Why Does Capitalism Create Racism and Sexism?

What are the root causes of racism and sexism, you may ask? Capitalist supporters will proclaim that racism and sexism are simply natural aspects of human nature, and society itself is not to blame. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like the proverbial snake in the grass, capitalism, and all class-divided societies, nurture and create imaginary dividing lines between human beings based on race, gender, ethnic affiliation and other things. We are told in capitalist propaganda that different races and genders have different needs that will forever be in conflict, and the only resolution are laws which discriminate against one group or another. Attempts to placate race and gender minorities by the capitalist government result in reverse racist and sexist laws and quotas, which further inflame tensions between the races and genders.

Every benefit under capitalism has to come at someone else's expense, because the system only has limited opportunities available to its citizens. Moreover, the conservative capitalist elements, via its control over the media, fosters misconceptions against the poorest members of the working class, creating voluable social myths that foster hatred and contempt against the poor, and which attempts to describe them as incorrigably lazy and idle, which completely ignores the fact that the capitalist element desires unemployment to a certain degree, since it holds the employed members of the working class in a state of fear over their job security. It also ignores the nature of work under capitalism...menial and unrewording dead end jobs exist in huge amounts, causing massive amounts of people to be employed in jobs that waste or make no use of their talents, in which they can't creatively develop their talents and skills, and which they hate. This results in mass discontent, an increase in mental illness, feelings of depression and worthlessness, nihilistic leanings towards life and an attitude that breeds laziness.

Hence, laziness is a result of the system's operation, and is not inherant in the individual's genes. Work under socialism would be considerably different, with rewarding work available to all, far less hours of work per year (and per week) and no one would be compelled to work at a job which they did not enjoy or did not compliment their individual abilities. Thus, work would take on a different meaning under socialism, everyone would have the opportunity to make a unique and beneficial contribution to society and we wouldn't have an autocratic authority (i.e., bosses and capitalists) forcing us to work to their benefit only.

Because of the limited opportunites under capitalism, and due to the need to keep the working class divided and in opposition to each other, racist ideologiess are encouraged. Because the black race started out as slaves in America, until their release after the Civil War, they have never been able to gain equal employment in a society that was raised for over two hundred years to consider them inferior. Such an ideology was considered normal and necessary to maintain the horror of chattel slavery. When they were released to the wage slavery job market after their "freedom" was given, many of the white race, born and raised with racist leanings, were resentful of this new level of competition in their midst. Capitalist society dealt with the "problem" by creating racist laws that denied decent jobs to members of the black race. This caused the black members of society to resent all white folks, despite the fact that white working class members had the same problems as wage slaves that the black members of their class endured (albeit usually to a lesser extent at the time). As a result, instead of uniting against the capitalist class, the white and black members of the working class fought in violent opposition to each other, with the white members of society determined to preserve their monopoly over their privilages in the job market that gave them a feeling of financial security, and the newly freed black members of society understandably struggling for better jobs and an improvement over their terrible and unequal economic condition. This battle raged on until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's caused racist legislation to be curtailed to a great degree, and for affirmative action laws to pass quotas, causing legalized discrimination against the white race. As a result, few blacks have benefited much from affirmative action, and the reverse discrimination has only caused more enmity between the blacks and the whites.

Currently, however, the capitalist class doesn't benefit from racism as it once did. With its global conquest, it needs members of all races to be put to work on its behalf. As a result, the liberal elements of the capitalist class currently hold sway in the corporate controlled media. However, that is subject to change depending on what benefits the capitalist class at any given moment. Members of every race and ethnic group who belong to the working class need to give their mutual problems a class analysis rather then simply exemplify their ethnic and cultural differences, which, contrary to what they have been conditioned to believe, are far less important than their identical class status. Their needs and wants are not diametrically opposed, but they are the same: a desire for a fulfilling job that compliments their talents, an environment conducive to the development of their abilities, the chance to make a contribution to society, to receive the full fruit of their labor, to have sufficent leisure time in which to enjoy it and for a safe atmosphere in which to raise their children. The sooner the different races unite on a class conscious basis, the sooner socialism will be established and all of their collective dreams can be fulfilled, and true economic equality for everyone, regardless of race or ethnic background, will be achieved. First, however, the divisive tactics of the enemy class must be recognized and resisted.

As for sexism, it also has a historic context. During the days of primitive communism, that most ancient of economic systems, before males realized their role in reproduction, the female gender was revered, religion of the time centered around a female Deity and families and culture were primarily female dominated. However, with the advent of class-divided societies, when power began being concentrated in the hands of the few instead of all society, beginning with the system of chattel slavery (and after the revelation of the male role in the reproductive process), the males, who were most numerous in controlling the hunt and thereby in a position to horde material goods, somehow began asserting its dominance. When Christianity became a powerful political force during the Dark Ages with the formation of the Roman Catholic Church, an all male Deity was revered, and men controlled the limited opportunites of this new class divided society, which was known as feudalism, laws were enacted and ideologies bred into the collective psyche via Church propaganda to make men believe that women were inferior (and many of these beliefs are still held to this day, though to a much lesser extent thanks to the women's rights movements that began in the late 19th century and gained much momentum in the 20th century, and continues into the 21st). Social controls which demonized sex and the image of the woman as a tempter against the ways of the new all male Deity further decimated the female image in the mind of the patriarchial society. When feudalism was finally replaced by capitalism late in the 18th century, women remained an oppressed group, unable to take advantage of the new opportunites inherent in capitalism during that time period. As the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century progressed, thanks to capitalism, women began fighting politically for more rights at earning money and possessing their own private property. The gains came slowly, since so many women simply accepted their lot in life, just as the working class in general did once capitalism became obselete towards the end of the 19th century (and as most members of the working class, sadly, still do). It wasn't until 1920 that women could take advantage of our nominal political democracy and vote. Finally, during the aforementioned civil rights movements of the '60's, in which the feminist and sexual revolution in American culture took place, women began getting more rights and better jobs with more earning potential. However, under capitalism, women couldn't begin to gain anything near equality under a system that engenders competition and only has limited opportunites available, and in which men have monopolized the best available positions and jobs since the system's very inception.

Like most blacks failing to identify their problems on the basis of class, female members of the working class still do not see their interests as being the same as that of their male counterparts in the same class. They continue to believe the capitalist liberal propaganda that tells them that the solution to their problems is not the abolition of the capitalist social order that breeds social inequality as a matter of course, but the election of more female politicians to adjudicate on behalf of the capitalist class, or with the passing of reverse sexist laws which only serve to increase the competitive rift between females and males, as well as the liberal social ideal of "political correctness." Some even advocate the return to a matriarchy, not realizing that it is capitalism, a competitive system of class inequality, and not some "evil" inherent in males, that is the cause of their inequality, and a matriarchy would be no more benevolent or socially responsible then a patriarchy is .

Any class-divided society, whether it be dominated primarily by males or females, blacks or whites, would still be a system of economic and social inequality for the majority of its citizens. Some women in the feminist camp do not see the connection between capitalism and inequality, prefering to let bitterness point to men alone, including those of the working class, as the enemy. However, there are many female socialists who realize that the only way to achieve rewarding and equal work for women is to eliminate all systems of class division, and to form an industrial democracy.

It becomes obvious, under a dialectical analysis, that capitalism, with its class inequality and limited opportunites, its reliance on money and the resulting social status that is a requisite of the capitalist class, which concentrates so much power in the hands of the few, that is the underlying cause of racism and sexism. In a socialist economic democracy, no money would exist, and therefore no concentration of economic power in the hands of a certain group would be possible. In fact, the very motivation itself to dominate others would be eliminated, and no single race or gender would have the power to exploit or oppress another. Equality and opportunity would be the norm, and not the opposite. Children in the society would not have negative propaganda embedded into their minds by a media and school system controlled by a small but powerful class which has a strategic interest in preserving its despotic privileges and to maintain power. No political state or police would exist to force the will of a powerful minority upon the majority. Peace and collective prosperity would thrive, everyone would be working a job in which they would be happy in and suited for, and everyone would be generously rewarded, and would be free to take according to their individual needs. Nobody would gain something at the expense of another, but instead we would all be working to maintain our collective welfare. This society, across the entire world, is possible as soon as the three races and two genders of the human race who are part of the working class stop fighting and competing with each other and begin organizing to abolish the evil of capitalism and class divisions from the face of the Earth forever.

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