I would have gotten this post up earlier, but Max Fraad Wolff still fired up from his panel discussion, bent my ear for an entire lunch’s worth of food-for-thought. Posting disrupted by getting a Master’s education in housing economics and by an afternoon panel.
By my count, in the second round, there were 33 panels. Impossible to cover that many, so I chose two. Here’s a quickie on a fascinating discussion in the panel, Capitalism, Economy, and Religion: A Christian-Marxist Dialogue. Discussants included Charlene Sinclair (chair), Brigitte Kahl, Jan Rehmann, and Richard D. Wolff.
Sinclair: Where does Marxism and Capitalism meet?
Kahl: She took the unfortunate tact of reading directly from her paper, which makes for a less-than dynamic presentation. Nevertheless, her comparisons of the idolatry found in Exodus in the Christian Bible and the idolatry manufactured in capitalist markets was pretty interesting. I hope I do her justice in paraphrasing, but there is a “golden calf” or bull that is established and idolized in Exodus (haven’t read it). It is a religious figurine set upon high, made sacrifices to, and worshipped.
Come to 2010 and the world is experiencing an exodus from almighty capitalism. Capitalists too have their bull idol. As well, capitalists make sacrifices—sacrificing each other and fellow human beings [and might I add, the environment]—in order to appease the market gods. Indeed, a faith in markets necessarily establishes the Market as God.
Rehmann: Takes a Marxist dialectic approach to understanding religion, which is the also known as the “sigh” of the people. It is a sigh because people are poor, miserable, dejected. Organized religion, then, can be viewed as a protest against this misery and exploitation. A place to vent frustrations and resentment. Which is where Marxism and Christianity can meet, at least, In theory, when it comes to protesting capitalism.
At the whiteboard, with a pretty interesting diagram, Rehmann illustrates his line of thinking as to how religion can be seen as a protest venue. I’ll do my best to explain clearly: God is connected to the subaltern classes, and it is through God people can vent their frustrations. Religion and worship absorb protest by, for example, ministering against greed [and absolving sins?].
Religion as a form of protest fails when it no longer becomes a medium of protest. When religion fails as such, it can take a couple of forms. The first was manifest in the French Revolution when people abandoned religious thought and leaders in favor of philosophers and the Englightenment.
The second form can be seen in Liberation Theology, where the masses reclaim God to act on their behalf. This is the god of Exodus that Kahl spoke of.
Wolff: Building on Jesse Jackson’s statements from last night’s address at Left Forum… We are not a marginalized Left, but rather, the moral center. Which means not letting those who hate the Left hijack and frame the discussions on ethics and morality.
Leftists must pay attention to language of the people. They need not agree with the thoughts, but instead, they must contest and engage the debate using the people’s language. The language of the people cannot be outright dismissed.
Because he was trained at Harvard, Stanford and Yale, Wolff likens himself to a high priest of a religion commonly called capitalism (though his professors/trainers would be chagrined to know that their pupil found joy at speaking at venues like Left Forum. As such, Wolff takes on the market as another religion, focusing on some common language used in market-speak and religious discussions. Free markets are “spectacular” institutions led by “invisible hands.” There is an “optimum” model where there is “perfect” competition, and nirvana can be achieved through a lifetime of haggling. The market, then, is a godlike institution created by “man,” which is the nexus of god and humanity.
On cost-benefit analysis: The costs and benefits of an action are infinite, thus unknowable and immeasurable. Measuring them is a fruitless and absurd exercise, for only some measures can be taken. Wolff takes the example of building a hospital—yes, it will provide X jobs and X beds and so on, but in the measurements behind the decision to build it do not take into traffic re-routing nearby, or the mining of the ore to go into the structure’s steel, and of course, the effects so many years into the future. People must be more honest when they say they have done a cost-benefit analysis.
Wolff wants to create bridge between Marxism and religion, which may start here: The condition of capitalism is that you will never be paid what you are worth, because you always produce surplus/profit for the boss. This is exploitation. American religious values would disagree with proposition if they seriously considered it. The result is that a morally corrupt system would be subverted and turned over.
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No doubt the discussion continued on with more rich nuggets tossed to the standing-room only crowd, but I split halfway through to catch the tail end of a panel on black radicalism and Obama. Off!
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