Capitalism: The real curse...

(Note: The name of my previous post was changed from "Dictatorship..." to "Dictatorship: Not a curse..." This post is a continuation of "Dictatorship: Not a curse...")

As I mentioned in my previous post, our country, for the past 63 years, has experience both democratic and dictatorial forms of governments. But both have evidently failed to end the misery of the people of our country. What only a few have thought over is that the problem lies not in the form of the government, but rather in the system that has been existing in our country for the last 63 years. The system which is known as Capitalism.

So what is Capitalism? Capitalism originally is the system of economy in which the means of production (industries) are privately owned. The owners simply own the means of production but do not actively take part in the production themselves. Thus. these owners earn profits for which they did not work for and use their supremacy to exploit the employed labourer by not paying what he is entitled to or by not paying according to the work or labour he has employed. As a result, the owner gets the profit which he doesn't deserve and the labourer doesn't get what he truly deserves and thus, the exploitation of the labourer.

Capitalism isn't only restricted to industries. But it is also spread over the agrarian economic system (based on agriculture). Feudalism, which is an agrarian substitute of Capitalism, is one of the greatest curses that exists in our country today. The feudal lords have large amounts of land, thousands of acres, under their possession and thus, just like the industrialists mentioned above, owning the means of production, they are able to exploit the peasants and tenants who work on their lands resulting in their cruel and harsh treatment.

When these industrialists and land lords (feudal lords) have control over such resources they begin influencing politics, policies made by government concerning water, food, electricity, medical and educational facilities etcetera. They also have influence over the law enforcement agencies and take part in illegal activities without any problems. Since they use their influence on the above mentioned not for the welfare of the people but for their own interests, it is evident that they would want the masses to remain dependent on them for all sorts of commodities and remain uneducated so that they may not rise to challenge them. That is the reason why our country still faces problems like shortages of food, electricity along with other basic necessities and lack of education.

These high-class people eventually start taking part in politics and become politicians working on "behalf" of the people in our country. And this is how Capitalism spreads from the economic system to the political system as well. Because these politicians belong to the high class, they can not be expected to understand the problem of the lower class. In other words, they can not understand nor solve the problems of the masses since they do not bring themselves to their level.

What Capitalism actually does is that it creates a class difference. By making the lower class dependent on the high class it creates a difference between them. And this class difference breeds inequality which in turn breeds injustice. The oppressed remain oppressed as no one is able to question the oppressor. And slowly, this inequality evolves into inequality between genders, inequality between different races as well as religious discrimination and sectarian differences. This is all because one thinks that he is superior to the other.

The inequality between genders results into a society with male dominance because of which the women in our country, especially the ones living in rural areas, are treated harshly and are subjected to cruel treatment. Their rights are suppressed.

"We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live."
- Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Religious discrimination which is also a form of inequality also arises in this system. We have seen that for the past 63 years our country has been engulfed in clashes between various religious groups and sects. All these problems come to surface because of the inequality that is the result of Capitalism.

Capitalism is the reason our country divided in 1971. Why? At the end of Ayub Khan's rule, who pushed forward Capitalism, only 22 families controlled the entire economy of Pakistan which included industries, major banks, insurance companies etcetera. The lower class was dependent on these 22 families. Moreover all these families were in West Pakistan. So East Pakistan was dependent on West Pakistan. That eventually became the reason for development difference between the East and the West and resulted in the partition of our country.

"I have said it already, I am convinced that the way to build a new and better world is not capitalism. Capitalism leads us straight to hell." - Hugo Chavez

Therefore, one thing is certain. To end the misery of the people and improve their condition and the condition of our country, Capitalism should be and must be abolished. The politicians who are working currently under the Capitalist system can not be allowed to take part in the management of our country. Feudalism will be abolished. And all means of production will come under the state control.

What more we need is a sincere leader who understands fully the problems of the working people of our country. He must be the one that the people of the country should accept as a leader. He should be an authoritarian chosen by the people. In other words he should be a dictator of the people, by the people and for the people. He should be the dictator of the proletariat. This way there would not be multiple, conflicting authorities, but only one who will be answerable to the people.

Many would think that without Capitalism the country will falter, it will not progress nor develop. But this thinking is wrong, because the system that will replace Capitalism will bring equality for all people regardless of their social class, their race, their religion or their gender. Everyone will have an equal opportunity to advance which will mean even more development. The system that will replace Capitalism is called Socialism.


To be continued...


- M.S.