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<title>Section D - How does statism and capitalism affect society?
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<H1>Section D - How does statism and capitalism affect society?</H1>
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This section of the FAQ indicates how both statism and capitalism affect
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the society they exist in. It is a continuation of sections B (
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<a href="secBcon.html">Why do
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anarchists oppose the current system?</a>) and C (<a href="secCcon.html">What are the myths of
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capitalist economics?</a>) and it discusses the impact of the underlying
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social and power relationships within the current system on society.
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This section is important because the institutions and social relationships
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capitalism and statism spawn do not exist in a social vacuum, they have deep
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impacts on our everyday lives. These effects go beyond us as individuals
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(for example, the negative effects of hierarchy on our individuality) and have
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an effect on how the political institutions in our
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society work, how technology develops, how the media operates and so on.
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Therefore it is worthwhile to point out how (and why) statism and capitalism
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affect society as a whole outwith the narrow bounds of politics and economics.
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So here we try and sketch some of the impact of concentrations of political
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and economic power has upon society. While many people attack the <b>results</b>
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of these processes (like state intervention, ecological destruction,
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imperialism, etc.) they ignore their <b>causes.</b> This means that the
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struggle against social evils will be never-ending, like a doctor fighting
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the symptoms of a disease without treating the disease itself. We have
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indicated the roots of the problems we face in sections <a href="secBcon.html">
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B</a> and <a href="secCcon.html">C</a>; now we
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discuss some of the other problems they create. This section of the FAQ
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explores the interactions of the causes and results and draws out how the
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authoritarian and exploitative nature of capitalism affects the world we
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It is important to remember that most supporters of capitalism refuse to
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do this. Yes, many of them point out <b>some</b> flaws and problems within
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society but they never relate them to the system as such. As Noam Chomsky
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points out, they will attribute the catastrophes of capitalism <i>"to any
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other cause <b>other</b> than the system that consistently brings them about."</i>
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[<b>Deterring Democracy</b>, p. 232]
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That the system and its effects are interwoven can best be seen from the
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fact that while right-wing parties have been elected to office promising
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to reduce the role of the state in society, the actual size and activity
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of the state has not been reduced, indeed it has usually increased in
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scope (both in size and in terms of power and centralisation). This is
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unsurprising, as "free market" implies strong (and centralised) state --
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the "freedom" of Management to manage means that the freedom of workers
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to resist authoritarian management structures must be weakened by state
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action. Thus, ironically, state intervention within society will continue
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to be needed in order to ensure that society survives the rigours of market
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forces and that elite power and privilege are protected from the masses.
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