Capitalism in spirit

The political Right must include a wholesale rejection of capitalism in spirit.

The utterances and loyalties of a political movement are, of course, liable to change over time. It is the mark of a serious movement to adapt its view of the world to new events, trends, and challenges. For the Right, perhaps the greatest shift to have occurred is the attitude towards the free market. In days gone by, many Rightists would have died on the capitalist hill, or in a capitalist mill. 

Though I believe that, while attitudes towards capitalism have shifted, this is mere collateral damage. What has shifted is the preference from the material to that of the spiritual. And when things are viewed in spirit, it becomes clear in abundance that there is no greater obstacle, and no force more destructive, to the type of society that we desire, than the corporation unbound. Capitalism, as we have come to learn, is an extension of Liberal morality. The human experience, in its totality, is reduced to statistics and graphs in the Liberal mind. It is the toxin to trust, the end of cohesion, the destruction of what once was.

Now before I continue hacking away at the capitalist edifice, I must first make a few concessions. The moral flaws of the system do have silver linings. Unbound greed and limitless growth do create abundance. Trainers and designer clothes are plentiful, basic survival needs are outsourced for a relatively affordable fee. One can be born at the bottom and rise to the top, all he needs to do is figure out what the people want, and sell it to them.

It was figured out that the inherent appetites of man could be spun into a machine, churning out productivity in exchange for remuneration. This, however, possesses a sinister quality. 'Why am I doing this?', 'Because you're being paid, of course. Don't you want nice things? A nicer place to live, the latest consumer goods, healthier food, an annual holiday? Now get back to work.'

Theoretically, this creates an efficient workforce, and yet in practise what results is something far more morose. You see, serfdom was never truly abolished, it simply underwent rebranding. The proletarian, in his longing for liberty and material goods, signed up to revolutionary capitalism in the belief that some day he would sign the deeds, and reclaim ownership over his own soul. How did that turn out?

Peasants of old exchanged their labour for protection and a home, is that dissimilar from where we are today? How many millions wake up each day, and go to a job they despise? How many gave up on dreams for work? How many great artists, writers, performers have we lost? How many innovators, inspiring athletes? I dislike my job, it brings me no joy, yet I am still there because I need to pay my rent, I need to feed myself and provide clothes for my own back. In the capitalist cage, the individual does not belong to his feudal lord, nor does he to the state, but rather to his employer. His employer has him by the balls, by which I mean his employer has him by the means to feed himself and his family.

This applies only to he whose job stayed behind. There is a whole other story, of the industrialists whose industries, and ergo whose entire community, was stabbed in the heart and left to die because the Liberal mind of economics values many things before it values human, communal, native life. To this end, entire industries were upended and moved abroad where it is cheaper. What does this look like in practice? It is an eighteen-year-old kid, whose father, and grandfather, great-grandfather and so on, were proud industrial workers, who now works in a supermarket, flogging sofa's, flipping burgers.

If the nation is to survive, all threats to it, great or small, must be expunged. If the political Right is to position itself as the nation’s final line of defence, then this must include a wholesale rejection of capitalism in spirit. The faster and the firmer this happens, the better.