Exposing the myths of capitalism

“Poverty and suffering are not due to unequal distribution of goods and resources, but to the unequal distribution of capitalism.” These are the words of right-wing mouthpiece and multi-millionaire Rush Limbaugh.

In an effort to remain the ruling class of society, capitalists promulgate the lie that only capitalism can guarantee

democracy and the fulfillment of human needs. Through means such as Limbaugh’s radio show, which at its height had a weekly audience of more than 13.5 million listeners a week, the ruling class uses such myths to justify imperialist interventions and the perpetual oppression of working-class people.

But Marxism shows that the coexistence of capitalism and true workers’ democracy is impossible because capitalism is a system that prioritizes the tiny ruling class’ drive for profits over the basic needs of the rest of society. In fact, capitalism cannot guarantee anything but the oppression and exploitation of the vast majority by a tiny minority.

The myth created by the ruling class that capitalism can guarantee “democracy” and the fulfillment of human needs is yet another crime of capitalism. Destroying this myth is one of the greatest challenges facing us today as we build a revolutionary movement.

But we can overcome this challenge.

According to a study conducted by the Hearst Corporation, nearly half of adults in the U.S. think Karl Marx’s description of communism in the “Critique of the Goethe Program,” “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” is in the U.S. Constitution. (New York Times, 1987)

When Mark Brzezinski, son of Zbigniew—the anti-communist National Security Advisor to former President Jimmy Carter—asked students in Warsaw, Poland to define “democracy,” he got a very different discussion than the one he expected. This was after the so-called Cold War had ended. Brzezinski said, “Expecting a discussion on individual liberties and authentically elected institutions, I was surprised to hear my students respond that to them, democracy means a government obligation to maintain a certain standard of living and to provide health care, education and housing for all. In other words, socialism.” (Los Angeles Times, 1994)

The vast majority of people yearn to live in a society where human needs are satisfied and true democracy is a reality. But the current capitalist system is a powerful and sophisticated disinformation machine. It wants capitalism to appear benevolent and kind, while in truth it survives by the mass exploitation of billions of working-class people.

A principal task for revolutionaries is to expose the fact that a just society, while impossible under capitalism, is the essence of socialism.

There is an alternative. We can help make it happen.