We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living.

[bigmonkey]

95. Somtimes I wonder if just counteracting the continual propaganda might be enough.

Capitalism is the system that is failing us currently, and it's failing catastrophically. It might have a place as a portion of human society, but nowadays, as the driving wheel, it's mainly destructive. It may have had a useful, though tragic, place as a major player in human history, but that's over now.

What astonishes me is the clearly unconscious internalization of its false moral system, supporting the system that's killing us all. Years ago I read an essay by Ivan Illich about the history of work, and recall very clearly the indoctrination that was implemented to inculcate the idea that "if you don't work, you don't eat." He described how the traditional "right to beg" was supplanted by the new "right to work" (no surprise that's still a deceptive RW political sales pitch). He cited the use of iron-grate-topped pits, into which the recalcitrant were placed next to a water pump, which they had to use to keep from drowning while the pit was inundated with water. Work or die - the world only supports the productive.

With all of that trauma in the past, perhaps it's no surprise that false consciousness is a common problem.