Hamjatta,

Marx understanding of capitalism  would not have been possible if he did not
put the individual at the center of historical development.You see contrary to
what you said,the greatness of Marx lies in the fact that he,and only he,saw
the suffering of the human being as a result of His/her alienation from the
labour activity he performs.And that without this individual not been
liberated from such a relationship to the labour he performed there would be
no peace ,not even for capital.No Capitalism is not progressive but
reactionary,it has never provided the invidual a decent life style,if you want
to be rich you must exploit,if you want to survive (live/exist)you have to
struggle constantly against injustice.What capitalism has so far achieved is
the very opposite of individual freedom and that is the continue
marginalisation of the individual in the interest of capital.And yes there are
alternative to capitalism,socialism is a good alternative,if only one
understand what it is all about.

For Freedom

Saiks





Tony,
    Thanks for forwarding this piece. It made an interesting reading. Another
example of how things have yet to be better the way we expect to under
capitalism.
    I just want to ask whether there is a credible alternative to capitalism?
It is very easy to expose the shortcomings of turbo capitalism but Herculean
to cite credible and practical alternatives. The beauty about capitalism (by
capitalism I shall refer to it here to mean as compassionate and regulated
liberal economics and not market fundamentalism/radicalism associated with
the neo-liberals of the early 80's) is that it is progressive: it harnesses
the full potentials of an able individual. An individual/family at the bottom
of the ladder say in 1980, could be classified as middle class or even upper
class nouveau riche 1999.
    Capitalism benign, compassionate and regulated could bring out the best
in man. It is precisely this that Marx overlooked in his analysis capitalism:
that it (capitalism) could reinvent itself according to the moods that suits
a particular time. So it is easy to diagnose capitalism's swashbuckling
proclivities, but Herculean to prescribe a credible and workable alternative.
This reminds me what the Historian Louis Namier said of Marx: that he got the
diagnosis right but with the prescription went wide off the mark. Marx was
fuller of truth but mistaken.
    Good day to you.
Hamjatta Kanteh


hkanteh

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