Ch.16c : Modern Capitalism and Democracy 

(Quotation from a Lecture made by Janus Apinus to members of the Neo Creadd discussion groups, based on Chapter 3 of the book ‘The Decline of Civilisation’)  

 22/3/99

     Social organisation has undergone massive changes, in both economics and in personal lifestyles. For centuries our modern economy, or capitalism, has been developing, the giant corporations inheriting the ancient feudal privileges of Kings, Barons, and Landlords, and behaving in much the same way as those ancient bandits had done with the lives and fortunes of the poor individuals they were supposed to be responsible for. The workers of impoverished and distant countries have been exploited, hired and fired, kicked off the land, forced to live in hovels at the whims of the unscrupulous, while people of the empire and other wealthy economies were treated not a great deal better, as they were kept in huge pools of surplus labour, waiting eagerly for job applications to be accepted, and arm twisted into taking long drawn out, and ever more bureaucratic courses which promised much, but often failed to fulfill the career hopes of those lured into their time consuming shallows. Work and study became ridiculous for many, and often meaningless. Few jobs could be said to be real, or truly necessary and worthwhile any more. Much of the energy and resources of the economy was devoted to large, or smaller organisations fighting heatedly for limited market shares, although it was quite amazing how many new markets and products could be generated in this cauldron of overblown activity.

     Workers worked hard, trained hard, and, by the standards of the times, played reasonably hard too. But many of them lived their lives in a state of constant depression, due to long periods of work, ridiculous and dull, and rather unnatural work. This went on for many years, centuries. The modern economy changed its nature a few times, appearing variously to be the preserve of a few multi-millionaires, then the natural partner to ‘liberal democracy’, in which all citizens (in the wealthy countries) were to share the benefits of modern enlightened society. Sometimes trade unions and ethical considerations, and the rights and interests of workers, were considered fairly important. At other times massive strategic economic dislocations were allowed to take their course, spreading misery, uncertainty and depression in swathes across the unemployed, and even the employed victims of change, without much thought for them. A new order with two faces was begun, perhaps not unlike older ones. A younger generation of people arrived who loved nothing more than to endlessly punch commands, words, numbers, and whatever their employers liked, into computer terminals, and then to use computers to communicate with people all over the rest of the world. They seemed like ‘liberal’, humorous, fun loving people, as many of them were. But some of them were like wolves in sheep’s clothing, turning the economy around so quickly, savaging each other in their competition, and forcing the whole population to learn the ever changing new practices and machines, or being left behind as useless. The need for education seemed to multiply in proportion to the numbers of these new breeds of people.

    Finally, recently, people like us are beginning to recognise the absurd economic structures of modern society as inefficient and unnatural. Why should people spend years of their lives studying the dullest details, just to acquire a normal, and usually a very dull, often simple job. We have begun to recognise that too much study is as bad for many people’s personal development as the lack of education. There is a balance to be had. The individual who becomes too work or study centred could become very isolated, or perhaps miss out on the simpler and more wholesome pleasures of life. This new realisation does not mean that people should stop studying, or that they should concentrate only on a life of lazy pleasure. It does not mean that those who wish to study more should not do so. We are recognising the balance of life, which should, and could be enjoyed by most citizens. Work should be treated in the same way as we should treat study. No more work tasks should be carried out by individuals than are ‘necessary’, or chosen by them. I mean necessary to the economy, and necessary to the individual. We should discontinue the ridiculous jobs, many of which predominate in sales, marketing, and competition, but also in bureaucracy, accounting, building, even leisure ‘industries’, and virtually all areas of work. Most of these functions need to be performed, but practices and standards, and levels of competition have developed which are far more onerous than the basic needs of these jobs. The emphasis should be switched towards the improvement of the quality of life. This could mean that everyone takes a share in work, but overall not so much of work will need to be done. Partly the shared load of the work, partly the reduction in work tasks required would lead to much more leisure time than most people have enjoyed in the past. The relative sharing of wealth and income would lead to ordinary people leading lives of greater luxury and enjoyment, and the rich may find that they no longer need such large amounts of money to buy comfort and security. They could afford to share a little with their neighbours, and with their workforces.