ogenoct
10thMay2005, 18:05
translation of: http://deutsches-kolleg.org/erklaerungen/demographie.htm
Capitalism, Democracy and Demographics
The demographic catastrophe is here. In Central Europe, the statistical
average number of children desired has now declined to an average of "one
and a half" per household, while the actual birthrate is still lower and
sinking. The calamity facing the German people has long been a topic
monopolized by the extreme Right. Recently, however, under the stress of
collapsing welfare budgets, it has forced its way into the discussions of
the Democrats as well. The cause of this calamity is "democracy" itself,
for the simple reason that the democratic system is the political
manifestation of the capitalistic system.
Democracy is the rule of the entire population through voluntary
participation in contracts and elections. In our everyday affairs democracy
seems to be an arrangement among equals, but in actual fact it is a
relationship of extreme inequality. At its core, as at the core of every
form of class rule, is the relationship of command and obey. He who gives
the orders is the master, he who obeys is the servant. The master is the
"democratizer" while the servant is the "democratized."
The servant is obviously unequal in the relationship, therefore a
non-democrat, while the master strives for the position of greater power.
He is obviously opposed to equality, which makes him the anti-democrat. The
relationship is reflected in the American populist quip that "We are all
free and equal, it's just that some of us are more free and equal than
others." Both master and servant support democracy because this particular
relationship is the source of their social existence. He who is neither
master nor servant, neither democrat nor democratized, represents a real
danger for democracy.
What is dangerous for democracy is also dangerous for capitalism. The
economic analog of democracy is the process by which human capital is
converted into labor and labor is converted into goods and services which
are then converted back into still more money. The increase in value within
the capitalist process corresponds directly to the increase in power of the
democratic process. Dispossession of the masses by the economic means of
production and political means of governance is a foregone conclusion. The
two are parts of a single process that is simply described twice, once in
economic and once in political language.
In its culmination in the capitalistic system, bourgeois society is not
capable of abolishing poverty and misery, despite its immense wealth.
Friedrich Engels modified the Marxist axiom of increasing misery with the
observation that in the long term, although the consumption of goods might
not decline, overall insecurity among the workers must necessarily increase.
This insecurity is not the only thing that has developed, however: not just
Wertverelendung (cultural impoverishment co-inciding with growing material
consumption.) In the overall, long continuing growth phase of capital among
the proletarian masses, something else has now appeared. In the present
mature stagnation of the capitalist means of production, material
impoverishment is spreading again as well. Mature capitalism has entered
the phase of Gьterverelendung, or shrinking consumption of goods per worker.
In other words, capitalism has entered the final phase of absolute
impoverishment. System-induced, universal impoverishment becomes absolute
when there is a decrease not just in consumption of goods per worker, but in
the actual number of workers as well, and their death rate becomes higher
than their birthrate. Our present calamity shows that the maturity of
capitalism is in fact the creeping death of nations, in the form of the
gradual extinction of the labor force.
He who does not want to discuss capitalism and the accompanying spread of
impoverishment should not speak of demography; he should keep his mouth shut
and sit in the corner. Now that the demographic catastrophe is evident to
all, the catastrophe of the democratic system is predictable. The
consummated victory of the democratic- capitalistic system has left these
unmistakable identifying calamities:
- The homogenization of the world into indistinguishable geographic sectors
of production and marketing;
-The deculturization of nations into mere populations, by immigration
from formerly culturally distinct regions;
-The ever more frequent displacement of highly skilled labor, both men and
women, from an elevated proletarian status into the ranks of the
subproletarian unemployed.
-The disappearance of children and child-rich families as the desired
sociological norm and true measure of human worth.
To be sure, the capitalist state does not desire such impoverishment, either
relative or absolute. However, it must of necessity play a proletarian role.
The state is the servant of capital, not a free agent. Capital has greatly
expanded the state's capacity for domestic exploitation. It has
subordinated the state to its own interest, turning it into a tax collecting
nursemaid whose mission is to pay off the national debt while providing
necessities to the masses.
"Democracy" is a foreign word for the German people, implying foreign rule.
He who does not want to use the power inherent in our constitution to sweep
capitalism away has no right to criticize it. He should just keep his mouth
shut about the demographic crisis and preservation of our German nation.
Capitalism, Democracy and Demographics
The demographic catastrophe is here. In Central Europe, the statistical
average number of children desired has now declined to an average of "one
and a half" per household, while the actual birthrate is still lower and
sinking. The calamity facing the German people has long been a topic
monopolized by the extreme Right. Recently, however, under the stress of
collapsing welfare budgets, it has forced its way into the discussions of
the Democrats as well. The cause of this calamity is "democracy" itself,
for the simple reason that the democratic system is the political
manifestation of the capitalistic system.
Democracy is the rule of the entire population through voluntary
participation in contracts and elections. In our everyday affairs democracy
seems to be an arrangement among equals, but in actual fact it is a
relationship of extreme inequality. At its core, as at the core of every
form of class rule, is the relationship of command and obey. He who gives
the orders is the master, he who obeys is the servant. The master is the
"democratizer" while the servant is the "democratized."
The servant is obviously unequal in the relationship, therefore a
non-democrat, while the master strives for the position of greater power.
He is obviously opposed to equality, which makes him the anti-democrat. The
relationship is reflected in the American populist quip that "We are all
free and equal, it's just that some of us are more free and equal than
others." Both master and servant support democracy because this particular
relationship is the source of their social existence. He who is neither
master nor servant, neither democrat nor democratized, represents a real
danger for democracy.
What is dangerous for democracy is also dangerous for capitalism. The
economic analog of democracy is the process by which human capital is
converted into labor and labor is converted into goods and services which
are then converted back into still more money. The increase in value within
the capitalist process corresponds directly to the increase in power of the
democratic process. Dispossession of the masses by the economic means of
production and political means of governance is a foregone conclusion. The
two are parts of a single process that is simply described twice, once in
economic and once in political language.
In its culmination in the capitalistic system, bourgeois society is not
capable of abolishing poverty and misery, despite its immense wealth.
Friedrich Engels modified the Marxist axiom of increasing misery with the
observation that in the long term, although the consumption of goods might
not decline, overall insecurity among the workers must necessarily increase.
This insecurity is not the only thing that has developed, however: not just
Wertverelendung (cultural impoverishment co-inciding with growing material
consumption.) In the overall, long continuing growth phase of capital among
the proletarian masses, something else has now appeared. In the present
mature stagnation of the capitalist means of production, material
impoverishment is spreading again as well. Mature capitalism has entered
the phase of Gьterverelendung, or shrinking consumption of goods per worker.
In other words, capitalism has entered the final phase of absolute
impoverishment. System-induced, universal impoverishment becomes absolute
when there is a decrease not just in consumption of goods per worker, but in
the actual number of workers as well, and their death rate becomes higher
than their birthrate. Our present calamity shows that the maturity of
capitalism is in fact the creeping death of nations, in the form of the
gradual extinction of the labor force.
He who does not want to discuss capitalism and the accompanying spread of
impoverishment should not speak of demography; he should keep his mouth shut
and sit in the corner. Now that the demographic catastrophe is evident to
all, the catastrophe of the democratic system is predictable. The
consummated victory of the democratic- capitalistic system has left these
unmistakable identifying calamities:
- The homogenization of the world into indistinguishable geographic sectors
of production and marketing;
-The deculturization of nations into mere populations, by immigration
from formerly culturally distinct regions;
-The ever more frequent displacement of highly skilled labor, both men and
women, from an elevated proletarian status into the ranks of the
subproletarian unemployed.
-The disappearance of children and child-rich families as the desired
sociological norm and true measure of human worth.
To be sure, the capitalist state does not desire such impoverishment, either
relative or absolute. However, it must of necessity play a proletarian role.
The state is the servant of capital, not a free agent. Capital has greatly
expanded the state's capacity for domestic exploitation. It has
subordinated the state to its own interest, turning it into a tax collecting
nursemaid whose mission is to pay off the national debt while providing
necessities to the masses.
"Democracy" is a foreign word for the German people, implying foreign rule.
He who does not want to use the power inherent in our constitution to sweep
capitalism away has no right to criticize it. He should just keep his mouth
shut about the demographic crisis and preservation of our German nation.