Human Rights

Demystified: 11 myths Capitalism feeds on

As anti-Capitalism protests sweep across societies in the Western world, a Portuguese economist has catalogued a list of propagated myths that the Capitalist order survives on.

“Capitalism in the neoliberal version has exhausted itself. Financial sharks do not want to lose profits, and shift the main burden of debt to the retirees and the poor,” Guilherme Alves Coelho wrote in an article appearing on the Global Research website.

He added that, to manipulate public opinion, there are many ways, on which the ideology of capitalism has been grounded.

“These myths are distributed and promoted via media tools, educational institutions, family traditions, church memberships, etc.”

They were designed “to represent capitalism as credible and enlist the support and confidence of the masses,” Coelho said, proceeding to enumerate the most common myths surrounding Capitalism.

Myth 1: Under capitalism, anyone who works hard can become rich.

According to this myth, the capitalist system will automatically provide wealth to hard-working individuals. Thus, workers unconsciously form an “illusory hope,” and if their efforts do not come to fruition, they will only have themselves to blame.

However, Coelho argues that “under capitalism, the probability of success, regardless [of] how much you may have worked, is the same as in a lottery.”

Wealth, with rare exceptions, he adds, is not gained through hard work, but is a result of “fraud and lack of remorse” and is reserved for those who enjoy “greater influence and power.”

“This myth creates the followers of the system who support it.”

Myth 2: Capitalism creates wealth and prosperity for all.

This myth states that wealth, accumulated in the hands of a minority, sooner or later will be redistributed among all.

“The goal is to enable the employer to accumulate wealth without asking questions. At the same time the hope is maintained that sooner or later workers will be rewarded for their work and dedication.”

Coelho, however, argues that the ultimate goal of capitalism is not the distribution of wealth but its “accumulation and concentration” and cites the “widening gap between the rich and the poor in recent decades especially after the establishment of the rule of neo-liberalism” as evidence.

Myth 3: We are all in the same boat.

Otherwise stated, Capitalist society has no classes, therefore the responsibility for the failures and crises also lies on all and everyone has to pay.

“The goal is to create a guilt complex for workers, allowing capitalists to increase revenues and pass expenditures onto the people.”

Coelho begs to differ, saying the responsibility in fact lies “entirely on the elite consisting of billionaires who support the government and are supported by it, and have always enjoyed great privileges in taxation, tenders, financial speculation, offshore, nepotism, etc.”

“This myth is implanted by the elites to avoid responsibility for the plight of the people and oblige them to pay for the elite’s mistakes.”

Myth 4: Capitalism means freedom.

The myth alleges that true freedom is only achieved under capitalism with the help of the so-called “market self-regulation.”

“The goal is to create something similar to a religion of capitalism, where everything is taken as is, and deny people the right to participate in making macroeconomic decisions.”

Coelho states that in a Capitalist society, decision-making freedom, the ultimate form of freedom, is “only enjoyed by a narrow circle of powerful individuals, not the people, and not even the government agencies.”

“This myth has been used to justify interference in the internal affairs of non-capitalist countries, based on the assumption that they have no freedom, but have rules.”

Myth 5: Capitalism means democracy.

According to this myth, democracy can only exist under capitalism and all other models of social order are dictatorship.

“This myth, which smoothly follows from the previous one, was created in order to prevent the discussion of other models of social order.”

This is while, a Capitalist society, according to Coelho, is divided into classes and the rich, being ultra-minority, dominate over all others.

This capitalist “democracy” is nothing but a disguised dictatorship, he says, adding, “As the previous myth, this one also serves as an excuse to criticize and attack non-capitalist countries.”

Myth 6: Election is a synonym of democracy.

“The goal is to denigrate or demonize other systems and prevent a discussion of political and electoral systems where leaders are determined through non-bourgeois elections, for example, on the virtue of age, experience, or popularity of candidates.”

In fact, Coelho says, it is the capitalist system that constantly “manipulates and bribes, [and] where a vote is a conditional term and election is only a formal act.”

Myth 7: Alternating parties in office is the same as having an alternative.

Bourgeois parties that periodically alternate in power have alternative platforms, this myth tends to suggest.

“The goal is to perpetuate the capitalist system within the dominant class, feeding the myth that democracy is reduced to the election.”

Coelho says the two-party or multiparty parliamentary system is in fact a one-party system, and these are two or more factions “of one political force”, where they alternate, “mimicking the party with an alternative policy.”

“People always choose an agent of the system, being sure that this is not what they are doing.”

“The myth that bourgeois parties have different platforms and are even oppositional, is one of the most important, it is constantly discussed to make the capitalist system work,” Coelho adds.

Myth 8: The elected politician represents the people and can therefore decide for them.

“The purpose of this myth is to feed the people with empty promises and hide the real measures that will be implemented in practice.”

In fact, Coelho says, leaders elected in a Capitalist society do not fulfill their promises, or, worse, start to implement undeclared measures, often contradicting the original Constitution.

“The systematic practice of falsification of democracy under capitalism is one of the reasons for the increasing number of people who do not go to the elections.”

Myth 9: There is no alternative to Capitalism.

Capitalism is not perfect, but it is the only possible economic and political system, and therefore the most appropriate one, so the myth goes.

“The goal is to eliminate the study and promotion of other systems and eliminate competition using all possible means, including force.”

“This myth is intended to intimidate people, to prevent the discussion of alternatives to capitalism and ensure unanimity,” Coelho adds.

Myth 10: Savings generate wealth.

The economic crisis is caused by the excess of employee benefits. If they are removed, the myth promises, the government will save and the country will become rich.

“The goal is to shift the liability for capitalist debt payment onto the public sector, including the retirees.”

Another goal, Coelho says, is to make people accept poverty, arguing that it is temporary. It is also intended to facilitate the privatization of the public sector.

Myth 11: The current crisis of Capitalism is short-term and will be resolved for the benefit of the people.

According to this myth, the current financial crisis is a normal cyclical crisis of Capitalism, not a systemic plight and will not lead to its collapse.

The goal, Coelho argues, is to continue to plunder the resources of the Capitalist country and exploit people. It is also a means of staying in power.

However, he says, what is happening today is “a systemic crisis of the capitalist system, i.e. the growth of the contradictions between social production and the private character of appropriation of profit, and is insoluble.”

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