{"id":163003,"date":"2020-06-29T12:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T11:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=163003"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:11:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:11:34","slug":"the-horrible-costs-of-a-fake-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/06\/the-horrible-costs-of-a-fake-word\/","title":{"rendered":"The Horrible Costs of a Fake Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world has literally \u2018lost it\u2019 over the horrible word capitalism<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This may seem like an overstatement, but it can be justified easily. All it needs is some clear thinking based on a few words which \u2013 unlike capitalism<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 are rooted in reality.<\/p>\n

First of all, any \u2018-ism\u2019 cannot be trusted blindly because \u2013 over time \u2013 it becomes a hindrance to individual growth. Anyone promoting or even naively adopting an \u2018-ism\u2019 is likely living or hiding \u2018in a box\u2019, which state blocks his or her individual progress.<\/p>\n

Simple question<\/em>: In a society where the basic vocabulary stunts individual progress, can we EVER expect overall well-being? \u00a0Can one get nectar out of bird feathers?<\/p>\n

It is only when we discard ALL \u2018-isms\u2019 \u2013 including the ever-so-venerable Buddhism! \u2013 that we are forced to go back to basics, to reality, and in particular to the reality of suffering. Nothing else is then left to build a world view that makes sense. A new day dawns!<\/p>\n

The origin of the word capital<\/em><\/strong> lies in the Roman word caput<\/em>, meaning \u2018head\u2019. Clearly the word \u2018head\u2019 is not to be taken literally in capital<\/em><\/strong>; here it means \u2018at the head\u2019 or \u2018important\u2019.<\/p>\n

This word capital<\/em><\/strong> somehow also came to mean \u2018surplus wealth\u2019? How?<\/p>\n

The surplus produce of a society is real, tangible<\/em> and important<\/em>. It helps a society in tiding over difficult times and in building a better future. Inevitably, good times and bad times come and go. People work hard and produce a surplus \u2013 and it is in perfectly natural order if the surplus helps a society through difficult times. If a farmer stores the surplus grain from a good season, he or she is a sensible person \u2013 not<\/em> a contemptible \u2018capitalist\u2019.<\/p>\n

So what is the dividing line between a sensible farmer and a contemptible \u2018capitalist\u2019?<\/p>\n

Surplus wealth came to be dubbed capital<\/em><\/strong> as it was increasingly appropriated away from the community \u2013 and into the hands of a few self-styled \u2018elites\u2019. Quite possibly the use of this word facilitated the sleight of hand involved in the appropriation. The surplus wealth was thereby deemed \u2018too important\u2019 to be in the hands of the many who produced it.<\/p>\n

From this reasoning, it follows that any use of the word capital<\/em><\/strong> implicitly acknowledges the reality and the inevitability of the appropriation \u2013 and the consequent division of society.<\/p>\n

Knowingly or unknowingly, capitalism<\/em><\/strong> as an ideology was developed to justify and sanctify the appropriation and the division; to provide a veneer of respectability to that process; to impose on society a mindset which sees the ideology as being somehow good for society.<\/p>\n

Horrible consequences follow, naturally.<\/p>\n

In a capital-brainwashed society, over time, any person\u2019s worth begins to be measured only in terms of the size of his or her \u2018capital\u2019 or \u2018stored hoard\u2019.<\/p>\n

A human being has a mix of different qualities \u2013 kindness<\/em>, wisdom<\/em>, courage<\/em>, strength<\/em>, intelligence<\/em>, honesty<\/em>, tact<\/em>, or the opposites of these. But if we focus only on a person\u2019s hoard of stored value, nothing else matters. We wear blinkers \u2013 blinding us to so much richness!<\/p>\n

We then view life with this single and false standard of \u2018human excellence\u2019! Our understanding and appreciation of life reduces to a single dimension \u2013 that of \u2018stored hoard\u2019. Knowledge, art, culture, education, democracy \u2013 all that is only for show, a veneer.<\/p>\n

What a tragedy!<\/p>\n

Suppose we hear that a person has fifty trunks full of jewellery, for example, or ten billion dollars of \u2018net worth\u2019. Then it matters not a whit whether the person is kind or unkind, wise or unwise, tactful or tactless \u2026 and so on. Naturally, it also does not matter any longer how the capital is acquired. Is it acquired through crime, fraud, pillage, war, patricide or genocide?<\/p>\n

That does not matter in the least to fervent devotees of Mammon.<\/p>\n

Untold number of persons, families and communities possess other excellent talents or qualities. Say skill in agriculture, animal husbandry, music, art, craft, poetry \u2026 and so on. But when who cares for all that when the almighty Mammon calls?<\/p>\n

By giving overwhelming importance only to the hoard of stored value, we miss out on the vitality \u2013 the spirit and the joy of life! \u2013 generated by all other human values and talents. We pay a huge opportunity cost for that error, which leads eventually to breakup of society.<\/p>\n

Indeed, this is already happening in one rather prominent society.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why the photograph<\/strong>? The \u2018HEAD\u2019 gorilla \u2013 caput<\/em> again! \u2013 in a band is prone to chest-thumping as a show of power. Likewise, in human societies, the size of a stored hoard also moves its owner to chest-thumping of a kind \u2013 done in socially acclaimed ways, of course!<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Worship of Mammon, in one form or another, set in well over five thousand years ago. After that, the next downward stage in alleged \u2018human development\u2019 was inevitable.<\/p>\n

A whole new class of humans emerged, who claimed to be custodians or managers of capital.\u00a0 They called themselves kings, priests, ministers, treasurers, bankers, advisors, lawyers, fixers, managers \u2026 whatever. Instead of working to produce something real, they opted to discover more and more techniques to appropriate the surplus produce of a society.<\/p>\n

A huge new profession emerged \u2013 the manipulation of \u2018wealth\u2019, the capital which arises from surplus produce. The well-being of producers is not the concern of this profession.<\/p>\n

The Italian word capo<\/em>, as made famous in the phrase capo di tutti capi<\/em>, also derives from the same Latin word caput<\/em>. As our good friend Antonio C.S. Rosa likes to put it: \u2018Capitalism is no different from gangsterism\u2019<\/em>. We now see that etymology supports his point strongly!<\/p>\n

The right term to describe such human behaviour is not \u2018capitalism\u2019 but limitless greed<\/u><\/em>. No ideology can cure limitless greed; but any ideology can be used as its fig leaf.<\/p>\n

Today the global economic system is quite literally awash in \u2018capital\u2019 worth trillions upon trillions of dollars. However, apart from a very few alleged islands of bliss, human life in the rest of the world is full of hardship and anxiety. \u2018Capital\u2019 is not coming to our help when we need it the most. By what twisted norms of economics can this situation be justified?<\/p>\n

The reality of the word capitalism<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 as this ideology is being promoted today \u2013 is ugly but simple. It is GREED \u2013 or the worship of Mammon \u2013 in a newer disguise.<\/p>\n

Acknowledgement<\/u>: One of the crucial steps in the reasoning set out here has been inspired by the writings of Simone Weil [1909<\/em>–1943<\/em>].<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Dr. Naresh Jotwani is a semi-retired academic living in India and a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>. Apart from part-time engagements in engineering education and consulting, he engages in an in-depth, personal exploration of how Gautam Buddha\u2019s profound discoveries and teachings can be applied to the acute problems of modern life.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world has literally \u2018lost it\u2019 over the horrible word capitalism. This may seem like an overstatement, but it can be justified easily. Today the global economic system is awash in \u2018capital\u2019 worth trillions upon trillions of dollars, but it is not coming to our help. By what twisted economics can this situation be justified? The reality of the word capitalism is ugly but simple. It is GREED \u2013 or the worship of Mammon \u2013 in a newer disguise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[232,120,555,542,626,610,545,1213],"class_list":["post-163003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","tag-capitalism","tag-conflict","tag-elites","tag-fascism","tag-greed","tag-inequality","tag-neoliberalism","tag-super-rich"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":284857,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163003\/revisions\/284857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}