Once, when asked if socialism would ever succeed, Fidel Castro responded by asking to be shown the great, fabled success of capitalism.
And certainly, there is no human degradation beyond the powers of capitalism, and countries that score highly in indices of happiness generally achieve this by means of decidedly non-capitalist interventions in society and the maintenance of cultures and value systems antithetical to its core precepts.
But, for the sake of argument, let us assume for a moment it is a success, a great engine of wealth delivering material progress and personal fulfillment. What differentiates capitalism from other ways of organising society? What is the secret of its success?
It resides in this alone: only capitalism has succeeded in persuading its victims that they are to blame for the violence they suffer on its account. Poor? Hungry? Homeless? Get a job! Start a business! If you are disadvantaged it is because your behaviour has been insufficiently capitalist. Speculate! Exploit!
Capitalism does not succeed because it generates wealth. I have found more contentment among those lacking material surfeit than those who have accumulated many possessions. It succeeds because it generates complicity.
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