Capitalism, Religion and Social Order

       

“Modern society, which, soon after its birth, pulled Plutus by the hair of his head from the bowels of the earth, greets gold as its Holy Grail, as the glittering incarnation of the very principle of its own life“  Karl Marx, Capital, Volume I, Chapter 3 (1867)

Is it likely that today’s brand of capitalism is, in practice, a catalyst for social anarchy? Conversely, has capitalism replaced the tenets of Christianity?

The revolutionary German socialist, Karl Marx, is famously paraphrased as saying that religion is the opium of the masses. Marx equated religion to a narcotic drug which elevates an individual to a heightened state of being, temporarily relieving the brain and body from suffering. If Marx were to rise from lands yonder today, he would likely replace the word “religion” with the word “capitalism”.  Alternatively, he may simply restate what he said in the epigraph quoted above.

What, then, is capitalism that, in some quarters, is viewed as a threat to social order? In its simplest form, capitalism can be defined as an economic and social system that exists in virtually all countries of the world, this includes states formerly regarded as Communist.  Under the system, private ownership of the means of production and the making of profit is emphasized; indeed they are prized above all else. The means of producing and distributing goods, such as wealth, land, factories, technology, transport among others, are owned by a small minority of people. This minority is called the capitalist class. The engine that ensures the survival of the capitalist class is the workers, the working class.

The prime motive of the capitalist class is to make a profit. They aggressively market their ideas and products, as they do so, the working class and “others” are prompted to earnestly believe they HAVE to buy in to what is on offer. So well packaged are these ideas and products,  the yearning of the working class leads them to want to possess what is on offer at all costs.

Marx held strong views against capitalism to the extent that, he theorized a people’s revolution would occur. The revolution would occasion the masses (the working class) to rise up in revolt against the oppressive shackles of capitalism. In capitalism's place would be installed communism, where all would be shared for the common good. Well into the twenty-first century, Marx’s theory has not been proven to hold validity.

A review of an article by the scholar Vernon M. Briggs Jnr, entitled “American Style Capitalism and Income Disparity: The Challenge of Social Anarchy (Journal of Economic Issues Vol.XXXII No.2 June 1998) makes the case for an enlightening and often humorous assessment of the state of capitalism and its impact on social order. Whereas Briggs confines his deliberations to the state of capitalism in America in 1998, his analysis is applicable almost universally in the year 2015. This is especially so with regard to capitalism’s effect on social order. Contained within social order, is the role played by religion as the glue that binds society in cohesion and harmony.

Paraphrasing Briggs, it will be observed that, in its formative years, capitalism both in the West and the “Other World” (the “Other World” referring particularly to the world that was colonized) had the benefit of Christianity to mitigate the suffering of the masses of workers and others who constituted the ranks of the “have-nots”. These were those who were harshly treated.  Those who lived lives in crushing poverty.  Those who lived lives in squalor. These, then, were the ones who failed to share in the emerging material wealth of their capitalist societies. Dismal as their circumstances were, however, they could at least be comforted by their faith. For Christianity proclaimed that it was they - the disenfranchised and economically disadvantaged - who would inherit the kingdom of Heaven in the next world. Religion, in other words, served to preserve social order during the confusing transition to the new world order of capitalism that brought with it private ownership thus replacing communal possession.

Paradoxically, however, one of the most disquieting “triumphs” of capitalism in the twentieth and twenty first century has been that it has successfully replaced the teachings of Christianity with the teaching of the value of the market place.  Capitalism teaches that it is the life in the here and now where gratification is to be found. The values that are stressed are values that place emphasis on achieving material success at all costs. The symbols of success that are to be sought are symbols that demonstrate for all to see that “one has arrived”. The lessons that are taught to the young are all those that serve the interest of the “market” in the world.  In the process, the great painkiller of human suffering once offered by Christianity has been removed. The power of mitigation previously offered by religion has been reduced to almost zero in contemporary societies. Even in the developing world, where the semblance of the practice of religion is more visible than in the West, the custodians of the Christian faith live obscenely opulent lives.  Lives to which their faithful aspire.

It will be noted, that while Briggs contends that the outward manifestations of the American variant of capitalism in 1998 seemed healthy and vibrant, this is not essentially the case presently. It is questionable whether manifest indicators such as a healthy economy, low inflation, low levels of unemployment and stock market averages standing at record levels, among others, are all evident today. There have been, since 1998, both in the United States and elsewhere, economic crashes whose root cause can be traced to greed. There has been and continues to be, a desire among the capitalist class to want to increase profits, to be richer. On the other hand, on the part of the working class there is the aspiration to be part of the capitalist class. These desires have led to manipulation of economies and markets.

In tandem with these sometimes dismal economic indicators of the success or otherwise of capitalism, the social indicators that describe the quality of contemporary life are almost universally morbid or depressing. Divorce rates are staggering. The choice of single parenthood is the norm. The use of illicit drugs including second generation alcohol is widespread.  Corruption is endemic socially and morally. Teenage pregnancies and youth delinquencies clock in at alarming levels universally. The number of persons reported to have sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-AIDS, is high both in the married and young people’s category. The incidence of lifestyle diseases associated with the desire to be “with it” is on the increase. The populations of jails and prisons are overflowing.  Violent crime, particularly, the prevalence of violent gangs and armed militia in both rural and urban areas are common place as evidenced on evening news reports and print media.

What could be the contributors to the above indicators? It is evident that capitalism is consumer driven. Consumption is the fire that fuels economies. For this reason, capitalism has deep and fundamental support - both economically and ideologically – from the capitalist class and workers alike. Producers, therefore, produce what the consumer thinks they (the consumer) want. Today, sprawling shopping malls are to be found in virtually every country of the world. A visit to many of these malls bears witness to consumer demand. They teem with shoppers. Droves upon droves of humanity converge upon them looking for best bargains.

Television advertising is broadcast directly into living rooms and bedrooms of numerous households.  Advertising is the response of producers to the realization that they cannot sit back and be content to let the foibles of consumers determine their fate and profits. Producers therefore seek, through advertising, to influence consumers about what they want. Advertising is designed to urge and convince people to buy on impulse. To satisfy immediate wants. To seek instant gratification.  To stay young. To accept no limits on fun and freedom. Producers know intuitively that consumption is imperative to economies. The lifestyles of the rich and famous are on daily display for all to see and covet. The livestyles of politicians, religious leaders, movies stars, socialites, football players. The cars they drive. Their privately owned air planes and yachts. The palatial homes. The holidays they treat themselves and friends to. The fairy tale romances. The schools their children are educated at.  The clothes and jewelry they wear.  The list is endless.

Capitalism seeks to make the citizenry want what it has to offer; material well-being. Technology is capable of continually increasing productivity if the consumer demand is forthcoming. Producers who produce what consumers want have the possibility to reap huge profits. Thus, through massive and pervasive advertising, the system creates wants and anxieties that can only be satisfied by more and more goods.  It offers the lure of material satisfaction in one’s lifetime. No longer does one have to wait for the afterlife to enjoy the good things. If one has the income, one can consume and enjoy in the “here and now.”  Today, capitalism and societal permissiveness go hand-in-hand.

So successful has capitalism become that it has, as Briggs says, offered the prospect that it can and has defied the Marxism time bomb that competitive capitalism would breed class divisions and class hatreds between the “haves” and the “have nots”. This is true even in countries that were the first Communist states of the world - Russia and China. Humanism or the collective value of all human beings, has failed to generate much support for people to consider themselves as being “brothers” and “sisters”. Life is increasingly based on the gospel of achieving material well-being in this world. It does not create a need for any rewards in the afterlife. Therefore, having denounced the need for religious faith, “the market” is now totally on its own to justify its existence. The market subsequently creates widening income disparities in societies. Walking hand in hand with income disparity, are the various induced states of anxiety of unfulfilled consumer's wants by a growing portion of the populace. This disparity however, does not set the stage for Marx’s Revolution. The concept of revolutions of the down trodden and the utopian promises of such social movements are pre-industrial concepts. Means of surveillance and the methods of suppression used by the governments of states today are far too great to offer any prospect of success for such endeavours. Instead, when push comes to shove, as evidenced in the world today, capitalism is most likely to yield to social anarchy rather than revolution.

It seems apt to conclude by asking, as Briggs did in his aforementioned article, given the inequality created by the capitalist class, for how long can social order be maintained “when an increasing number of persons are left out of the banquet while a few are allowed to gorge?”