just been taught to believe that competition & the self-gain of money is what is to be achieved through life, rather than it being a petty want that really is obsolete to what the people & the planet needs. Since schooling, we were taught that if fought against each other then it would bring the best of someone, rather than realizing everyone's unique ability & putting them together to make something truly better. Instead of putting us in groups & help each other fix a problem, or help figure out how a certain formula works, we instead are taught that you have to compete yourself to get an A, despite the fact that there are people with known disabilities that could prevent a person in achieving such a goal. So instead of all getting an A because you brought yourselves to achieve a better in all, we are taught to fight for that A. We put pressure to our minds instead of actually educating it, which is what getting an education is suppose to represent.
Again, we are taught that if money is involved then we are gaining rewards in doing a particular goal, rather than achieving that goal because of the greater good it brings & represents. We are taught to believe that when money is involved, then it brings the greater good of a person & a product. This ideal is flawed in itself, because of how money is the youngest of ways of how an economy works, compared to how we've operated economies within the past. What we don't realize is that it's not the money that makes such great products, but rather the resources available that bring such a product to life. Money is completely obsolete towards its production. It just operates as a mere want in one's self-gained ideal.
Though, we have a problem. As we all can see, machines are replacing man within the work force. Even though the machines will remain producing the constant production of materials, man will eventually not have the money to buy such materials. We will have all the resources there for every man to divulge themselves upon, yet they can't because of the lack of money. Which is where I point out one of the many flaws in operating a monetary-run system. Machines won't get paid, but are still able to produce such products by the practically limitless amounts of resources brought in. So why is man prevented from partaking on the satisfaction of their needs? Where does the money go when used? What is it used for after that? Nothing. it just becomes an endless cycle of the swap of hands. It becomes an unnecessary problem towards the majority of people in the world. But machines can't do everything, just like man will eventually not be able to do everything as well. Mass production will be a machines job, as the building of machines will be mans job, along with many other emotionally-driven critiques in life.
So another question is put forth. Do we do the things that we love to do, because we get paid doing it, or because simply we love doing it? Almost every person will tell you because they love doing it, rather than because they get paid doing it. People partake in boring jobs because of money, so how does this problem get fixed. Well, we're already seeing the solution, but we are instead worrying about it rather than seeing it's necessary potential. And that is the use of machines to keep the production of production alive & going, while man remains doing what they love to do, without the worry of money getting in between of what they need, such as a home, food, electricity, transportation, health care, education, & so forth. We eventually become so psychologically aware of what needs to be done to keep such a sustainable life, that money becomes irrelevant in our lives.
There is no need to force people into doing something. This only leads to more problems. We instead must change the very mindset of how we operate everything. Beginning with education & how we are educated to do things in life. This is not indoctrination, but rather a higher way of learning than what we've been given in the past. This goes to how we stop overpopulation as well. We can't force people to stop producing more children. We can't implement a one-child act upon our society. This implementation would lead to more problems than it would help. We must rather give people the facts & what they can do to help make all that surrounds them better for not only them but for everyone else as well. We will eventually let go of our selfish ways by choosing to make the right decisions by not having 10 kids. This applies to everything else that is known to be the right thing to do.
When I went through school I was taught that killing was bad. That stealing was bad. And so on & so forth. To this day, I refuse to even kill animals or be a helper in the killing of animals by being vegan. To this day I refuse to steal anything from anyone & refuse to play the stock market because of how I perceive this as just a legal way of stealing. My mindset was educated to where I adapted to what I learned from such an environment. Though, why does man steal in the first place by robbing a store? Or why does man decide to murder someone or something? 9 times out of 10, your answer will always lead to money problems or problems gained from what is surrounded upon them. Though, we've been shown that being a killer plays out from a psychological effect of our genetic structure in the brain & how it operates, mainly due to damage, whether from childhood or birth, in the frontal lobe of our brain. Though, this knowledge was gained because of the education learning system that allowed one to understand such an advanced understanding of how the brain works & what it could lead to. Money didn't help that person learn. Though, it could play in effect if a certain person can be able to afford to learn such a needed study.
Which leads to one more problem of how we operate within this monetary-based system. We all come to the conclusion that the only way we will be able to put ourselves away from the monetary system & away from the fallacies that we have been driven on how to operate within our own lives would be through the educating of our minds. But, through our system, we must be able to afford the education before we are able to learn from it. Which brings in another example of money getting in the way of a need that is already there & can be used 10 times & over towards every man, woman, & child in this world. What is money used for anyways for education? Resources that is already provided & to pay people to teach students. But are the teachers there because they want to teach or because the money is good? Do you really want to be taught by someone that is only there for the money, or would you rather want to be taught by someone that loves to teach & would actually be there to make sure you are given your full potential within the learning process? I would hope you choose the 2nd one. But the only way we will be able to find out what our full potential is & what we truly want to do is by getting the education needed towards every study to try & reach such potential, rather than paying tons of money on a certain subject that you may not want in the future. If you find a subject that you don't like, then try a new one. If not that one, then another will be available. Yet, money will not be in the way this time.
So money is completely obsolete in this world, & shouldn't even be used today. But since it is, & we are running under a monetary-system, we must gradually change the very way we live & change how we operate completely. Which is where I see socialism as a great benefit to allow man to understand that people must always come before profit, & so this will eventually lead the understanding of how profit, itself, shouldn't come at all, but rather people first & people only, as we operate under a resource-based economy. Only then will mankind be truly free. Is this a utopia? No, this is beyond utopia. Nothing is more erroneous than a utopia world. This is merely a logical, & scientific new approach towards a possible way of living. This is not a dream, this is the future of possibility.
So, I present a logical new way of living that can uphold all of man's, woman's, & child's needs & provide a highly advance way of achieving our desires in life while all of our needs are fulfilled. Now, because I have always said that I'm a Socialist, I wasn't lying & I'm still not lying. Yes, I do consider myself as a supporter in Anarcho-Communism, but I'm also a supporter in the economic system that I feel is the best way of transitioning ourselves away from the monetary-capitalist-system & into a resource-based economy. And that economic system is Democratic-Socialism.
What a Democratic-Socialist economic system can achieve is change the very mindset of how we've perceived the way we operate ourselves in this nation. To change from profit before people to people before profit. It also brings equality & democratic rights to the working class people. The way I've always learned & taught myself to understand is that Socialism is merely the economic system that changes the political system, Capitalism, into Communism. Though, as I would read from the works of people such as Karl Marx, I would always ask myself how this is really a true change when all we are doing is changing ourselves to use less profit & more for the people into the exact same thing later on. So what did we achieve really? If Socialism, which is the idea of people before profit, is only the transitional stage between one system(Capitalism) to another (Communism), then shouldn't we go further than people before profit, rather than stay the same?
That's where Anarcho-Communism came to me as a savior to not only myself but a way that I felt could help save our nation, along with the world. Instead of merely staying the same after a transitional period, we should complete the cycle we started by eliminating profit all together. Capitalism runs under the idea of profit before people, then Socialism transitions that idea into people before profit. We are now moving profit out of the way, though still keep it as we gradually change our way of living. And so, the last, logical thing to do is to push it out of the way completely after that, which is what Anarcho-Communism does, & allows for a resource based economy to finally operate as the monetary system's replacement. This is where I stand, & I have to thank history for showing me this truth that I feel everyone must try & understand. I would also like to thank The Venus Project's designer, Jacque Fresco, for enlightening me to this new way of thinking.
Question Everything...Deny Nothing
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