Image by Anirvan via Flickr
“The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.” — Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Nov. 24, 2013
by The Anti-Social Socialist
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 29, 2018
The Anti-Social Socialist on Nov 29, 2018
from the archives:
The Root Problem by Eric Schechter
Chris Hedges: Late Stage Capitalism Is Killing America, Parts 1-3
Caleb Maupin: Socialism Will Save America!
Michael Parenti: Marxists vs Liberals on Capitalism
How Capitalism Controls You by The Anti-Social Socialist
Howard Zinn: Hidden History of The American Working Class
Chris Hedges: The Plight of the Vast Majority of Americans Goes Unrecognized and Unreported
What is Wage Slavery? by The Anti-Social Socialist
Chris Hedges: Aftermath From The Loss of Thousands of Union Jobs
Dandelion Salad 
I’d agree with most of this video, but not quite all of it. Around 0:50 it says
“We’re both radically against the redistribution of wealth, and think that workers are entitled to the fruits of their own labor.”
That sounds very 1940s-ish to me. If that’s part of socialism, then I guess I’m not a socialist, though I’m not sure what I’d be called instead. Maybe a post-socialist? an ultra-socialist?
My own belief is that all our labor is interconnected and interdependent, so there is no way to distinguish clearly where your labor ends and my labor begins. And this “yours” and “mine” business increases inequality and causes poverty and plutocracy; it increases alienation and causes wars and other killings. At any rate, human labor is rapidly being replaced by machines, so there are fewer jobs. Productivity keeps rising, so we don’t really =need= everyone working; we should restructure the jobs so they are all =meaningful=. Ecocide is an externalized cost, and the only way we can halt it is if we SHARE everything. The idea of “yours” and “mine” has ruled us for 10,000 years, but if it ever was useful, that time is now ending.
You’re a communist, one who holds that the means of production should be owned communally and the fruits thereof distributed to each according to his needs.
Oh, okay, thanks. It’s taking me a while to learn all this terminology. I guess I’m in an even smaller minority than I had realized.
Check out this video: https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/the-difference-between-socialism-communism-and-marxism-explained-by-a-marxist/