The Great Enemy of Capitalism: Contentment
Do you feel exhausted right now?
It seems like a lot of people do. Sure, the toll of a still-present pandemic, months of inflation and financial strain, and worker burnout would wear anybody down. And yet, in the midst of this near-universal exhaustion, nothing is slowing down. The latest and greatest technology is forever on the cusp of being released. The stock market earns daily, even hourly, reporting and news coverage. Real wages are decreasing nearly every day due mostly to inflation. The next great remedy to burnout and exhaustion is only a single advertisement away.
Growth, growth, growth…constant growth and productivity are the greatest values in a capitalist economy. Therefore, a simple fact controls the entire American economy and even most of American culture.
There is but one great enemy: contentment.
Allow me to explain.
It’s often said that under capitalism, growth must continue. It’s likened to that of a great white shark. The great white shark must moved in order to survive. If it fails to move, it will suffocate and die. So goes the nature of growth under capitalism. Without growth, a company (or entire economy) will dissolve.
Of course, whether or not this is even possible is a topic of debate. The lack of consensus is evident in the way America’s capitalist economy booms and busts. The growth can be so strong and so overwhelming that the system itself must implode some, to let off some steam. While the bust may not be so consequential as to leave the economy in ruin permanently, there are still many people who suffer in the process. Don’t be alarmed, though. It will rise again. It always does.
Prosperous times leave many people suffering, too. For example, 690 million people around the word went hungry in 2019. There is no food shortage, though. The food is disposed of, trashed, and often sprayed with repellents as to not be eaten by anyone who did not pay. Farmers may be paid to destroy food as to control the price. This is referred to as artificial scarcity, and it’s nothing new.
Consider, also, the nature of work and productivity in the modern office space. Despite new technologies that were introduced to ease the workload, the average full-time worker in the United States still labors for over eight hours a day. This is significantly above European counterparts. Many Americans work over 60 hours per week. Americans also vacation significantly less than Europeans. American healthcare is uniquely linked to employment, as opposed to many European countries.
Business owners and politicians tell workers that they have no worth if they are not working. The worth of a workers in determined by their wages, not by their economic output. Despite record debt and inflation rates, bankers and the Federal Reserve are more focused on lowering wages.
The machinery and technology that was promised to ease the workload has instead been used to replace workers altogether. The money that is saved by corporations by cutting this labor is not passed on to consumers, however; it’s passed on exclusively to shareholders and executives.
We’re told that the fix to being displaced from the workplace is to develop new skills, to improve work ethic, to work harder, work more. Not happy with yourself? Try harder. Keep working on it.
Want to work from home? Too bad, says Jamie Dimon. Want to establish better boundaries with your workplace? Well, that’s a step toward quitting on life, says Arianna Huffington. Want to work for less than 40 hours a week? No can do, says Elon Musk.
The fact is, we are inundated with messages that a fulfilling life starts with working 40 hours per week. We are surrounded by influencers and media that purports that a happy life begins with attaining wealth. We can’t seem to escape the hustle bros and boss babes touting messages of financial growth and hard work.
It is, to say the least, exhausting.
But, that’s the point. If you keep pushing, if you keep working, maybe you’ll be the next Jamie Dimon or Elon Musk. I mean, you won’t be. Ever. But if they keep convincing you, keep enticing you, they win. Because as long as you’re working hard, they keep getting richer.
The problem is that you will never find a fulfilling life at the office. Your needs will never be met exclusively in the workplace. But if you find what makes you truly happy, you’ll start to work less. You’ll start to work less because you’ll finally be content. And that, right there, is why contentment is the great enemy to capitalism.
So long as you hate yourself and hate your life, you’ll keep working.
Among the many political and social divides in this country is that regarding work and economic freedom. True freedom equals freedom of choice. You’re free to choose your employer. You’re free to negotiate for your salary and benefits. You’re free to enjoy your job, or find a job elsewhere. You’re free to spend what little free time you have any way you want to.
Don’t you feel it? Don’t you feel free?
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What separates Rand from Marx is that the latter saw the true flourishing of individual creativity as best accomplished through collaboration and association with others in a collective drive to abolish the barriers of scarcity and material necessity beyond which, Marx held, the true realm of individual freedom could begin.
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