Creating Apathy

Marxism always looks at economics, ignoring the real power structures that make up society. Marxists claim the market controls everything and politics exists soley to serve the market. This suggests an attitude of apathy: you better give up and go home for the night and complain in private. Marxism is a philosophy that tries to discourage political action. It creates apathy through suggesting that money is a prerequiste to power. Marx and Engels use this idea in reverse. They try to fustrate people with the establishment, and call for a revolution for a new type of society. When you read the Communist Manifesto, you start to wonder if Marx and Engels really believe that you have to have money to have power.

Money and Power

Most people agree that money exists and it does convey status through material possesions. Many have argued that money can not create happiness nor power. Theories of demand suggest that the more you have the less effective money is at gaining happiness and power. If you have enough money, you can by that ugly lamp at the Albany Museum of History and Art, or buy 20 Ford F-350s. That would be a status symbol, but neither would give you more power or utility then a twenty dollar Walmart lamp or a single well built pickup.

Years ago, C. Wright Mills talked about how money could be exchanged for power and prestidge. That may be possible in some cases, but not in reality. Why did Golisano not win the governorship? He certianly had plenty of money. He tried to influence public opinion through massive media campaigning, yet he failed. People are naturally skeptical about others, particularly those with lots of money to brandish around. Money does not buy power. Power and the freedom it gives does not come from money, but from careful use of money and other resources. Individuals must build power through trust and by building friendships, something that money does not alone create.

Over Simplifications

Marxism is riddled with over-simplifications and ignorance. Marxism is largely concerned with economic conditions, even though there is a lot of life beyond the economy. We rarely make decisions based on money alone, but instead balance our feelings and knowledge against our experience. Marxism admits that these factors exist, and calls them latent factors but fails to acknowledge that they predominate over money. Feelings and experience are far more important then any money factor. Such feelings define why people make choices not in their economic interest, and create what marxists call false consciousness. The symbols that make up experience and feelings might be defined through corporatism, but are not neccessarly defined solely in that domain.

Inefficency is Desiable

We do not want a super efficent society. Class differences protect us by diversifying people. If we all thought and acted alike our society would not sustainable. It is not a corporate conspiracy that makes classism and consumerism the norm, but it is the differenting wills of many Americans. It would be far better for the economic elite if it could make our society more efficent and did away with people's demands for green lawns and suburban life. It's just that such a society would be undesirable.

Real Motives

Marxists and Fruedians have made us turn ourselves inside out, trying to figure out what is truth behind people's actions. Many times those motives do not exist, but are motives dreamed up by psycho- and political analyists. Humans are not some kind of machine that is carefully programmed to acted based on complete information. Many times the true motive is totally open and understandable. Politicans might actually vote against or for a bill, because it's the right thing for them to do.