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Anticapitalism




in 1911 .]]

Anti-capitalism is any and all opposition to Capitalism . As such, it is a very broad term and it covers a wide collection of views and ideologies, some of which oppose each other more than they oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another Economic System ; however, there are also ideologies which can be characterized as ''partially'' anti-capitalist, in the sense that they only wish to replace or abolish certain aspects of capitalism rather than the entire system.

What follows is a brief description of the most notable anti-capitalist ideologies, viewpoints and trends.

  • Anarchist philosophies argue for a total abolition of the state, with those schools of anarchism that oppose capitalism doing so because they believe it entails involuntary relations and coercive hierarchy. Some forms of anarchism oppose capitalism as a whole while supporting some particular aspects of capitalism. For example, Mutualists (traditional Individualist Anarchists ) support private property (including private ownership of capital), a market economy, and wages, but oppose profit and ownership of untransformed land.

  • Fascism calls for the nationalization (or extensive regulation) of corporations and industry in order to serve the nation. Many object to the Egoism that capitalism implies.

  • Marxism argues for collective ownership of the Means Of Production and the eventual abolition of the State , with an intermediate stage in which the state will be used to eliminate the vestiges of capitalism. Marxism is the foundation of several different ideologies, including Communism and certain types of socialism.

  • Socialism argues for extensive public control over the economy, which may or may not be associated with democratic control by the people over the state (there are both democratic and undemocratic philosophies calling themselves socialist). In addition, socialism advocates a high degree of Economic Equality and the eradication of poverty and unemployment.

  • --- Social Democracy is a partially anti-capitalist ideology that has grown out of the Reformist wing of the socialist movement. Social democrats do not oppose the actual foundations of capitalism, but they wish to mitigate what they see as capitalism's most negative effects through the creation of a Mixed Economy and a Welfare State .

  • There are also strands of Conservatism that are uncomfortable with liberal capitalism. Particularly in continental Europe, many conservatives have been uncomfortable with the negative impacts of unfettered capitalism (and the egoistic, hedonistic individualism it nurtures) on culture and traditions. The conservative opposition to the French revolution, the Enlightenment, and the development of individualistic liberalism as a political theory and as institutionalised social practices sought to retain traditional social hierarchies, practices and institutions. There is also a conservative Protectionist opposition to certain types of international capitalism.

  • Some Religion s criticize or outright reject capitalism:

  • --- Christianity is the source of many criticisms of capitalism, particularly its Materialist aspects. The first socialists drew many of their principles from Christian values (see Christian Socialism ), against the " Bourgeois values" of profiteering, greed, selfishness and hoarding. Many Christians do not oppose capitalism entirely but support a Mixed Economy in order to ensure decent labour standards and relations, as well as economic justice. Nevertheless, there are also many Protestant denominations who are reconciled or ardently in favour of capitalism, particularly in opposition to secular socialism.

  • --- Judaism has always had a tense relation to capitalism, notable in the number of secular Jews attracted to the socialist and communist movements.

  • --- Islam forbids Usury (lending money at an interest), an important aspect of capitalism.



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