One part of this I really like is the idea that capitalism is bad for the rich as well as the poor. And it's true! There is a real spiritual cost to being an oppressor. This is perhaps too anti-materialist for standard marxism, capitalism certainly isn't materially bad for the rich. I think this may explain why we see the occasional celebrity or the like still becoming socialists, they don't want to pay the spiritual cost of being an oppressor.
From a revolutinoary perspective the upper class will never give their power up for moral reasons. From an individual or community perspective there are plenty of people who would be happy to give up their place in their hierarchy or have less stuff materially to live in a better world. I think one of the issues that I have with materialism is that we now live in a post scarcity society. The only scarcity that exists is artificially enforced. If it weren't for capitalism we could be living in a society where everyone has enough stuff to be happy, enough economic security to not be sad, and economies not based on extraction. Lots of people from well off backrounds, myself included just wanna grill
One part of this I really like is the idea that capitalism is bad for the rich as well as the poor. And it’s true! There is a real spiritual cost to being an oppressor. This is perhaps too anti-materialist for standard marxism
It is materially bad for the rich as well. It is a process described in the second paragraph of the Communist Manifesto.
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.
The thing that is important to remember is that Capitalism is a system. Individual capitalists hold vast amounts of power over large swaths of the proletariat. As individuals, they might face moral dilemmas. They may could choose to be less exploitative to bring themselves some spiritual tranquility, but as long as the system is intact, they will only be superseded by capitalists who choose to maximize exploitation.
One part of this I really like is the idea that capitalism is bad for the rich as well as the poor. And it's true! There is a real spiritual cost to being an oppressor. This is perhaps too anti-materialist for standard marxism, capitalism certainly isn't materially bad for the rich. I think this may explain why we see the occasional celebrity or the like still becoming socialists, they don't want to pay the spiritual cost of being an oppressor.
From a revolutinoary perspective the upper class will never give their power up for moral reasons. From an individual or community perspective there are plenty of people who would be happy to give up their place in their hierarchy or have less stuff materially to live in a better world. I think one of the issues that I have with materialism is that we now live in a post scarcity society. The only scarcity that exists is artificially enforced. If it weren't for capitalism we could be living in a society where everyone has enough stuff to be happy, enough economic security to not be sad, and economies not based on extraction. Lots of people from well off backrounds, myself included just wanna grill
Capitalism is materially bad for the ruling classes on several metrics. Most notably alienation from their labour.
It is materially bad for the rich as well. It is a process described in the second paragraph of the Communist Manifesto.
The thing that is important to remember is that Capitalism is a system. Individual capitalists hold vast amounts of power over large swaths of the proletariat. As individuals, they might face moral dilemmas. They may could choose to be less exploitative to bring themselves some spiritual tranquility, but as long as the system is intact, they will only be superseded by capitalists who choose to maximize exploitation.