Capitalism or Socialism: The false dichotomy

There is hardly a more misleading dichotomy than capitalism vs. socialism. People think that we live in a global capitalist system, but in reality, and for practical purposes, we live in a socialism as well. And let me explain. The only difference between capitalism and socialism is that in capitalism control of the means of production rests in the hands of big capital, while in socialism it is in the hands of the State, but what really happens in today's society is that the means of production are in the hands of both the capitalists and the State, because the big capitals control the State, they are the government, doing both things one. We live in a plutocracy, forget about freedom and democracy.

And let me tell you one thing, capitalism is not a free market, those are two different things, capitalism is mercantilism, capitalism is always the product of state intervention. Monopolies, oligopolies, the excessive accumulation of capital in very few hands, all this cannot exist without the State. I would say that capitalism is simply the first stage of socialism. And it is inevitable, because what happens in systems like this one we live in is that, for billionaires, for big capital, the main incentives are to control the State. That brings them more profit. It is more profitable for large corporations to get their hands in the State than to just keep doing their own business. State interventionism guarantees them concessions, permits, licenses of all kinds, juicy contracts and a lot of money in all its forms. It is a purely economic decision. The simple presence of the State generates this, because it has become an economic agent, and has distorted the market. In a free market this would not happen.

In the capitalism in which we live, politics is an economic question, and economics is a political question. Politicians intervene in the economy, and economic agents intervene in politics, it is reciprocal. Politicians are financed by capitalists, who end up controlling the government, thus converting large corporations to de facto extensions of the State. If you want to know who governs the world you just have to follow money, because if the State is controlled by capital, you should know that those who control capital control the State.

We live in a corporatocracy. Socialism or capitalism are just names that seek to confuse you but that really represent the same thing. It does not matter if it is the State that controls the corporations, or the corporations that control the State, in practice, it is always the same, oppression from above to below. Do you think there is a difference between having a socialist ruler or a capitalist one? Wake up, neither of them care about you, they both want the same thing, personal gain at the expense of everything else.

Sooner or later people will end up realizing that these are not the only options, that, in fact, there are alternatives, and that falling into this false dichotomy will only keep society in the same direction it has headed in the last hundred years, heading for failure.

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