Capitalism Is Not To Blame For Wokeness – OpEd |
In an article published by Chronicles, titled “Wokeness and Capitalism,” Neema Parvini argues that “the woke prerequisites – mass immigration, feminism, equality laws, etc. – are the inevitable fruits of capitalism.” He argues that capitalism “pretends to make individuals ‘sovereign’ after drawing them into the labor pool, while neutralizing their attempts at political organization.”
He highlights the correlation between free market liberal democracies and the dominance of wokeness, pointing out that “the least woke places in Europe are represented by the former Soviet bloc; the most woke places are those most closely tied to the U.S., such as the UK and Germany…” To understand the context of Parvini’s argument, it is worth consulting David Gordon’s review in which he observed that Parvini criticizes free markets from a conservative perspective.
Many of them, not all, criticize the free market from a right-wing point of view: it subjects all social bonds to the “cash nexus,” a phrase coined by Thomas Carlyle, one of Parvini’s subjects. In doing so, the market displaces the virtues of courage and honor.
Many of them, not all, criticize the free market from a right-wing point of view: it subjects all social bonds to the “cash nexus,” a phrase coined by Thomas Carlyle, one of Parvini’s subjects. In doing so, the market displaces the virtues of courage and honor.
In response, a general observation must first be made about the distinction between correlation and causation. If capitalism is defined as voluntary exchange based on private property rights and free markets, then it cannot be said to have caused the rise of “mass immigration, feminism, equality laws, etc.”, much less to have done so “inevitably.” For example, Parvini blames capitalism for the enforcement of woke edicts, giving the example of the Colorado baker who was forced to bake cakes for gay and transgender weddings, which he believed violated his Christian beliefs.
But a forced exchange—the baker being forced to bake cakes against his will—surely cannot be blamed on capitalism, which is based on voluntary exchange. The same applies to the meaning of “individualism,” on which much ink has been spilled by defenders of individual liberty. Classical liberals do not view individualism as atomistic. On the contrary, voluntary exchangepresupposes human interaction, as logically an atomistic individual hiding away from the world cannot trade with himself. Ludwig von Mises emphasized the importance of mutual exchange, arguing that “The concept of freedom always refers to social relations between men. . . . Society is essentially the mutual exchange of services.”
But such responses, which rely on correctly........