Flower ink communication） Vol. 1４, No. ９
published on September ５, 202４
by Hanjyun Hanazumi
" The Mercy of the Modern Things 
: The Psalm Etude " (５― １)
Q18 I see, you're right. Recently, a veteran party member in Kyoto issued a letter criticizing the fact that the chairman of the party should also be elected by the public, despite the fact that he has been struggling for many years! I was expelled. Elections create factions and destroy democratic centralism, so why do we think so "at right angles"? Is Marx the founder of right-angle thinking?
A19 No, Marx in his later years just "thinks at right angles"He seems to have realized that the distortion of capitalism cannot be overcome, and that even if the workers take over the government, the demon of power monopolized by the wealthy cannot be overcome without the cooperation of the majority of citizens. At first, he explained in the first volume of "Capital" a view that was perpendicular to the mechanism of production, but unfortunately he died of illness before he could fully elucidate it. The manuscripts of the second and third volumes remained unfinished, so his close friend Engels edited and published them posthumously.
In recent years, Kohei Saito, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo, has attracted attention for his work "The Theory of Capital in Anthropogenesis" because he introduced a non-right-angle view in his later years. You are pointing out the single-tone tone of modern capitalism, which adheres to the myth of growth = in other words, the danger of right-angle orientation in line with the current situation.
Q19 Hey, could you explain a little bit more about that? How about?
A20 Understood. This is what you write.
"Capitalism has created inequality and division, robbing the weak even more, and the market excludes the moneyless. Therefore, Marx says that we should weaken the power of commodification and expand the realm of democracy in which people can participate to the economic realm. That is the struggle of communism for a great shift from the "commodification" of everything to the "commonization" of everything."
"Innovative municipalities are emerging that say NO 'without fear' to the state that imposes neoliberal policies such as privatization and austerity, and to the global corporations that commoditize the wealth of society, and act for the benefit of all residents. That's why the challenges of Amsterdam and Berlin show that they are willing to stand against global capitalism beyond borders and in solidarity with the Global South."
The world we live in today is overwhelmingly capitalist. Sell the product without saying whether it is or not, and use the money for it! It's a society that forces it. They talk about liberalism and democracy, but in reality, they are forced to buy products. Let the publicity, advertising, and trends that are free from the reality of life sprinkle around! It has become a money game and is running in the direction of environmental destruction. This is colorful and trendy, but in fact it is in line with the growth myth of modern capitalism, which is a straight path = right angle. Commonization is such a linear path of growth myth = stopping the right-angle orientation and sharing at the citizen level = the direction to be covered by consumer cooperatives.
Q20 If so, the image of a Japan co-op comes to mind. (Continued 5-2)