“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.”
- Che Guevara
This article is not about how great Che was or about Leftist policies and theory or Right wing politics. It's about Capitalism.
I was introduced to this mammoth term, Capitalism at school. I always thought it was a great concept that had improved lives of many but, like many of my other beliefs, this one needs a rehash. Capitalism indeed has spared nothing. I’ll go on to say that Capitalists spare nothing and no one, they can rake a living out of anything.
I am not shrewd enough to be a Rightist or rebellious enough to be a Leftist. I would like to think of myself as an Opportunist – like many of those who are coward enough to just tread the middle path and this outburst on this page is just a moment where I am being truly honest about it.
But why this outburst, you may ask. Why now? I can only offer an answer for the first part.
I don't know how many of you would agree to this? But, I feel like what I am being offered is what capitalists want, rather I can get nothing for free.
I’d like to use packaged drinking water as an example. This was something, no one heard of 10 to 15 years back. I could just walk into any store or home and ask for a glass of water. But, now a Cool drink is cheaper than drinking water. Any hotel you get into, what is the first question the Waiter asks. Sir, Mineral Water or Ordinary water? Isn't Drinking water a basic Need?
I am an average middle-class guy with a regular job. My basic needs are taken care of and in fact I can even indulge in a few luxuries with the salary that I earn. However in retrospect, I feel like a few of my basic needs have become luxuries and Vice-Versa. I wouldn't say that I am finding it hard to fulfill them, but my life is now more tuned to an order that I don’t quite appreciate/like. Capitalism has crept into my life, much more deeply than I wanted.
Its no big secret that All the big branded merchandising stores make big profit by employing a cheaper workforce. Few days back I met this gentleman at an airport who works in the Fabric industry. He was generous enough to educate me about how the industry works. The facts aroused the Leftist inside me. The Weaver who makes the cloth can barely feed himself twice a day. The controlled pay rates and how capitalists economically dominate the cloth industry reminds you of two facts. One, that you are taken for a ride every time you buy a new dress under the impression on discount sale and the second, You end up paying the wrong person every time.
Is this why the nature calls it The Survival of the Fittest?
And The biggest irony of all is the way capitalists made money out of Che too. Yes, They made money out of the guy who had rebelled against capitalism. Every time I see someone don a T-Shirt with Che’s face on it, it reminds me that Che’s crusade has indeed been proven futile. It reminds me of the fact that no one can escape Capitalism.
I have come to understand that I had underestimated Capitalism. I am like any other person – helpless against the capitalist and Capitalism as a whole, probably because I or we need it to survive. Inequality begot Capitalism, or Capitalism begot inequality, we’ll never know.
While the Leftist in me argues about the ills of capitalism and necessity of equality and socialism, the capitalist in me retorts back saying “No one can exert their right on my money.”
These arguments won’t cease and I’ll retreat back under the shade of cowardice.
- Che Guevara
This article is not about how great Che was or about Leftist policies and theory or Right wing politics. It's about Capitalism.
I was introduced to this mammoth term, Capitalism at school. I always thought it was a great concept that had improved lives of many but, like many of my other beliefs, this one needs a rehash. Capitalism indeed has spared nothing. I’ll go on to say that Capitalists spare nothing and no one, they can rake a living out of anything.
I am not shrewd enough to be a Rightist or rebellious enough to be a Leftist. I would like to think of myself as an Opportunist – like many of those who are coward enough to just tread the middle path and this outburst on this page is just a moment where I am being truly honest about it.
But why this outburst, you may ask. Why now? I can only offer an answer for the first part.
I don't know how many of you would agree to this? But, I feel like what I am being offered is what capitalists want, rather I can get nothing for free.
I’d like to use packaged drinking water as an example. This was something, no one heard of 10 to 15 years back. I could just walk into any store or home and ask for a glass of water. But, now a Cool drink is cheaper than drinking water. Any hotel you get into, what is the first question the Waiter asks. Sir, Mineral Water or Ordinary water? Isn't Drinking water a basic Need?
I am an average middle-class guy with a regular job. My basic needs are taken care of and in fact I can even indulge in a few luxuries with the salary that I earn. However in retrospect, I feel like a few of my basic needs have become luxuries and Vice-Versa. I wouldn't say that I am finding it hard to fulfill them, but my life is now more tuned to an order that I don’t quite appreciate/like. Capitalism has crept into my life, much more deeply than I wanted.
Its no big secret that All the big branded merchandising stores make big profit by employing a cheaper workforce. Few days back I met this gentleman at an airport who works in the Fabric industry. He was generous enough to educate me about how the industry works. The facts aroused the Leftist inside me. The Weaver who makes the cloth can barely feed himself twice a day. The controlled pay rates and how capitalists economically dominate the cloth industry reminds you of two facts. One, that you are taken for a ride every time you buy a new dress under the impression on discount sale and the second, You end up paying the wrong person every time.
Is this why the nature calls it The Survival of the Fittest?
And The biggest irony of all is the way capitalists made money out of Che too. Yes, They made money out of the guy who had rebelled against capitalism. Every time I see someone don a T-Shirt with Che’s face on it, it reminds me that Che’s crusade has indeed been proven futile. It reminds me of the fact that no one can escape Capitalism.
I have come to understand that I had underestimated Capitalism. I am like any other person – helpless against the capitalist and Capitalism as a whole, probably because I or we need it to survive. Inequality begot Capitalism, or Capitalism begot inequality, we’ll never know.
While the Leftist in me argues about the ills of capitalism and necessity of equality and socialism, the capitalist in me retorts back saying “No one can exert their right on my money.”
These arguments won’t cease and I’ll retreat back under the shade of cowardice.
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