Anti-capitalism :: The W2N.net

Anti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system; however, there are also ideas which can be characterized as partially anti-capitalist in the sense that they only wish to replace or abolish certain aspects of capitalism rather than the entire system.

Notable ideologies, viewpoints, and trends

Anarchism

Anarchist philosophies argue for a total abolition of the state, with many anarchists opposing capitalism on the grounds that it entails social domination (through inequalities of wealth), involuntary relations and coercive hierarchy (through the perceived pressure on individuals to engage in wage labour). Some forms of anarchism oppose capitalism as a whole while supporting some particular aspects of capitalism, such as markets (supported by some mutualists) and some even go as far as supporting private property (supported by some individualist anarchists).

Ecofeminism

Ecofeminists criticise capitalism for defining the natural world as simply a body of resources to be exploited and reshaped to serve human purposes and interests. They also see it as inherently sapping the relationship between humans to one another and to the natural world. Ecofeminists see capitalism as a patriarchal construction "based on the colonization of women, nature, and other peoples."¹

Fascism

According to Stanley Payne, one of the world's leading experts on Fascism², the common aim of all fascist movements is elimination of the autonomy or in some cases complete existence of large-scale capitalism.³⁴ This view is supported by right-wing libertarians who argue that fascism is a form of anti-capitalism because fascist governments made private corporations and other private individuals who owned the means of production to work to serve national interests, thus undermining property rights, and to employ more labor on the workers than is profitable for the employer. Italian Fascism is marked for anti-capitalism the law of "socialization".⁵ Fascism protected the land owning elites and is regarded as a reaction against the rising power of the working class.⁶ The Nazis, due to a belief in a Jewish conspiracy, were particularly vocal in their opposition to finance capitalism, interest charging, and "profiteering."⁷ Some writers argue that fascism represented a "third way" between Marxian socialism and capitalism.⁸ Fascists upheld the ownership aspect of private property - including private property over productive capital and the means of production⁹ - but said that property was to be regulated to ensure that "benefit to the community precedes benefit to the individual."¹⁰ Hitler stated in Mein Kampf that "the attitude of the State towards capital would be comparatively simple and clear. Its only object would be to make sure that capital remained subservient to the State" and also made a clear distinction between "capital which is purely the product of creative labour and ... capital which is exclusively the result of financial speculation" ¹¹.

The quote famously attributed to Bennito Mussolini "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power" is probably apocryphal¹².

Marxists argued that fascism is a form of government control instituted to protect capitalism during a period of crisis or revolution.¹³ Fascists have operated from a Social Darwinist view of human relations. Their aim has been to promote "superior" individuals and weed out the weak.¹⁴ In terms of economic practice, this meant promoting the interests of successful businessmen while destroying trade unions and other organizations of the working class.¹⁵ Lawrence Britt suggests that protection of corporate power is an essential part of fascism.¹⁶ Historian Gaetano Salvemini argued in 1936 that fascism makes taxpayers responsible to private enterprise, because "the State pays for the blunders of private enterprise... Profit is private and individual. Loss is public and social."¹⁷ Economic liberals, such as Ludwig von Mises, contend that fascism, an offshoot of socialism, was collectivist and anti-capitalistic. According to Mises, fascism maintained an illusion of respecting private property, since individuals could not use their property how the wished because the government frequently enacted regulations (on behalf of government allies in the business sector) that were not in line with the functioning of a free market. ¹⁸ Historian Robert Paxton contends that fascists' anti-capitalism was highly selective. Even at their most radical, the socialism that the fascists wanted was a "national socialism": one that denied only foreign or enemy property rights (including that of internal enemies). They did, however, cherish national producers.¹⁹

Participatory Economics and Inclusive Democracy

Participatory economics, often abbreviated as Parecon, is a proposed economic system that uses participatory decision making as an economic mechanism to guide the production, consumption and allocation of resources in a given society. Proposed as an alternative to contemporary capitalist market economies and also an alternative to centrally planned socialism or coordinatorism, it is described as "an anarchistic economic vision", although it could be considered a form of socialism as under Parecon, the means of production are owned by the working class. It emerged from the work of activist and political theorist Michael Albert and that of radical economist Robin Hahnel, beginning in the 1980s and 1990s.

Inclusive Democracy as envisaged by Takis Fotopolous, can be viewed as a form of participatory economics. Here, all decisions are taken by the demos, and basic economic needs could be met for all based upon a certain amount of work. Additional non-necessary items could be earned by contributing above the minimum required to meet society's needs. This approach is markedly anti-capitalist as well as anti-market, including an absence of ability to accumulate wealth, where each person earns for himself only, thereby avoiding the imbalance of power inherent in a capitalist system.²⁰

Religious anti-capitalism

The Catholic Church traditionally forbade usury but with the Reformation and its revolt against Papal dogmatic teaching and then the Enlightenment and its rejection of Papal moral teaching, "Christian Europe", over time, abandoned identifying lending at interest as usury. Christianity has been the source of many criticisms of capitalism, particularly its materialist aspects. Many early and pre-socialist movements²¹ as well as later ones drew principles from the Gospels (see Christian socialism and the Social Gospel movement) and against the "values" of profiteering, greed, selfishness and hoarding. Most Christians do not oppose capitalism entirely but support a mixed economy in order to ensure "decent" labour standards and relations, as well as economic justice.^{citation needed} Today there are many Protestant denominations (particularly in the United States) who are reconciled with or ardently in favour of capitalism, particularly in opposition to secular socialism.

Islam forbids lending money at interest, the mode of operation of capitalist finance. However, Islamic banking has been developed to allow Muslims to avoid this problem.

Socialism

Socialism argues for collective/community or government control of the economy,²² which may or may not be associated with democratic control by the people over the state (there are both democratic and undemocratic philosophies which call themselves socialist). In addition, socialism advocates some degree (depending on the type of socialism) of economic equality and the eradication of poverty and unemployment. Many confuse the term Marxism, though Marxism is not the only type of socialism. For example, most anarchist schools of thought are socialist as well.

Marxism argues for collective ownership of the means of production and the eventual abolition of the state, with an intermediate stage, of indeterminate length, in which the state will be used to eliminate the vestiges of capitalism. Marxism is the foundation of several different ideologies, including many forms of communism and certain types of socialism. Some states that identified themselves with Marxism claimed to have abolished capitalism, although some Marxist theorists describe them as state capitalist, rather than anti-capitalist.²³²⁴

Other aspects

There are also strands of conservatism that are uncomfortable with liberal capitalism. Particularly in continental Europe, many conservatives have been uncomfortable with the impact of capitalism on culture and traditions. The conservative opposition to the French revolution, the Enlightenment, and the development of individualistic liberalism as a political theory and as institutionalized social practices sought to retain traditional social hierarchies, practices and institutions. There is also a conservative protectionist opposition to certain types of international capitalism.

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