Capitalism has failed as a social system, but then again, it was never meant to succeed. It did was it was intended to do, separate, by means of money and power.

We live in a world in which ‘forty-two billionaires now enjoy as much wealth as half the world’s population’, the good old 1%.

Even though this crevasse in materiality still exists between the have’s and the have nots, whether by corporate copulation or divine design; these systems are revealing their fragility and I wager an inevitable collapse. For capitalism relies on this divide for its very survival and that gap in consciousness is closing.

Capitalism must be regarded as an economy of unpaid costs (K. William Kapp). The debt of multinationals and governments have accumulated beyond repayment manifested in the multifaceted climate collapse of an environmental, economic, social and deeply psychological nature. Those who we have elected into positions of power, voted in by political fabrications or by consumer choice, were never going to claim responsibility for the destructive effects of a system they are suckling on.

We may compartmentalise these left brained ideological structures as distant relatives we prefer to forget, yet these value systems are deeply woven into everything that comprises our relational existence.

Economic systems are social systems, are political systems, are educational systems. We live within the energetic field of those damaged value systems in every moment. No matter where we sit on the scale of privileges disproportionately distributed by this system, we are all bound by one grand pulsating collective consciousness. While others suffer we will suffer, there will be no freedom until we are all free.

Capitalism is a world system of work, a world system by which we relate. We buy, we trade, we meet and from relationship, it is an integral vein in our lives. Our unique work lives within larger bodies of work, these circles of exchange, trade and conversation so often occur within the very expression of these systems.

Perhaps your lover was a bartender, your best friend an entrepreneur you admired, your elders friendly folk from the local shops. These spaces of connection are capitalist by nature. Our relationships within the landscapes of work reveal just how interwoven our lives are by the values of the unified economic, social systems. Whilst inequality and separation are mirrored between them, these same issues are in the underbelly of our conscious minds.

And though these systems are rotten, we are at once comfortable and uncomfortable within the known and familiar edges of their bubbles. As a loving species with polluted minds, we all want the world to be a better, kinder, more peaceful place, only possible by means of drastic change. But what does that change really look like? How does it affect our work? What comforts must we sacrifice for change?

A pendulum conversation of money and power.

Let it swing. 

Systems were born of a fundamental need to organise, delegate and define the roles within them. The primal origin, the drive behind cultivating systematic intelligence was the longing of human freedom. Freedom that bore fruit of vision, insight, spiritual and social connection; the quality of our relationship to the living world. Ultimately these demands implied equality, community, human development and sustainability. Though we may have gone astray, these are the fundamentals that will guide us home.

Firstly, there are our basic human needs (rights). Health care, housing, education, clean water, clean food and clean air. These are ecosystems, a chain of human generations, little circles of community, local, regional, global networks of co-habitation. All of these are run on communication, transport & energy. Jeremy Rifkin American economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist, has passionately deconstructed these ideas to reveal some basic prophetic happenings. Essentially, with a minimal amount of energy, capital, materials and labour technology is going to liberate the excess fear and scarcity of these aspects of our lives. We’re talking 3D printed cars, renewable energy, even better and cheaper communication systems; accessible for everybody. Thought intellectuals may argue that this will give rise to even greater consumption, this activist genius believes over consumption will actually disappear along with the fear of scarcity mindset plus the void left by the fall of major corporations will be filled by the heart filled philanthropy of the nonprofit sector.  Which is actually growing faster than the GDP, this ‘social capital’ is hardly recognised within the voice of capitalism so we can hardly recognise all of the integrity and whole hearted humans rising to alleviate humanity.

Essentially, it is an epochal shift.

And the fear that may arise in these times of collapse is natural, yet overwritten. For there are much better times on the horizon we just have to keep our chin up, our hearts open and trust that on the other side is fresh air, clean water and more peaceful life.