THE ONTOLOGICAL STATUS OF CAPITALISM AND CHRISTIANITY

One of the dangers of capitalism is that it teaches people that deception is a virtue. Does wealth equal virtue? What is the value of a person without money? How can we trust each other if we have been taught that deception is a virtue? People have two faces today, the one they greet you with, and the one they slander you with behind your back. I refuse to be like this; we should all refuse to be like this.

 "The 'danger' of capitalism can be best expressed in what it intends to do in its own words: a commodification of human relations." 

I agree. But how does the capitalist surmount this objection? Unless of course, he would argue that the commodification of people is a good thing? [I was also thinking... we are all on the same team when it comes to being thinkers. There are lots of people in the world who do not like, nor understand, people like us. In their mind we sound funny when we speak, because of this we have to stick together. There are many violent anti-intellectuals in the world.]

"Classically speaking, the capitalist will resort to the Smithsonian that we're simply better off treating each other as objects for purposes of market efficiency--ie that's the only way the invisible hand will work. To defeat this argument (which isn't hard)..."

 "(which isn't hard)." --I think this premise is true regarding the epistemology of capitalism in general. Which brings us to a far more important point: It is an empirical fact that we can refute the claims of capitalism, and yet the ideology persists. I believe this is because 1) people adopt their belief through a structure of authority and 2) the values of capitalism are authoritarian values. Just like Christianity, it has nothing to do with the rational or empirical integrity of the belief... because it's an ideology! (It cannot even be rescued through a pragmatic scale of value). It is merely an authoritarian structure one uses to control the population. 

[pause, anticipates objection] Fine. very well, let us suppose that all structures are authoritarian structures, it matters not, because not all structures are equivalent! The false narrative, which says "capitalism is the only way to order a society," is another unchallenged, artificial premise.* As if to say, "following Jesus is what it means to be moral." When it comes to ideology, Capitalism and Christianity are the same. Both are moral confusions, nothing less and nothing more. 

We have here articulated, with great precision, the ontological status of Capitalism and Christianity. They are, in fact, moral confusions.

Notes:

*What do I mean by this term, artificial premise? I am referring to a proposition or proclamation about reality that cannot be deduced from existence. A premise is artificial when it tries to make a claim to knowledge, to tell us something about the world, and yet it is an abstraction that stands above the world.   

WE HAVE BEEN CONDITIONED TO HATE - Jersey Flight

In a capitalist society, where propaganda is used to instill desire, it is an obvious conclusion that the masses can be swayed. This is akin to the subversion of democracy. One must learn to think in terms of control, if one would understand mass psychology. Oh my reader, I wish you and I could talk as friends. I now understand why we approach each other the way we do in American culture. We have been conditioned to celebrate competition. We must learn to transcend our conditioning! The real question has to do with overcoming the ego. Until a thinker does this he or she will be restricted in thought. We want to keep our discoveries to ourselves, or use them to promote our brilliance. This is confusion. We need to connect with as many powerful minds as possible, while there is still time! This is how we make progress. I am a serious thinker, not an ego thinker.

The way knowledge progresses in capitalism, is distorted. The way human relations take place in this society, is distorted. We have been taught to be petty judges! We have been taught to attack the other as a competition-tactic. In a very real sense we have been de-humanized because we have been taught to worship the image; we have been taught to be critical of reality in a superficial way. This is devastating to intimacy! And if intimacy becomes more and more unattainable, society will tear itself apart! {thus unfolds the society of distrust} We must transcend our conditioning! The way forward is cooperation, not competition.

 Why are we so aggressive and petty in communication with each other? Because capitalism presupposes the negative value of the individual (one always has to prove their worth through an artificial moral system of value). This creates tension and insecurity, even desperation. We are taught that every man is our enemy. This is existential confusion! If we do not have each other, then we have NOTHING! There are no Gods to save us. All our lives we have been taught false morals! If you understand this then you have reached the end and the beginning of philosophy.

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Philosopher Jersey Flight Corrects Žižek on Human Nature

"We are all basically evil, egotistical, disgusting. Take torture, for instance. I am a realist. If I had a daughter and someone kidnapped her, and I found a friend of the kidnapper, I cannot say I wouldn’t torture that guy." Disparities by Slavoj Žižek


Žižek speaks like an impulsive philosopher, because he is an impulsive philosopher in a time of impulsive living. This largely summarizes the entire phenomena we call Žižek. He is the cult of personality, but this is not saying much, when all artists and figures are cults of personality. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a unique personality, but one must not substitute it for thought.

"We are all basically evil, egotistical, disgusting."  

Evil we are not, egotistical we are.

The only reason I chose to comment on what Žižek said is because I believe his view of human nature insinuates a false metaphysical pessimism (something dangerous to the formation of humanitarian revolutionaries). That is to say, what hope is there for mankind if human nature is evil? If there is no hope in the premise there can be no hope in the conclusion. Žižek proves that he is tainted by Christianity; he needs to go back and sit at the feet of Nietzsche. He declares man's metaphysical-moral-disposition to be futile. Is Žižek then waiting for a future Messiah? It would seem he has not yet surmounted the false moral projections of Christianity. 

My friends, we are fools if we think something or someone will save us. Our existential plight is precisely that we must save ourselves or go extinct! How can Žižek be relevant if he does not know this?

Take torture, for instance. If a child saw a man being tortured, he would be terrified, he would experience strong, positive feelings of morality. This is exceedingly significant because it means our nature is not evil! All of us, as children, had to be unnaturally conditioned (that is, conditioned against our moral instincts) to accept violence. Children do not naturally gravitate to violence, and this tells us something beautiful and powerful about ourselves:

Žižek is wrong. We are not basically evil, we are basically good!

What about disgust? When I hear this word I take caution, this is a moral word! Beware what you call disgusting lest you illegitimately condition yourself against yourself. I wonder... he that speaks of disgust, is it possible that he tells us about his ability to cope with reality? Everything hinges on how we define the word. Nay, this is false, everything hinges on our moral presuppositions!

In sexuality the creature has been slandered and demonized, the act of sexuality has been falsely moralized! [sexuality is amoral] Many of these false moralizers use the word disgust when they speak of human sexuality. The truth is that these people are impaired. They are ashamed of what they are and what their bodies do. Their insecurity, at being what they are, manifests itself in the form of violence and persecution toward those who do enjoy the body. 

I agree that a society infiltrated with capitalist propaganda, in order to create consumers, produces a disgusting, mindless human being. But we must be cautious when we call ourselves disgusting lest we insinuate a confused and contrary moral emphasis.   

We need a bigger vision of the potential of man because the one that has been offered is too small. I did not say we need a bigger vision of man, I said we need a bigger vision of his potential! Though man lives in a world of violence, he does not have to mimic the chaos of nature. 

There is hope for mankind insofar as there is hope for the flourishing of the natural instincts of the child. 

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A Rebuke to Thinkers and Philosophers - Jersey Flight

We are suppose to represent the-more-carefully-thought-out-port­ion-of-mankind. And yet we cannot communicate? What hope is there for egotistical politicians? I see very well the plague of our time; once a person takes offense they pass a moral judgement, and yet, they have not even made contact with the actual issue! The only thing they note is that they were offended. I see how juvenile and petty this is. People think that the right to refrain from communication constitutes real power.... Oh deceived charlatans! You will live your life being praised for your good manners, but what will this do for you, where will it get you? You live by the status quo: thou shalt not offend. Now is the time to say what you need to say; now is the only time there is to live. We need to communicate, communicate, communicate! An adult should know how to push past the ego of a child. If we cannot make peace with those who offend us, then how can we live in a peaceful world?

Are you like everyone else in the world? What do you do when words offend you? Do you walk away? If so, congratulations, you are just like everyone else. But how can you progress if you cannot transcend what you love? Maybe offense is precisely what you need, but you will not permit it! Maybe it is the path to liberation, but maybe you want petty power instead of existential freedom? If you will be wise then you must have contemplation outside your convictions!

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