Capitalism in the Field of Practical Application
These
points summarizes the principles of the theory of capitalism. Its followers
have made of them incomes table principles which must not be doubted, criticized or challenged. In doing so they have exaggerated and over- stated
their case. Events have shown that many principles are open to criticism
when they are transferred to the field of application. The following are
some of the weak points which are underlined in practical application.
- The natural laws which the bourgeoisie still quote to support the theory
of a free economy do not measure up to the exaggerated claims made for
them. Neither in word nor in deed is this so.
Commenting on this, Lord Keynes says that the world is not governed by
a strong government, motivated by moral and natural laws which achieves
a reconciliation of personal and communal interests. It is not right to
conclude from the principles of economy that an enlightened interest ensures
progress and social prosperity. Similarly, to say that interest is always
enlightened is incorrect. We often notice that the people who try their
hardest to secure
benefits for themselves and for their own purposes alone, are so excessively
weak and foolish that they find themselves unable to realize their aims
as
opposed to rendering
essential and lasting services to the community.
The actions of the bourgeois capitalists testify to the fact that their
interests were not enlightened. They came together in action against the
interests of consumers, employees and the government which safeguards order
and secure welfare. They conspired together in order to get for themselves
whatever benefits and profits the Industrial Revolution could yield. These
conspiracies were of themselves a refutation of the greatest claim they
advanced in support of the economy i.e. that equilibrium in securing benefits
by everybody was the element providing for a natural inter-reaction.
This state of affairs led the well-known economist Adam Smith, the greatest
of advocates of free economy, to declare that seldom did merchants and
craftsmen gather at a meeting which was wound up without a plot, or a decision
taken to raise the prices of commodities. Even at public meetings they
attend they commit such a grave crime.
Thus, bad results appear when the opportunity presents itself and the principles
of free economy are applied, when this freedom becomes a murderous tool
in the hands of powerful individuals who conspire together against the
many who are weak in order to satisfy their own desires and individual
inclinations.
During the Industrial Revolution the mistake made in an exaggerated
application of the principles of free economy became clear. During that
time, the means of production changed basically and the machine replaced
man and animal power. In this way, ten persons could produce the same amount
of manufactured goods with thousands of people had produced previously.
This led to a situation where only a few could work while many others were
left unemployed.
When the unqualified call for non-interference by government in the work
of individuals is heard _ that call which invokes the principles of private
ownership and the freedom to work the error in its basic assumptions becomes
apparent.
How can it be that one single man, or a number of men, can set up a big
automatic factory which floods the market with its products simply because
he has in his hands the means to do that ? At the same time, we overlook
the many thousands of others who could produce the same by hand, or in
their small factories, or in their homes.
I do not mean by this that machine production is not a good thing. I simply
mean that it should be organized and that the usage of machines should
not be made permissible to all. It is the duty of the government to think
first of the producers who will be left without work. Where will they earn
their living and how ? This question did not arise under capitalism and
the result was unemployment on a large and unrestricted scale which became
an independent issue for society in a form which had never been seen before
in the history of mankind. One cannot ignore the effects of unemployment
on life; it is not a private question. It is the basis of many of life's
problems and difficulties, civic, moral, material and spiritual. At this
point one question presents itself : Can an individual group of individuals,
dispose of their properties in a way which engenders numberless problems
in social life? How could
anyone allowed to argue that such a cruel proposition is the right of a
select group of people who continue to render services to the common interest
and themselves perform a lasting service? The idea that the national government
should remain silent over the actions of individuals which affect the entire
nation, or close its eyes to the effect upon the whole nation of the actions
of a few people, is without any foundation .
It
has become clear that whenever capitalism develops into the stage of industrial
revolution, the more widespread does poverty become and the more stringent
becomes the grip of financial crisis. This is in addition to the unemployment
which forces thousands of people to hasten to the capitalists requesting
of them jobs either against wages or monthly salary.
At this point, the fifth capitalist principle is to be applied which differentiates
between the employer and employee and the wages of those subject to the
law of supply and demand decrease. Not only that, but such people often
become degraded and lose their human sensibility. They are obliged to surrender
to whatever restrictions and regulations the capitalists impose on them.
There is not one of them who thinks of objecting in any way, for the simple
reason that there are thousands of unemployed who look at him grudgingly
and yearn to replace him in his work. In such a case, he must feel far
happier than many others.
The bourgeoisie are wrong when they indicate their support of the principle
that fair and balanced wages get adjusted themselves in the general competition
by the interplay between the employer and employee. It becomes clear that
this principle has already lost its generality and that it can only be
applied on one side by the capitalist alone. The employee has to accept
whatever is offered to him, he has to accept work for longer periods of
time and even for very small wages. Such people are treated like animals;
they have no alternative but to live in narrow, dark dwelling and their
health suffers as does their character and mental outlook. Selfishness
deprives the souls of such people of a sense of human values and the hearts
of fathers, sons and brothers become bereft of sympathy and affection.
Not only that, but fathers feel the burden of their sons and womenfolk.
The result is that not even one walk of life is left immune from the harmful
effects of a mistaken and extremist free economy.
The
capitalists have neglected natural ways of trade and industry which they
pretend to boast of. They fabricated another way which clashed with the
common interest and which made prices go up unnaturally and slowed down
production. They had many methods sometimes, they purchased all commodities
available in the market, depending on their wealth, and stored them till
the time came when these commodities completely disappeared from the market
and the demand for them became pressing. In this way, they dominated and
controlled the market and caused prices to go up in an unnatural way. At
other times, they used to burn manufactured goods or throw them in the
sea, lest big quantities of these same- goods flood the markets causing
drop in prices. At times, they mediated between the original producer
and the consumer, with the result that commodities were exchanged amongst
themselves one after another while relying on the money they had in hand
and the facilities of quick means of communications which they enjoyed.
In this way again, prices go up since each one of them makes a profit without
rendering any service in the field of production or improvement. They carried
out such transactions without even transferring goods or commodities from
one place to another; this is what happens in the (Contracts Exchange).
Sometimes, they dedicate their energies and resources for the production of luxuries. Though various media
of propaganda and advertisement, they provoke the desire of people who
might not yet have acquired necessities and push into their imaginations
the idea that such articles are indispensable. This action is taken by
them because the production of luxuries is very lucrative while the production
of necessities offers less profit. At the peak of such methods comes the
domination of weak countries for the sake of serving the interests of the
colonialists. The countries are divided into spheres of influence each
one to be exploited by one particular power which turns the dominated people
into machines serving the colonialists. In order to safeguard their interests,
the colonialists fostered troubles in these countries in an attempt to
divert the people's attention from the things which they took away from
them. We, the Egyptians, have had that experience and, consequently, we
know all about it.
The capitalists enjoyed liberty to take further steps in the same direction,
deviating from all other systems of different periods. They allowed individuals
to accumulate money and to invest it through usury - this method was condemned
by the thinkers of ancient times. Centuries before The Bible and The Quran,
Aristotle and Plato also attacked usury; it was considered by all the communities
of the world as dishonorable and mischievous. But the capitalists ignored
all considerations of society and divine religion and disregarded all ideology
so long as their own system would lead them to the accumulation of immense
wealth.
Such people are the slaves of individual gain and not the pioneers of social
reform, as it is claimed. For this reason, usury became the only legal
form of trade and financial transaction. Later, they enacted laws of the
land which secured the interest of the capitalist rather than that of the
debtor. In this way, the happiest of men was he who could accumulate wealth
by hook or by crook. others, of course, be they thinkers, inventors or
legislators, were of no importance. Each one of them, being concerned with
his personal concerns, was exposed either to loss or gain, but the man
who lent his money through usury sat at home quiet and happy, since his
profit was assured and of his losses was secure, regardless of ideologies
and humanitarian considerations. He cared only for his money and his gains
which were collected despite the ordeal of the debtor who was totally destroyed.
The greatest calamity was that the mischief had its effect upon governments
rather than individuals. Governments used to borrow money to construct
roads and railways and the like and were then obliged to collect taxes
from their citizens in order to pay the debts. In this way, the malady
remained inherent in the body of the whole nation, both government and
the people, destroying everything. It is surprising that when a nation is
involved in a war, it does not pay any attention to those killed or wounded
or afflicted with calamities in their homes or those who lost their fathers
or sons or husbands. These people are conveniently left by the state without
any support or compensation. But those who lent money to the state, and
were for this reason considered to be its legitimate sons. continued to
receive their interest from the Treasury, even for a period of hundreds
of years. It is ironical that some of those who laid down their lives in
war have to subscribe, along with others, to pay such interest. In this
way does a system which is founded on usury reveal the injustice and wrong
it does to the real workers and producers in the state a wrong done to
safeguard the interest of a few capitalists who have no interest in the
welfare of others. Under these circumstances society, both populace and
government, became the servant of a band of capitalist overlords who occupied
their position because of wealth and because of the rights granted them
by law.
Selfishness and deceit created characteristics in people which do not
require of a person that he forgives or succors someone else. What kind
of society is this in which very great differences exist among its members
and in which the ties uniting various elements of the nation are lacking?
Such a society, with its dissident groups each one harboring animosity
against the other, cannot exist indefinitely. If such a thing happens,
it will be due to suppression and want, and it is inevitable that one day
society must vanish taking with it its so-called stability.
The
darkness of thought about the matter has been so thick that it has flooded
the minds of the capitalists. Without realizing it, they produced stagnation
both in themselves and their society by saying that the individual's attempt
to secure private interests in a free economy in itself paves the way for
the development of ways and means for increasing production. They try to
forget that any society, with its millions either of unemployed or persons
with small and limited earnings, cannot purchase the huge quantities of
goods exhibited in shops. On the contrary, these shops will suffer depression,
which in turn will lead to the discontinuation of production by factories,
increase in unemployment and economic depression. As a result production
either completely discontinues or everybody searches for a sphere of influence
in one of the underdeveloped countries to use it as a market for his products.
This is the point which gives rise to differences and wars.
The Capitalists sitting idle in their homes do not work, either physical
or mental. They lack nothing either physically or mentally; they have health
and money and leisure. On the other hand, the destitute are always ready
to accept the demands of the capitalist overlords. While the former wish
to satisfy their sweeping desires, the latter are driven to flattery and
hypocrisy. Thus does capitalism outline the basis of society in which it
exists. Such a society is completely corrupt; its wealthy members are
simply exploiters and its poor members are slaves. There can be no spirit
of co-operation or compassion in it each of its members seeks nothing but
his personal interest.
In addition to that, under the shadow of a free economy, though itself
becomes confused. As has already been demonstrated, society suffers from
successive problems which stem from the corruption enveloping the system.
For this reason, thinkers are sought out in order to find a solution to
the problems, but they in turn distort the facts, either to please the
capitalists or in fear of their violence. Such people do not try to find
out the real causes for problems; they attribute the causes to particular
local reason and pay no attention to the true ones. They never link problems
with their real sources which are the direct outcome of capitalism and
the solution they reach is always unreal. In this way, they cause people
to go round and round in empty circles in an attempt to find the two ends
of the problems. This state of affairs creates doubts amongst the nation
and restlessness and other social sicknesses prevail.
Bearing all this in mind, how can a community ensure the services of its
members if they are left absolutely free to secure their private interests?
The capitalists have proved that unbridled selfishness seldom proves to
have regard for justice, particularly if it gets into its hands economic
and political power and if it is assigned the task of legislation. In such
case, capitalism tries only to secure the maximum of private interests.
No better description of capitalist society could be found than that given
by the United States President, john Kennedy, in the book (The Strategy
of Peace) which contains a number of the speeches and statements made by
him about certain American and International problems. John Kennedy says
(Nearly one out of every two young American men is rejected by Selective
Service today as mentally, physically, or morally unfit for any kind of
military service. Still more are screened out after induction». «The
Navy releases statistics showing more men in naval prisons than the entire
Norwegian and Danish navies combined _ and showing enough men branded deserters
to supply a full crew for an aircraft carrier. What has happened to us
as a nation? Profits are up - our standard of living is up - but so is
our crime rate. So is the rate of divorce and juvenile delinquency and
mental illness.
We are, I am afraid, in danger of losing something solid at the core. We
are losing that pilgrim and pioneer spirit of initiative and independence
- that old-fashioned Spartan devotion to (duty, honor and country). We
think that we don't need that spirit now.
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