Skip to main content

Capitalism has failed as badly as anything can fail

by Caitlin Johnstone
 
"No no you don't understand, this US war is completely different from all the other US wars. See, the US is intervening in Ukraine for humanitarian reasons. We're fighting a bad guy who is an evil dictator that loves war crimes and genocide. Not like all those other interventions."

If the US proxy war in Ukraine was meaningfully different from other US wars they would be justifying it using different arguments, not the exact same ones.

The war propaganda is airing reruns.
 
Western punditry is rife with op-eds arguing that the US needs to vastly increase military spending because a world war is about to erupt, and they always frame it as though this would be something that happens to the US, like its own actions would have nothing to do with it.

If World War 3 does indeed occur, it will be because the drivers of the US-centralized empire continued accelerating towards that horrific event while refusing every possible diplomatic off-ramp due to their inability to relinquish their goal of unipolar planetary domination.
 
Pointing out the various flaws in historical attempts at communism does not address the problem that if we don't move from competition-based models to collaboration-based ones we're going to destroy all life on this planet in short order. We've still got to find a way to change.

Have issues with Stalin and Mao? Okay. Cool. Our competition-based models are still destroying our biosphere and shoving us toward nuclear war. Our survival still depends on moving toward collaboration with each other and with our ecosystem toward the thriving of all beings. Babbling about Stalin and Mao doesn't magically change the fact that we can't keep doing this thing where human behavior is driven by profit and competition.

Leaving aside that many problems with communism have been wildly exaggerated and others are the direct result of sabotage and economic warfare by the capitalist empire, those criticisms never address the problem that capitalism has no solutions for our current existential crises. So we need systems which can address those existential crises. I see no models with any hope of sustainability that don't involve a radical transition from competition to collaboration at every level. We will either accomplish that transition or we will go extinct. It really is that simple.

People tell me, "Capitalism isn't perfect, but it's the best system we've seen."

It's literally killing us. It's brought us to the brink of extinction by environmental collapse or nuclear armageddon. That's literally the worst failure that any system could possibly achieve. When your back is against the wall and your choices are between radical change and extinction, you've no other options but to try radical change. That's the juncture we're at right now.


The status quo political establishment has failed as spectacularly as anything could possibly fail. We could have a world of peace, equality, justice, health and harmony, but instead we're marching toward dystopia and extinction. It is entirely within the reach of human potential to have a collaboration-based civilization where everyone works together toward human thriving. Our rulers have delivered only competition-based systems which do the exact opposite. They failed the test. Time for something new.

It doesn't get any more fail than "Yeah we've competed ourselves into a situation where there might be a nuclear war that ends literally everything any minute now." That's the most fail you can have while still being alive enough to acknowledge the failure. The facts are in. They failed.

A system that fails to that extent does not deserve to exist, and should not exist. There are a whole lot more of us than there are of them, and if we can just shake each other awake from the propaganda-induced coma we're all in we can force the creation of much better systems. 

Mass media propagandists work so hard to discredit The Grayzone because they know that tomorrow it could be their own emails getting published revealing corrupt collusion with western officials and intelligence insiders.

Let yourself be happy. If you can't do it for you then do it for the world. Refusing to let yourself be happy is just keeping that much happiness out of the world. It's making it a worse place to live. Be happy.

Refusing to let yourself be happy just deprives the world of that much happiness. Refusing to let yourself be loved just deprives the world of that much love. Refusing to let yourself be at peace just deprives the world of that much peace.

Be happy. Not because you "deserve" it or any of that empty narrative fluff, but because the world is a hard place and any spark of happiness is sorely needed.

Source, links:


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Vijay Prashad on BRICS & Why Global South Cooperation Is Key to Dismantling Unjust World Order

Democracy Now!   As a two-day BRICS summit gets underway in South Africa, we speak with author and analyst Vijay Prashad about whether the bloc — which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — can meaningfully challenge U.S. and Western domination in world affairs by building an alternative forum for countries of the Global South. BRICS countries represent 40% of the world's population and a quarter of the world's economy, and the group is now considering a possible expansion to more than 20 other countries. " BRICS is an instrument to push forward their political views, which they feel are not taken seriously, " says Prashad, director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Prashad explains the history of BRICS and its New Development Bank and responds to criticism that BRICS falsely portrays itself as an anti-imperialist project. The BRICS countries " are not a socialist bloc, " says Prashad, but they " don't want to

Western Hegemony FALLING APART, BRICS Now Controls 40% WORLD'S GDP & DE-DOLLARIZING

The Hill   Editor for The Grayzone Max Blumenthal previews the upcoming summit of "BRICS" nations. 

USA & NATO responsible for Ukraine war, German & French public say in poll

Geopolitical Economy Report   Most people in Germany and France blame the United States and NATO for the war in Ukraine, according to a poll conducted not by a pro-Russian group but rather by anti-Putin activists. 

Libya's destroyers appeal for aid

The Grayzone   The Grayzone 's Max Blumenthal and Wyatt Reed discuss the hypocrisy and cynicism of Obama and his former aides who presided over NATO's destruction of the Libyan state as they now appeal for humanitarian relief following deadly floods in the city of Derna. 

Western sanctions failing: EU imports more Russian gas, China beats US tech war

Geopolitical Economy Report  Western sanctions are backfiring: The EU is now importing Russian liquified natural gas at record levels, and China has made high-tech breakthroughs despite US export restrictions. Ben Norton discusses how this is strengthening their economic sovereignty while blowing back on Europe.

EU increases Russian purchases despite sanctions

The Dive with Jackson Hinkle    

Intel-linked UK official pushing censorship of Russell Brand

The author of letters to social media companies demanding the financial punishment of Russell Brand is a British lawmaker implicated in London’s war on Covid-19 and Ukraine dissenters. Her husband was a commander in the Army’s psy-ops division. by Kit Klarenberg   Part 1   Allegations of sexual impropriety and abuse by comedian and podcaster Russell Brand by the British media prompted YouTube to demonetize the star’s popular channel on September 20. The Grayzone can now reveal that YouTube’s financial censorship of Brand is the result of an effort waged by a former British government minister who was responsible for London’s crackdown on dissent during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her husband has also participated in that campaign of state repression as deputy commander of 77th Brigade, the British Army’s psychological warfare division. YouTube justified its demonetization of Brand on the grounds that he violated its “ creator responsibility policy. ” This marks the first time a content cre

Julian Assange’s father tells Glenn Greenwald how he may finally go free

Glenn Greenwald    

Niger raises Uranium price from €0.80/kg to €200/kg!

The New Africa Channel   Niger Raises Uranium Price  From €0.80/kg to €200/kg - In a groundbreaking development that signals a seismic shift in the global resource market, Niger, a prominent player in the uranium industry, has reportedly taken a bold step towards securing fair compensation for its invaluable natural resource, uranium. Multiple reports suggest that Niger has substantially increased the price of its uranium, skyrocketing it from a mere €0.80 per kilogram to €200 per kilogram.    This remarkable decision underscores a burgeoning determination among African nations to break free from historical imbalances and demand equitable remuneration for their vital contributions to the global economy.  According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), Niger is the world's seventh-largest uranium producer. The radioactive metal is the most widely used fuel for nuclear energy. It is also utilised in cancer treatment, naval propulsion, and nuclear weapons.   Uranium prices increased

Julian Assange and the end of American Democracy

The Real News Network   The US government has hounded Julian Assange since WikiLeaks first revealed the extent of US war crimes in 2010. In the process of persecuting Assange, the federal government has used every tool at its disposal and even pushed beyond the boundaries that supposedly restrict state power in defense of civil liberties. One of the most insidious tactics is the use of the Espionage Act, which had not been used for against whistleblowers and journalists for almost a century before Assange's case.    Prison is always a political tool, and in the case of whistleblowers like Julian Assange, the use of incarceration to suppress, discourage, and silence dissent is self-evident. Since being imprisoned, Assange has married and even started a family—but has been kept apart from his wife and children.   Lawyer and human rights defender Stella Assange, spouse of Julian Assange, joins Chris Hedges for a look at the vast and vicious campaign by the US to silence Julian Assange