Philosophers do not govern the world, “Wants and their Satisfaction” do: A Case For Socialism

What exists in the world? Socialism? Capitalism? Communism? A man will support what gives him what he “WANTS”. Be it Socialism or be it Capitalism or be it Communism. If socialism can satisfy a man’s wants, socialism will, ultimately, find its way into the society. If capitalism can do that job, capitalism will be established in the society. The world and its realities are not governed by the philosophers and the academicians. World is governed by what human beings aspire for and what they want. Ground realities are what matter the most. An empty stomach doesn’t understand and doesn’t care about ‘socialism’ or ‘capitalism’. Food is what a hungry man wants. You feed the man and he will tell you what is right and what is wrong. Even a thief knows that stealing is wrong but the satisfaction of his wants makes him justify stealing. The existence and dominance of capitalism clearly shows that it is more acceptable in the today’s world. When I say that capitalism is more acceptable, it doesn’t mean that I am in its favour. It simply implies that capitalism has been able to satisfy the minority (neoliberalists and crony capitalists) and appease the majority (the rest of us) of the mankind for it to continue in existence. Again, “appeasement” here doesn’t imply that the majority is happy with capitalism or they have been benefitted by capitalism. It simply means that capitalism has been able to satisfy the wants of a few and give hope to the rest that it is only system that can ostensibly provide an amicable environment wherein their basic human instinct of “affinity to wealth” can sustain and even be realized. This statement of mine doesn’t undermine the importance of “socialism” and neither does it deny the existence of “cracks in capitalism”. We all know of the movements, revolts, representations against capitalism. But these actions against capitalism are going on because of the very fact that ‘capitalism’ is in existence. Its dominance indicates one more thing: we all are coping up with capitalism. Reason: that ‘hope’ it generates in us- a hope that somehow convinces us that someday we will be able to amass wealth like the minority that is already living this ‘hope’. A human being, inherently, is a selfish creature. Amassing wealth or property is natural to man. We have discussed the basic human instinct of “affinity to wealth” in one of our write-ups at Socialist Center’s blog. Every human being “wants” and any system that satisfies these wants is brought into existence by the mankind. We clearly see this logic applying in the case of those who own means of production and those who are rich. But how does this logic applies in the case of people who are being exploited under capitalism? Well, it does apply. How? Lets see. Capitalism serves the rich and gives hope to those who are being exploited. It presents a mirage of opportunities to ‘have-nots’. This hope sustains in the miserable living conditions created under capitalism because it gets strength from the basic human instinct of “affinity to wealth”. Every human being wants to amass wealth and it is only this capitalistic system which gives them the ‘hope’ that they, ultimately, will be able to satisfy that very instinct if they keep on serving under the capitalism because the socialism (as defined by some of the philosophers) is totally against fulfillment of such tendencies. However, this “hope” being harbored by the ‘have-nots’ will never materialize because of many reasons; the most significant of the reasons being limited resources from the benefits of which the “haves-not” are excluded. The resources are limited and therefore, the process of amassing of wealth operates to the exclusion of other and, therefore, to the detriment of those who are, thus, excluded. If the intellect could weigh over the basic human instincts, the natural urges and the ‘hope’ generated by ‘capitalism’, socialism would have been established long ago.  

When will socialism come into existence on a wider plank? This will happen when the ‘hope’ of people will break. Will it ever break? Yes. Well, ‘hopes’ do break every now and then. This is the reason we see those mass movements, small revolts and strikes. But the question here is “will the ‘hope’ break to such an extent that the foundation of “capitalism” will shake and give up? I think the power of ‘hope’ that strives under capitalism cannot be underestimated. It will always strive and the beneficiaries of capitalism in connivance with their puppet governments will throw some “appeasement” bone to the “have-nots” enough to revive their hope and stop them from totally overthrowing capitalism. If this is going to happen, will the ‘have-nots’ always suffer? Yes, if they do not see any alternative. What alternative? Socialism? Yes. Socialism. But there are “socialism” oriented alternatives in the world. Have they been successful? No, Why? Because they hold hard and fast notions of what socialism is. They propound academic versions of socialism – versions that have been put forth by some renowned philosophers. I am neither questioning nor denying the credibility of the philosophies put forth by some of the greatest socialist minds the history has ever produced. But I am a practical man who wants to see democratic socialism save the world from the claws of the cruel neoliberalism and crony capitalism. A man is a man first before being a constituent of society. Society does influence and control a man’s behavior to a great extent but in order to ensure that man complies with the society’s rules and regulations, those rules and regulations should be comforting and be able to satisfy man’s individual wants to an extent that such said compliance could be ensured. Otherwise, socialism will also fail. Individual interests should be protected but not against the larger interests of the society. Priority should be given to larger interests and the individual interests should be able to survive as subservient to the larger interests. Socialism cannot diminish individuality and its wants. Individual interests have collective nature and their survival is important for the survival of socialism. If socialism will not pay heed to individual interests, the collective aspect of individual interests will not let the socialism survive. The movements against capitalism that we see today are not by those who are super-rich, they are by those who have been treated badly by the capitalism. Need for a change brings the change and change is desired and brought by those who are not happy with the contemporary state of affairs. Those who are happy with the current scenario will never be a part of the change brining process. It clearly implies that those people who are getting their wants fulfilled have nothing to do with the struggle of those who are striving hard for their existence and rights. In this scenario, the role of government becomes important. Not only socialism is important but the manner in which socialism is made operational is also crucial for its existence and further success. If you let anarchy prevail, individual interests will over-power larger interests. Therefore, importance of institutions cannot be denied. We need order in the world, an order that works in the favour of each and every human being.

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