A cancer of Humanity

Capitalism in an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. These private owners through their own self-aggrandizement and appointment able to hoard or distribute profits and acquired resources for their own pleasure. The capitalist society is pyramid shaped with the richest individuals having the greatest economic and social freedoms at the pinnacle layered to the base of the heap where the majority do all the work.

It is interesting to note that in the modern business world, what are termed 'pyramid schemes' are generally illegal for anyone other than the ruling majority to practice. So it is capitalists who make the rules and decide the nature of the morality that we live by. Note that capitalism requires some form of capital which for the most part are natural resources and people's labour that enables the generation of commodities.

The capitalist system that we live under and as far as we know began perhaps eight or nine thousand years ago when a group of people decided they knew better (as in the story of Omar). There is nothing about capitalism and capitalists that are particularly truthful, honest or noble although some capitalists have been known to be altruistic though it's often the case that any display of altruism is to camouflage the fact that they are robbing someone else blind. In terms of political leadership, some capitalists do make better rulers than many tyrants and Communists because capitalists that some point come to understand that success as a collective journey.

It is my contention that the first generations of capitalists who may well have been tossed out from the garden of Eden for their antisocial behaviour came to understand that people had a spiritual dimension that needed to be satisfied. To that end they began distorting the truth inherent within what might be called paganism and the idea that since we didn't know where we were in the universe, we needed to endure until such time we could answer all our questions.

I am saying here that all the modern religions with the exceptions of Hinduism and Buddhism were created for political expediency and the furthering of profit. We now have the benefit of being able to look back at history and see how fortunes have been made, and the manner by which the wealthy pass on their fortunes through the generations so that politically the world changes little.

So today, the capitalist takes a resource from the earth and pays a token amount of cash to the governing authority for permission it does not have. Having accessed the resource, there are systems in place for transport and the transformation of the product into a more sought after commodity which is then turned into some consumer product then discarded.

In our not so recent past, commodities would be made to last, both the makers and users would have a sense of pride relating to those qualities however in recent years, the shelflife of most products has diminished requiring even more manufacturing and exploitation of the natural resources to the extent that to continue current outputs, we need another two planets.

Capitalism is the primary driving force of environmental exploitation and degradation, global warming, war, conflict and social unrest in part because those capitalists attempting to attain the top position of being the most wealthy are locked in a no holds barred competition.

Did I say the future looks bleak?

A great many scientists and researchers agree that due to what we're doing to the planet and ourselves, humanity has arrived at the brink of extinction. At best for the great majority is thought that we have less than a hundred years before we succumb to the effects of pollution, global warming, drought, floods, mass starvation and other disasters.

Had humanity retained a communal society and our evolution steered by a desire to know the truth of existence, we really have no idea what may have happened or do we?

To understand this we could turn towards Israel and its kibbutz system that help the country to produce sufficient food and become sustainable. Politics aside, the Israelis demonstrated great tenacity and they make a great example to follow out of any difficult situation yet a far greater learning can be found by looking to India.

India has what is undoubtedly the worlds most enduring civilisation. The Greeks, Romans, Persians and various Chinese ideologies have all come and gone but India, a land that has been continuously invaded and untold millions of its citizens slaughtered continues to endure. At its heart, India is a matriarchal and communal society in which the study of inner space (the world of consciousness) is as important if not more so than observing the phenomenology of the visible universe.

The civilisational aspects of Hinduism otherwise known as Sanatana Dharma wich to some extent were inherited by Buddhism have proved sustainable and enduring in the face of extreme adversity. The Hindus achieved high levels of scientific knowledge while the Europeans were still grovelling in the Stone Age and even today there are cultural practices enable citizens to outperform people from most other cultures. The knowledge and rituals within Hinduism that were borrowed and corrupted by the Abrahamic religions are still sustainable and in position to guide the modern capitalist civilisation out of its mess.

Capitalism while it has pushed the world ahead technologically is made it more bereft spiritually and in simple terms, like some goods on our shelves, it has already passed its use by date.