Reply #57: you are talking to a brick wall

[William Z. Foster]

People "believe" that the word "means" something else, and any attempts at rational discourse about it will lead them to assume that you are pushing some doctrine or something, and they are thoroughly trained to then attack anyone who questions capitalism.

Decades and decades of relentless propaganda - not so much to promote capitalism, but rather to so confuse people that they don't know up from down anymore, can no longer accurately perceive reality - has rendered almost every person in the country completely unable to think critically about this, and since it is capitalism that is on the verge of destroying the human race, and since it is an omnipresent force in every aspect of our lives, that means that people are to one degree or another unable to think critically about anything.

It is the oddest thing. As we watch this horror show unfold, as it becomes more and more clear that capitalism is and always will "eat its own," right here at the heart of it all - where we could really do some good - you cannot drag people kicking and screaming to have a calm rational discussion about the subject.

Anyone taking a clear view and a firm stand about this is immediately seen as "one of them" - commie-stalin-mao-polpot-chavez-castro-whatever - and since we can't have THAT, then not only must we accept things the way they are and go meekly to the slaughter, all the time debating the "true meanings" of words and comparing beliefs as the world burns all around us, but we are not even able to think or speak intelligently anymore.

There are two prerequisites necessary before any discussion about this can happen. First, we need to know what capitalism is. Not what the word means, or should mean, or might mean, not what people feel about it, not what people believe about it, but what it is. Secondly, we need to be willing to recognize and examine the deep and profound ways that our thinking has been corrupted and perverted on this subject by decades and decades of massive and relentless, sophisticated and pervasive propaganda.

People have been trained- it is as though on pain of death - not to question the sacred beliefs regarding capitalism. This has resulted in a people clinging to a faith-based, irrational doctrine that is far vaster and more pernicious than any fundamentalist religious dogma ever was or ever could be.