FROM SLAVERY TO CONSUMPTION:THE LEGACY OF CAPITALISM IN AMERICA”

“Society suddenly finds itself put back into a state of momentary barbarism; it appears as if a famine, a universal war of devastation, had cut off the supply of every means of subsistence… there is too much civilization, too much means of subsistence, too much industry, too much commerce.”

The capitalism of America is unsustainable, and we, the consumers, are to blame. 19th-century German philosopher Karl Marx theorized what is taking place in this country, and it is as if Americans have not noticed or are too afraid to say what needs to be said out of fear of retribution. In his Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx alludes to the machine—the very machine that dockworkers on the East Coast went on strike against. Capitalism and overconsumption are to blame for the numerous recalls be- ing issued within the food industry; we cannot keep up.

The need to accumulate capital at such a rapid pace is the foundation of this nation. Capitalism is the reason that slavery and critical race theory are being erased from textbooks and curricula around the country, not because it causes white students to feel ashamed about their race, but because it provokes thought. Slavery was not about race; it was a byproduct of capitalism, the need for a workforce to keep up with the marketability and demand of King Cotton. The emancipation of slaves was not a humanitarian effort; emancipation’s purpose was to hurt the pocketbook of the South.

When one begins to study the concept of slavery and what the purpose of the institution was, one realizes that the slaves of old are, in essence, the slaves of new—the working class. Politicians do not attempt to gain the vote or trust of the working class, but of the middle class, the “bourgeoisie” of Marx, the consumers that drive industry.