On Consciousness, The Market and Resistance

Surely one of the most wonderful gifts in this world would be to not know. For to be conscious is to know little more than pain, destruction, hatred and violence. How horrible it is that the vast majority of humans who actually experience life mostly struggle and suffer due to conditions beyond their control. Oh what a gift it would be to be able to shop for groceries without thinking of the exploited laborers, to buy clothes without imagining the child inhaling toxic fumes while giving the denim its proper fade, or to purchase electronics and not foresee the final destination of the obsolete laptop; a toxic e-dump where upon a child dips the computer's peripherals into a vat of acid for "recycling." To live without consciousness is to live in the moment, to indulge in hedonistic self-aggrandizement, and to be blind to the misery that suffocates billions of people around the globe.

Those who worship the "free market" are those who live without consciousness. They are oblivious to the exploitation and brutality that "market forces" conjure in the name of profit. The motif of oppression within which capitalism ensnares innocent human beings is perhaps the most powerful force in the modern world. Many cast libertarians (more so consumption advocates given that the civil liberties component of that particular philosophy has all but disappeared) and market fundamentalists as amoral or evil. And while this may be the case for many, the likelier symptom is that such individuals are unable to look at the world objectively. To be conscious of one's actions, and societal power structures, requires one to look at oneself, and the facets of institutional power, critically. And if you look at yourself critically, you may just realize that, in the process of bringing more "choice" to consumers, income into your household, less "waste" in the government, or managed democracy to unfamiliar countries, you have caused more anguish than prosperity for your fellow humans. 

But those who are conscious of these problems have a duty to not simply critique, but to act and counter such oppression. We must stand with the exploited. We must march with the labor unions at the statehouse, hold hands with members of churches going on hunger strikes to protest budget cuts that disproportionately affect the poor. We can volunteer on weekends and help community centers distribute free meals and groceries to our neighbors. There are numerous individual acts of human decency that prevent the gears of power and greed from churning unfettered. These acts of humanity during a period of untold suffering are the remaining glimpses of sunshine through an overcast sky. These are the remnants of hope that liberate the conscious, and make the struggle of another day worth living.