hey MonkeyBoy,
this is something that concerns me greatly. Indeed, it's been known to open a howling pit of despair and keep me awake nights when i think about it too much.
Fact is; i'm "anti-capitalist". i firmly believe that global capitalism is hurting far more people than it is benefiting, and will ultimately wind up destroying the environment of the planet and making life unbearable *even for those currently benefiting*. So clearly it's crazy to run things using this system!
The massive problem, however, is that sadly, i know of no alternative. And i do not believe that the removal of a complex system like capitalism (which let us not forget is currently providing the infrastructure which feeds, clothes and manages the waste of almost every city dweller) should be even attempted before an alternative is in place.
Currently the people working in Tesco's are doing so 'cos they get paid. The same goes for the delivery drivers, the management and even the factory farmers dependent upon electricity from the nuclear power station up the road, whose maintenance crews are private contractors working for a large building conglomerate, 50% owned by US corporate giant GE... etc etc etc.
The system we depend upon to keep us alive is currently dependant upon the free flow of money. Take away money / abandon capitalism and it'll break down without an adequate replacement. That means i can't get my food in Tesco... and there's not much space to grow here in Hackney.
Also, i wouldn't be so blasé about assuming that we grow enough food to feed all 6.5 billion of us. That may be currently true, but the planet cannot support that kind of population (still rising dramatically) without food production and distribution at an *industrial* scale. The situation is unsustainable under capitalism; but i think it may be fundamentally unsustainable under any other system too.
i think that the great problem with the global anti-capitalist movement is - in fact - this lack of an alternative. We need to understand just how completely and utterly reliant the vast majority of people are on the current system (i count myself amongst them, this isn't a sermon).
|
