The Institute for a Just Socio-Economic Order

The Destruction of Capitalism
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by Idris

God revealed His system to us in order to progress our selves so we can evolve to a higher spiritual plane. This can only be done in a system in which the basic physical needs of a man are attained so that he can focus his mind towards higher interests such as religion, art, science, philosophy, and other forms of self-nourishment instead of worrying about whether their means of physical survival and well-being will be taken care of. As long as the self is conscious of the physical realm, the fulfillment of the basic needs of the physical must take place before the needs of the spiritual so that the latter can be focused on. No such economic system in existence provides for the basic needs of all in its society while likewise focusing on individuality and providing an atmosphere for self development at equivalence to the good of humanity. One may argue that, as Capitalists do, with the basic needs fulfilled by the government than there is no incentive to work because man only works for the hope of increasing wealth. Rather in a society based on the laws of The God, the incentive to work is sacrificing immediate gains for the hope of success in the long run in this life and the next. The zeal of a man to benefit the society and mankind as a whole is the hope of self-development by benefiting others by contributing to the welfare of the state and the world at large.

 

The economic system propagated by the ideology of the reading (quran), contrary to the socialist welfare systems designed by man, brings forth a strong incentive to work rather then crippling or weakening the ambition and drive of its people. In fact while the welfare economies of the west weaken the will to work, the system of the reading (quran) brings man to contributing to the society and humanity as a whole instead of taking. The welfare system turns individuals to a drain on society while the system of the reading (quran) lights a fiery passion and ambition to work towards the betterment of all humanity with the knowledge that it is the only way one can come to self realization. The communist system sees man as merely a piece of the societal machine rather than an individual with spiritual and mental needs along with the material as well. Conformity and social roles are inscribed; the man in the Communistic society is nothing more than a tool used to meet the ends of the state. On the contrary man in a society based on The God’s laws in the reading (quran) is a willing volunteer who sells his life for The God rather than his mind to the government. The materialistic philosophy in which Communism is built on cannot provide man with an incentive to work for the interests of others and this is why it has failed. There is no reason for man to sacrifice benefit to his self for the good of others at the animalistic level of life in which materialism brings him to.

 

            In the economic system of nourishment established in the reading (quran) man is expected to willingly contribute the wealth he receives that is excess to what his basic needs require. This is to provide for those with an inability to work, be it those who lose their job, orphans, physically or mentally crippled, the old, the sick, the homeless, etc. In a capitalist system this would be argued against and criticized for emphasizing more on reliance then self-sufficiency. What they fail to see is that those with the aforementioned inabilities paralyze an individual’s self-sufficiency and the system works to place them above reliance rather than ignore them on a perverted “every man for himself/survival of the fittest” philosophy. This ideal said to be a part of the capitalist ideology has been largely abandoned today in most capitalistic economies due to the incredible misery it brought to the masses but not completely in practice. With the collective well-being branded as over ideological and the overemphasis on capital, it is no wonder that the individual struggle for wealth and power at the expense of others is hailed as all glorious in a capitalistic society. The most competitive and selfish of individuals is seen as the one most likely to succeed because of his “ambition” and lack of moral restraint. With this, it can easily be seen how the great imbalance of wealth in capitalism comes about with the poor suffering at the expense of the rich. No matter who has to be exploited, cheated, or stepped on to get to the peak of economic comfort, they will blindly race towards it.

 

Right-wing ideologists, the torch bearers of capitalism, usually point the finger and claim that the impoverished are in their financial state due to laziness or lack of ambition. They say anybody that works hard at a full time job will eventually reap the awards of their efforts and succeed. The argument has an apparent flaw which ignores many of the other factors that come to play regarding wealth accumulation other than the intensity of one's work process. The opportunities provided by the community and one’s mental and physical capabilities, form of industry and quality of education all play a part in one's financial status or amount of wealth. In the United States, the forefront of capitalism along with Britain, provide a weaker education and far worse schools in areas where its impoverished citizens reside, thus giving them less opportunity to rise out of their situation and keeping the poverty constant from generation to generation. The poor youth, more often then not a minority, are exploited by large corporations to work long hours for the smallest wage possible as the executives and managers become rich or in most cases richer as their workers become poorer. As teens in a poor family they are far more likely to get a full time job at an earlier age to actually help support their family and are rarely provided by anything but the aforementioned forms of labor. This not only gives very limited opportunities and available industries but the long hours of work at a young age begins to take a toll on handling their already poorly taught education as well. With this the capitalist system can be seen to create a viscous cycle of poverty with very little chance of escaping especially to the young, poor minority who has had an impoverished family for many generations.

With little opportunity and a chance of an education to help them get into the competitive world of capitalism the poor, young African Americans and Hispanics have little other hope than to turn to physical talents in sports or musical/drama talents in entertainment. Many are driven to the point where it is necessary to turn to illegal means to survive due to no opportunities and industries in them that are allowed for them, and can provide for their family. The capitalists are so blinded by loyalty to their system and their faith in its relative perfection that they can’t see that it provides little or nothing to the poor and what it does provide they are anxious to cut for budget purposes or anger in “wasting” the money of the rich on the poor. They are quick to blame the poor for laziness and lack of ambition but not the system for neglecting the opportunities necessary to harness the ambition towards success. They will not blame the corporations or the rich for exploiting the poor, tossing them crumbs off their table as the poor buy a feast, cook it, and place it on the table for the corporate rich executives to eat with no work done by them but setting the silverware for themselves. The massive imbalance of wealth is not due to increasing laziness of the poor or increasing hard work of the rich but to the laws that are being passed that give increased freedom of the corporations to do what they will with their employs and give tax cuts to the wealthy while cutting benefits to the poor. A capitalist argument is that direct money towards corporations will cause an increase in jobs and opportunities which will flourish the economy and success of the poor. The problem is that corporations have the choice to direct the government donations towards whatever they wish, i.e. the salaries of the executives. There is no guarantee that the corporations will provide new or even more efficient opportunities just as there is no guarantee that donating towards the poor that they will use it for food, health, and shelter which is what capitalists use for an argument. What the money needs to be directed to is more programs and increasing the efficiency of present programs that assist the poor in means of health, food, and shelter. This is not to hinder the abilities of the poor but to help give them a living environment in which they can be put at a position above government help. Money should be directly given by the government to individuals when it comes to an inability to provide for themselves due to a lack of physical or mental capabilities, loss of job, etc.

 

A silent rule among capitalists and its propagators is that those who cheat their way to the top while crushing all the competition through lies and unfair trading will be the successful. The aforementioned would be among those that the capitalist system would define as the “ambitious”. While those that work honestly and do fair and just business will work their whole life being exploited and not making any gain for adhering to ethics and morals. The aforementioned would be among those that the capitalist system would define as the “lazy”. Capitalism is exactly what its name implies, adherence to capital. Its entire system is based on making money off money that you had already earned. This is financial interest and this is how banks and credit card companies make slaves out of those it loans to. Using a basic and simplified example, we will show how injustice exists in financial interest on loans:

 

·        We will take a small village, cut off from the world, and with a population of only 100 people.

·        A wealthy villager has enough gold and silver to produce exactly 1,000 coins, and he convinces the villagers that to use these coins as a medium of exchange is easier than the barter system they had been engaged in.

·        The wealthy villager (we will call him “the banker”) has the idea to rent out his money in return for interest. So, for every ten coins he lends, he demands one extra coin in return as interest.

·        Now, at the end of the loan period (assume it is one year), the banker goes to collect back his money plus the interest. He finds that some villagers were successful through their work and trade to make the extra one coin, while others simply could not make the interest payment.

·        The banker then confiscates property/possessions from those villagers who defaulted for an amount at least equal to the money plus interest owed.

·        Then, the banker starts the new year once again by lending out his 1,000 coins in return for interest, and the cycle goes on…

 

Though this example is extremely simplified, you may have been able to catch the design flaw relating to the issue of interest. The flaw is that no matter how hard the villagers work, or how much goods they are able to produce, they will never all be able to meet the interest payment simply because only 1,000 coins exist, while the banker is waiting for 1,100 to be returned to him at the year end (hence it is a physical impossibility) (Layth pg. 50-51)

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