CAPITALIST FRONTS

It seems the middle class is scared of a possible indefinite wave of social and economic disruptions. Their instinctive conservatism is kicking in, creating a possible social stasis with no easy resolution.  El estallido social de 2019 hizo que las posturas de los ciudadanos se radicalizaran sobre temas como la inseguridad, lo que llevó a que posturas como la José Antonio Kast, pese a ser muchas veces políticamente incorrectas, se popularizaran de cara a las elecciones presidenciales. Les contamos desde Santiago.

The social outburst of 2019 made citizens’ positions radicalize on issues such as insecurity, which led to positions such as José Antonio Kast’s, despite often being politically incorrect, to become popular in the run-up to the presidential elections. We tell you about it from Santiago.

LEE CAMP—The government can’t truly represent the people unless the people know what the government is up to. But we’re not told most of what the government does. And when a whistleblower reveals what our government is up to — or a journalist like Julian Assange — they’re horribly persecuted and imprisoned. Furthermore, even if you wanted to claim we have a free democracy in the US, the two corporate parties agree on 90% of the core issues of our country. They agree on capitalism, on militarism, on Wall Street, on environmental destruction, on unlimited surveillance, on a massive prison state, on dystopian policing — they agree on just about everything. So if our choice is between those two parties, then it’s no choice at all. None of our elections are legit in this regard. 

BRUCE LERRO—New Agers are greatly drawn to altered states of consciousness, either through mystical experience of through the use of hallucinogens. How will this go over with socialists? Not well. The leaders might think taking mind-altering drugs is a distraction from doing political work. Socialists will roll their eyes at New Age interest in ESP, clairvoyance, and telepathy and claim that a century’s worth of research has not found anything significant.  They see this as more New Age escapism. Working-class recruits will find this interesting and would probably enjoy TV shows like The X-files. Some New Agers claim to believe in reincarnation. Some say individuals are working out karma based on past lives. What will this do to socialist organizing?

Caleb Maupin and a group of John Brown Brigadistas travel to Nicaragua to observe the elections and provide a counterpush to the usual barrage of lies spread by the US and European media.

BRUCE LERRO—The New Agers are not bashful about thinking there is nothing wrong with material success. (Heelas, New Age Movement 58-67). Neither do they seem to worry that the cost of their workshops and lectures might be beyond the financial reach of working-class or poor people. In the index of The Aquarian Conspiracy there is no entry about either capitalism or socialism. What this means to me is that economics is not thought of in a systematic way, as in calling it “capitalism”. Rather, it is seen as “the economy”. It seems to have never crossed their minds that they might be promoting a spiritual capitalism. Neopagans are very critical of the New Age leaders charging large sums of money for what spiritual knowledge they have to offer.