Why we need Capitalism

I cannot stand Commies. They're like the dickhead at the party that keeps trying to play his collection of cold chisel when everyone is already boogieing to some progressive disco tech. They're commonly found frequenting university campuses, handing out flyers which they then try and charge you for, fucking up the atmosphere with their bad skin/hair/smell and belligerent attitudes.

Don't get me wrong. Without the die-hards and the crazies, Occupy wouldn't have had the momentum to get up off the ground. Most people have jobs, uni, kids, and other commitments that prevent us from camping out all day and night in name of our values. It is by virtue of current-day Capitalist Democracy that there is a disconnect between our moral principles and the obligations that society demands of us. As a result, we have to pay the bills by working a job that we probably don't view as 'good', 'just' or 'right' in its own sense, but have to because of our material needs and desires. For those free of such commitments, a stand may be readily taken; protecting our democracy and future by keeping the system in check. It's just a pity that showers are largely optional for people without substantive commitments.

Many of these Socialist Alliance types insist that we need to do away with Capitalism and return the control of production to the workers. Trying to reason with these angry hippies is difficult and frustrating, as they reject the tide of history, sheepishly mumbling 'Stalinism' and then go on to say that any job is exploitation.

I call bullshit.

Any ideology that starts with the premise that I am a victim is an unworkable one. I am not a victim. I am in charge of my own destiny, and blame only myself (and possible my parents) for my situation in life. I have so much to thank my parents for. A doctrine that asserts that people are bundles of entitlements rather than bundles of potential is dis-empowering. The conclusion of this misguided system is that the State should fix all the worlds problems.

Bull. Shit.

I for one do not trust the State, I certainly wouldn't trust it to do the right thing without a strong and developed system of accountability.  But we're straying from the topic; the necessity of capitalism.

Capitalism allows an individual to easily transform his material desires into reality through the realising of their productive capacity. I cannot overstate how important this is.

People need liberty if they are to flourish. Capitalism gives us a system that allows us to engage in productive pursuits that suit our abilities (as we get paid more for what we're good at) and then, if that weren't enough, effectuates our free will by giving us 'money'.

'Money' is the worth of out labour that has been transformed into 'currency', or universialised worth. We can spend our money on whatever and with whomever we like. When spending money, we are limited only by what the market (comprised of other productive individuals creating wealth through labour) can provide. The joy we feel when window shopping is the thrill of possibility and of exercising our will on the material world. It is a beautiful and important thing for human flourishing.

Capitalism also provides us with a means of realising our aspirations. This life is a warm, short moment in an otherwise cold and indifferent universe; we each and every one of us have a desire to live a good one. By accruing wealth (worth) and excelling in you chosen productive pursuit, Capitalism furnishes you with a sense of achievement. Unfortunately, the spiritual value of this particular brand of material success (i.e. making/spending money) is relatively low. We have come to over-rely on capitalism as a way of expressing our own individual self-worth, which is why we try to fill the sense of unease inside us with consuming products instead of more lasting and soul-nourishing pursuits like spending time with friends and family, art and being creative for ourselves (hobbies).

Regardless of what capitalism has come to be in the present day, the ability to control one's own destiny is fundamental to a Good Life. Capitalism allows us to do this on a material level, furnishing us with food, clothes, shelter and leisure products while allowing us to contribute to society through our own productive pursuits.

Capitalism is here to stay, and a good thing too. Once we can acknowledge this glaring truth, we can move forward with The Debate.