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Newsletter Nr. 563
Amsterdam, May 12th, 2015


CONSCIOUS CRAPITALISM - The Bourgeois Unconscious, and the Post-Postmodern Self - 
JOE CORBETT

Conscious Capitalism™ has been all the rage among integral and other new age accolades for some time now. Its promise is that capitalism can be redeemed, and the system of profit and consumption that are its foundation can be saved. Although it might sound reasonable, this proposition is really just a way to get an entire civilization to engage in a kind of spiritual by-passing of the fundamental transformation that is needed to redeem and even save humanity from impending doom. In fact, the very phrase “conscious capitalism” is a sort of double-speak code, which makes about as much sense as “conscious murder”, or “conscious feudalism”, or indeed, as if being a corporate Democrat was any better than being a neoliberal Republican.

Lets be clear, Conscious Capitalism is like voluntary recycling, it is a mere gesture toward a more sustainable economic system, and is no solution to the globally systemic crisis of an insatiable drive toward ever increasing profit and consumption. For those who choose to go "conscious" there will be 4 or 5 who will remain predatory and ultimately crush those who go conscious in competition. In other words, unless the "consciousness" is mandated by law and enforced (i.e. regulated in the public interest) there is no hope for a viable conscious capitalism. Moreover, if and when capital does become regulated toward conscious ethics and responsibility, we really aren't talking about capitalism anymore, but rather a social democratic oriented economic system, i.e. socialism.

Read more:
http://www.integralworld.net/corbett31.html