What is Capitalism? Socialist Night School

As socialists, we want to transform the world into one that is just, with freedom and equality for all. We must start with the world as it is, because the state of the world constrains our options and defines the means available to us to create a better world.

Capitalists rely upon dividing the working class to maintain their control. This module introduces the relationship between capitalism and one such division, racism, which is etched particularly deeply into American life.

Digging into the mechanics of capitalism provides us the tools to dismantle and replace it. Winning socialism is the most ambitious project in history, and we cannot succeed without paying close attention to our opponents and the political, economic, and social terrain. The nature of class society and of specific classes; the way they act and interact; and the material conditions and social relations that structure our lives–all of this is essential knowledge for effective and concrete strategies to build a just society, where everyone is cared for, and all people enjoy freedom and equality.

• Readings:
  1. “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, an excerpt
  2. “Understanding Capitalism” by Vivek Chibber, an excerpt
  3. “From #BLM to Black Liberation” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an excerpt
  4. “But At Least Capitalism is Free and Democratic, Right?” by Erik Olin Wright

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