by Heino Fischer, Austrian, actor and composer
Capitalism requires war. Everyone sees this every single day—and everyone understands it, too. Capitalist propaganda works ceaselessly to drum the idea into people’s minds that this is an unavoidable way of life, conditioning them to accept it—or, conversely, offering them hope through “won” wars.
This propaganda presents capitalism and consumerism—whether directly or indirectly—as having no alternative. And what do we do? Every day, we highlight the atrocities and catalog the horrors. But where are the alternatives that we propose? Where are the clear, fundamental challenges directed at the primary culprit: capitalism and its ultra-wealthy elites?
As long as we fail to offer—or, better yet, clearly demonstrate—an alternative, we merely reinforce the primary tools of domination: fear and helplessness. Despite our best intentions and significant effort, we end up inadvertently supporting the very capital that we seek—and indeed must—oppose! We must once again articulate a clear alternative and instill courage in people. Without an alternative to this wretched system, our work—at best, and even this is debatable—serves only to support “our own” people. It is debatable precisely because the perceived lack of an alternative causes progressive groups and individuals to exhaust themselves fighting over the “correct” ideological line, all while failing to present a genuine alternative. For the only real, scientifically grounded, and politically feasible alternative—one that could actually be implemented—is socialism, even if its initial attempts ended in failure. Instead of launching a full-scale assault on capitalism and proposing a version of socialism capable of learning from the past, we dissipate our energy in lamentations over misery and in superficial, ill-conceived proposals for reform.
CAPITALISM CANNOT BE IMPROVED! IF WE WISH TO SAVE HUMANITY FROM RUIN, WE MUST—IN EVERY CONVERSATION, EVERY ACTION, AND EVERY DEMONSTRATION—MAKE CLEAR THE NECESSITY OF OVERCOMING CAPITALISM.
People need a viable, collective-oriented alternative to combat this system, which is criminal at its very core. Most people experience the fact that it does not work every single day—they simply know of no alternative. Let us finally summon the courage once more to propose socialism as an alternative, by reflecting on how to improve its implementation. And let us expose consumerism for what it is: a distraction from humanity’s genuine, collective needs. This is possible. And it is necessary. Otherwise, we will forever remain in pursuit of the carefully crafted, skillful propaganda maneuvers of big capital.
JUST BECAUSE INJUSTICE HAS TRIUMPHED DOES NOT MEAN THAT INJUSTICE IS RIGHT!
And
JUST BECAUSE CERTAIN PLANS WERE FLAWED DOES NOT MEAN THAT PLANNING ITSELF IS WRONG! (Bertolt Brecht)
_kassandra heifisch_
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