TEHRAN (FNA)- Caleb Maupin, American activist and political analyst, says people around the world are caught in poverty trap caused by capitalism which is even impoverishing the middle class people.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with FNA, Maupin said, “Capitalism means millions of people fearing unemployment, as they can only be hired if their labor power is deemed profitable by a capitalist […] Capitalism is military industrial complex, where war and death means profits.”
Caleb Maupin is an American writer, journalist, and political analyst. He has traveled extensively in the Middle East and in Latin America. He was involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement from its early planning stages in August 2011.
Below is the full text of the interview:
Q: How do you view capitalism as a social, political, and economic system?
A: Capitalism, the system in which the major centers of economic power function in order to make profits for owners, is very well alive. Capitalism today is expressed in huge international monopolies that dominate global trade, reaping super profits from across the planet. Capitalism means millions of people fearing unemployment, as they can only be hired if their labor power is deemed profitable by a capitalist. Capitalism means a dropping living standard across the planet, as workers everywhere compete with each other in accepting the lowest wages and worst conditions of the huge multinationals.
Capitalism is the sweatshops of Bangladesh. Capitalism is the guest workers of Saudi Arabia who exist as modern day slaves. Capitalism is millions of people in Latin America, who have seen their homelands ground into deep poverty, fleeing to the United States with dead bodies found along the US-Mexico border every single day.
Capitalism is wars to destroy independent countries that dare compete with the billionaire class of international bankers. Capitalism is military industrial complex, where war and death means profits. Capitalism very well alive.
Q: How does capitalism impact Americans?
A: Since the mid-1970s, a particular model of capitalist economics called "Neoliberalism" has been implemented in the United States. This has meant cutting back the public sector, and allowing the market to take dominance in every field. In the USA, we have prisons for profit. Private companies are contracted by the government, and get paid for each person who is locked in prison. As a result, we have a massive prison population, the largest in the entire world, not just in numbers but also per capita and percentage.
Capitalism in the United States has meant the manufacturers of painkilling opioid medicines going out and promoting disinformation, saying that their drugs are not addictive. As a result of a huge campaign of deception, in which doctors were given inaccurate info and pushed to overprescribe painkilling medicines, we now have a massive episode of drug addiction in the USA, with deaths from Opioids far higher than ever before in US history.
Capitalism in the United States has resulted in municipalities across the country no longer have the funds to maintain paved roads. In many different US states, cities are actively unpaving the roads, replacing asphalt roads with dirt and gravel roads. Cities do not have the money to maintain paved roads any longer. Capitalism has meant power plants and water treatment facilities crumbling. Capitalism has meant the elimination of good paying industrial jobs.
The USA is one of the wealthiest countries on earth, but in many parts of the country, the living conditions and the life expectancy is dropping to third world conditions. Low wage jobs are replacing the industrial middle class that once prospered during the Cold War. Young people are committing suicide at the highest rate in generations. The American Dream has been stolen by Wall Street bankers and their drive to establish a global, international financial system, at the expense of the domestic US economy.
Q: Why are people in the capitalist United States increasingly turning to socialism that is the exact opposite?
A: For years, Americans have been told that if the government provides healthcare, this is bad because "that is socialism". We have been told that the government providing free education cannot be tolerated, because "That is socialism". We have been told that the richest people should not be forced to pay their fair share in taxes, because "That is socialism".
The result of decades of economic mismanagement, done in the name of opposing socialism, has been making socialism popular. Millions of young Americans now say "Fine! We don't care if it is socialism! We want healthcare, education, and jobs. We want to tax the rich".
The Cold War stigma associated with Socialism and Communism has worn off. Many young Americans do not feel that the identify of Americans is intrinsically tied up with the unregulated market and the pioneer mentality of "every man for himself."
Many Americans who voted for Donald Trump, were Democrats who had preferred Sanders and were disgusted by Hillary Clinton. Americans are upset about the future of the country, and want things to change. "Socialism" has become a popular word among those who want economic reforms.
No comments:
Post a Comment