[Buddha-l] Society

[Curt Steinmetz]

Marx foresaw what he called "commodity fetishism", which in very crude 
(but obtuse) terms means that all use value is replaced (in our minds) 
by exchange value. George Orwell summed this phenomenon up very nicely 
in the preamble to his novel depicting one artist's struggle with 
alienation and despair under capitalism, "Keep the Aspidistras Flying":

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not  
money, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And  
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,  and 
all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could  remove 
mountains, and have not money, I am nothing. And though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to  be 
burned, and have not money, it profiteth me nothing. Money suffereth 
long, and is kind; money envieth not; money vaunteth not  itself, is not 
puffed up, doth not behave unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily 
provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth  all 
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. . . . And now abideth 
faith, hope, money, these three; but the greatest of these is money. "

But as a slavish devotee at the altar of Progress, Marx could not 
understand the inherent problems of industrialism qua industrialism, and 
thought that everything could be fixed up just right by instituting the 
dictatorship of the proletariat.

Curt

jkirk wrote:
> People--
>
> If I may reflect a little on the constitution of society, as it
> shifted in China from collective solidarity of various sorts to
> individualism (aka everyone for him or herself):
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/19/love-china-freedom
>  
> Excerpt:
> "Changing habits eroded the rules and led to their formal repeal.
> But as China embraces personal freedoms, it sees the same
> problems as the west, from the isolation of urban residents to
> increasing mental illness. 
>
> "Freedom and choice come hand in hand with responsibility and
> risk," said Yunxiang Yan, author of the forthcoming book The
> Individualisation of Chinese Society. "Individuals have to take
> more responsibilities and work harder for personal interests with
> much less protection and support from the collective."
>
> I'd like to say that industrial society and culture causes mental
> illness. Individualism taken to the extremes under capitalism,
> leads to insanity. It already happened in the "west," and now
> it's happening in China. This situation was well-understood by EU
> artists back in the 19th c. I wish even to go so far as to say
> that the shibboleth of "freedom" (misinterpreted as individual
> freedom) is the rationalization for allowing industry and the
> nation-state unregulated hegemony in favor of keeping profits in
> the family.
>
> Nevertheless, who cared about what artists think, except so far
> as their works are valuable investments? Eh??? Did anyone pay
> attention to this, except Karl Marx? or did he pay attention to
> the effects of industrialism on human society???  He saw it as a
> stage toward the future emancipation of labor--but did he see
> where it was REALLY going? Marx--the eternal optimist? (This is
> not a plea for installing a communist regime, so don't start
> that!)
>
> I bet there are a few list denizens who have some
> answers.......Denizens!--please comment, from your more developed
> knowledge of Marx and society than mine! Did he or didn't he
> catch on to what capitlaism boded, in his day?
>
> Meanwhile, in my admittedly personal view, industrial capitalist
> society has led to mass insanity. Buddhism can make little
> headway against this phenomenon, other than being a self-help
> remedy of a few individuals. We are up against the tides. Very
> few people understand what is really going on or how their minds
> are being manipulated by the collaborative media. Circuses might
> even replace bread...............
>
> Joanna
>
>
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