The rise of capitalism and communism

In my last column I referred to the irony that despite the symbols of human development that we see everywhere, “oppression, murder, theft, corruption and crime have become our daily bread in our ‘civilised’ societies”.

People attend Mass at the shipyard workers' monument in front of the shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. The shipyard was where, in 1980, the Solidarity union was formed, a step that helped lead to the eventual collapse of communism. (CNS: Peter Andrews, Reuters/CNS)

The question that naturally arises is whether no attempts have been made to try and address these problems. To answer this question, we need to step back and briefly interrogate some key historical developments.

Looking at human development from the perspective of modern Western history, which willy-nilly became part of modern African history, some Western thinkers have argued that the modern age began in 1492 when Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of a new sea route to India and discovered America instead. That was the beginning of modern European expansionism as European nations sought to enrich themselves by using resources from foreign lands in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australasia.

This cause was championed by the European middle class with the support of monarchs like Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Whereas in the Middle Ages feudal lords were in control of land and other sources of wealth, the middle class became the adventurous and merchant class that travelled the world in search of wealth and led the industrial revolution in Europe.

The industrial revolution developed into the system called capitalism in terms of which the middle class (or bourgeoisie) controlled the means of production—land, property and factories. Capitalism was the major driving force behind the process of colonisation—a form of modern imperialism through which the imperial power establishes a government and sends out settlers to control the conquered lands.

But capitalism soon showed an ugly face. The slave trade was a direct outcome of this. This is how millions of Africans were sold and sent to work under extremely cruel conditions in agricultural estates in the Americas.

Back home in Europe, the factories of wealthy industrialists thrived on the exploitation of workers and cheap child labour with little regard for the welfare of these children. What had happened here was that people had become so materialistic, so individualistic and selfish that they felt no concern for fellow human beings.

These developments were largely responsible for the rise of socialism and communism in Europe. All too often we regard communists as “the bad guys”. What we do not interrogate is why socialism and communism arose in the first place.

These ideologies were a reaction to what the German philosopher, Karl Marx, and other social reformers saw as the evils of capitalism. The building of communism was seen as a two-stage development with socialism taking over from capitalism before a full communist state was established where the guiding principle would be, “From each according to his ability, and to each according to his needs”.

Unfortunately, communism was based on the notion that you can bring happiness to humanity through the class struggle and economic reform alone without belief in God, and without changing the hearts and minds of people for the better. As we know, communism produced some of the most dictatorial regimes in the world, and has largely failed, except in places like China where it has been implemented in a modified form. Even so, it remains to be seen whether China will continue to be a model success story where economic success is coupled with freedom, social justice and true happiness.

My contention here is that it does not matter what political system you put in place, unless the hearts and minds of leaders and other people who matter have changed to the extent where they can see and accept the true nature of the relationship between the individual and the collective, and between leaders and followers, powerful people are bound to continue sliding back into the evils of greed, corruption and oppression.

Fr Thomas Keating has correctly said: “No amount of politics or discussion is going to change society for the better until enough people can change themselves so that societies around the world are not pouring mere negative energy into the same old cesspool.”

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear!