#ProbablePostCapitalism
PracticeMonth
Put on your training wheels - let's vision and practice something better
How does it work?
Imagine capitalism is gone, and something much better has replaced it. People are no longer forced to work long hours in jobs they don't enjoy and are potentially ethically opposed to. The pursuit of profit is no longer a reason to destroy land, water and communities. We don't need to spend our time working to pay rent to a landlord/mortgage to a bank and to put food on the table. Instead people choose how they contribute to communities, and work together to meet their needs in a way that promotes joy, consent and biodiversity.
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Now look around you at all of the things in your life. Where did each of them come from? Do you think the processes needed for their creation would exist in this post capitalist world? Would the forests be cut down to grow that mono-cropped sugarcane? Would the factories exist that make a lot of the things around you? Would you be able to have these things, or at least as much of these things?
Now pick one of those things that you don't think would exist, and go without it for a month!
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For example: "Hmmm I doubt refined sugar will be very available around the Kulin Nations/Melbourne where I live, and the mono-cropping way it is grown to allow it to be so cheap and plentiful definitely won't exist. So I'll go without it for a month to remind myself I don't need it and have a go at practicing post capitalism."
But why?
Capitalism is the economic system where the pursuit of private profit for private wealth drives many decisions about the distribution and production of the things we need to survive, as well as the production and distribution of a whole lot of less necessary stuff. This drive for what is sometimes called 'capital accumulation' is hugely productive, and without it a lot of the stuff we have in our life probably wouldn't exist. This huge unconstrained productivity of stuff for profit is what is killing the earth, among a lot of other problems. If we create societies that have enough for everyone's need but not everyone's greed, and that exist well within planetary limits, then many of us in the so-called "developed" countries will have to go without some of our 'less necessary stuff'. Probable Post Capitalist Practice Month is a way of practicing going without things we think won't be available/justifiable in post capitalism.
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It's pretty hard to know what will exist in post capitalism, so this is an experiment in imagination. The reason I'm doing it is to feel more empowered over my consumption, to practice causing less damage in the world, and hopefully to initiate some interesting conversations where those around me can help me imagine and critique visions for post capitalism.
Why only a month?
Living under capitalism is hard, and actively fighting against it and all the other oppressions that exist in this world is harder. The idea of this project is not to become a perfect human free from capitalist sin (that's not even really possible unless you extract yourself completely from mainstream society, and even if you did that, how much help would it be to taking down capitalism?). As the meme world expertly shows - there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. But that doesn't mean we give up and gorge ourselves in hedonistic overdrive. Instead we can try and find ways to meet our needs outside of capitalism. So let's try and find a balance, in a fun way that doesn't take ourselves too seriously, but that imagines a better world and helps us prepare for it.
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Going for only a month is also trying to acknowledge that living more ethically under capitalism it is harder/easier depending on your resources, community and life experiences. Sometimes local, organic, waste-free etc products are more expensive and easier to get in certain areas. Going for a month at a time is trying to avoid feeding the "more ethical than you" competition that can lead to shame, guilt and disengagement, and that often avoids unpacking the impacts of class, ethnic background, ability etc. It is trying to avoid saying that individual consumption is the most important way to make system change, because I certainly don't think that is true. This project is attempting to understand how our consumption/survival fits with capitalism and post capitalism, and find ways to feel empowered to know we can practice living in the world we are trying to create. (The key word is "trying". Please leave a comment with your better ideas!)
Another aspect that going for only a month tries to deal with is trying to create a fun and interesting space to sit with the hypocrisy of holding anti-capitalist and anti-oppression/hierarchy/coercion morals in a capitalist world. How many of you have heard someone yelling "your glasses are made out of plastic you idiot" or "where do you think your phone comes from dumbass" at a protest against fossil fuels? Those hecklers do have a point. We do enjoy the products of industries and companies we morally disagree with. It's often not our fault. A lot of the time there aren't many other options, or the other options are expensive or time consuming, or we have a lot of hurt tied up with not having certain objects due to the way we have been judged by society. But we can take little steps to practice our ethics without giving in to the impossible demand of being perfect. Probably Post Capitalism Practice Month is one way to sit in this discomfort of making decisions and buying things that don't align with our politics.
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For those of us who also do political activism to create a better world (I highly recommend if you don't already - join a group!), this could be a way to sit in the hypocrisy someone has probably already judged you with, and have constructive conversations.
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Basically, trying to only use/buy/engage with things that we ethically agree with and would want to exist in a less oppressive world is better than not trying! So let's practice sitting in the uncomfortable space of consumption under capitalism and practice small bite sized chunks of what it could be like.
What are some ideas of things I can practice living without?
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Food in non reusable/compostable packaging
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Food that has been made more than ____km away
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New clothes
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New anything
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Using a personal vehicle
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Using a personal computer (could include phones)
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Whatever feels right for you!
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You can practice scavenging, swapping, sharing, growing, foraging, mending, building, creating, communicating, whatever you think will exist as our primary ways to meet our needs when profit and impersonal money exchanges aren't around much.
What do I get if I participate?
A warm fuzzy glow in your belly that dreams of a world much better than this one, some interesting conversations and hopefully some awesome skills that will be useful in post-capitalism (and while we take it apart, so now!)
You might even save some money and become less dependent on wage labour, which could lead to more freedom to live the life you want to!
Lastly, you will hopefully feel more understanding and gratitude for the things (plants, people, machines) that give us the things we need to survive and thrive, appreciating the simple things can make life more enjoyable.