By Situation Theatre 9/8/2018
Wherever you go, whatever you do, there’s always status quo sycophants ready to utter the world's most annoying catchphrase.
When debating socialism or communism, it’s always a race against time to see which lemming will say, for the first time, that communism works in theory but not in practice. Usually this bombshell is followed by the interlocutor screaming “VENEZUELA, VENEZUELA, VENEZUELA” while caressing a copy of The Fountainhead.
What passes for debate about capitalism vs socialism or communism would better be described as myopic atrocity bingo, in which the crimes of the USSR, China and Cambodia are devotionally recited while the crimes of imperialist capitalism are trivialised or ignored. History is denuded of meaning and context and buzzwords and clichés rule. Forget the blood-soaked genocidal colonial history of European powers. Bleach your mind of the ongoing oppression, domination and exploitation fundamental to capitalism. Deny the exponential increase in capitalism’s climate crimes. Instead let’s focus on the most relevant issue of 2018, how bad was that Stalin guy?
Not strictly relevant nor that timely anymore but still immensely satisfying.
As much as we’d all love to hear pro-capitalist heroes rehearse their favourite proverbs from Capitalism and Freedom, how about you all actually read Marx and then we’ll talk?
Go on, we’ll be right here waiting for you.