I have recently been having a number of discussions with friends about the cycle of disillusionment. For me the cycle is as follows. I read some really exciting analysis about how capitalism functions for the detriment of us all, and it becomes abundantly clear that something must be done. I start to become more politically active (attend rallies, look for organizations to join). Unfortunately, the foolishness of the people involved, their small numbers, and absurd factionalism cause me to question both my own thought and the entire exercise.
In short, how can something so abundantly clear to myself; Capitalism is a deeply flawed system which must be systemically altered in order to achieve a world that adequately meets human need, achieve less political traction that where people should ride bicycles, or walk their dogs, and all manor of even less important issues.
Yes I know there are answers to these questions....but fundamentally I think this is a key question that we need to come to grasp with. David Harvey's most recent book (couldn't do it, had to mention him again) is entitled the "Enigma of Capital" and I think the title is very apt. If capitalism is so clearly bad for the majority of people, so clearly creates a world where wealth is centralized in the hands of the few while the natural world and majority of the human population exists in a states of misery. Why does it exist, and more importantly why is it an increasingly stronger force in our daily lives.
For me this disillusionment stems from a number of places, beyond the strength of capitalism and seeming hopelessness of the leftist cause, but ultimately I think it stems from a lack of certainty in thought. At some level I refuse to commit to what I believe is true and risk what I have now to pursue it.
As such, the idea of false consciousness has always been problematic to me. While on some level it must exist. (As good friend of mine put it so clearly....the trials and tribulations of Angelina Jolie are less important than those of Somalia but one would never know from asking the majority of people). But any theory that relies on the belief that the majority of people are being fooled and can not see the world as it is, is a problem.
If I am correct I should be able to explain my ideas in simple enough terms, and in terms that resonate with people clearly. Reading multiple tomes, and conducting hours of study should not be required to understand that capitalism is a flawed system that must be abolished if we want to achieve realchange on a global level.
With the current popularity of conspiracy theories, this idea becomes even more problematic as where to we draw the line between well reasoned arguments that systematically challenge capitalism, and frantic yelling about who really brought down the world trade center (hint it was Al-Qaeda) Either way, well reasoned radical ideas are all to easily lumped in with this foolishness, which only further discredits legitimate challenges to dominant capitalist discourse. The current state of the world is not a conspiracy of the few, but the product of a social constructed system, flawed at its core, and subject to change by the people who constantly recreate it on a daily basis - us.
It is this we must make people understand....
