Process of Change

Throughout the history of the human race on earth, changes have always been taking place. Today, however, we are experiencing an era when changes occur at an ever increasing speed far beyond our limited comprehension. There is no corner of this world that remains unaffected by these changes and hardly an area of society which has not felt its consequences. People have tried to create new definitions to describe the new state of affairs. If the achievements of reason, science and technology are viewed sceptically then the word postmodernism is used. If modern achievements in linking us together all over the world, if information technology and the flow of communication is the focus, then it is called “the global village”. If the emphasis is placed rather on considerations and aspects of economy, then the talk is of the “world market.” Above all, we speak of globalization, by which we mean that one special form of attitude towards the economy – capitalism – has achieved respectability throughout the world. The champions of capitalism insist that its dynamism must not be watered down by social control systems. People in Latin America call this variety of capitalism neo-liberalism; elsewhere in the world it is known as “Free Market Economy” or “Manchester Capitalism.”

In this lesson we intend to unmask capitalism, neo-liberalism, and the “free-market economy” as forms of idolatry. The God of Life, as revealed in the Bible, whom Francis and Clare follow, is a God who is always on the side of those whose life is threatened. Our faith in this God can only be truly a living faith when we side with the poor, in solidarity with them and with those for whom society has no use. Only now since the collapse of socialist systems has capitalism been able to spread unhindered throughout the world. Certainly, as hardly anyone doubts today, communism had its own methods of enslaving people and nature. Yet by its mere existence it hindered capitalism from developing its inherent inhuman attitudes fully. Marxism, which Lenin and Stalin partly developed and partly falsified, did raise critical questions about the capitalistic system. For a long time it supplied the poor and the lower classes of society with the only alternative to capitalism. For that reason, when it faded away with the collapse of communism, many people in the so-called ”Third World” lost all hope for a world that would be socially more just.

If we want to stand with Francis and Clare on the side of the poor and the outcast, we have to deal with Karl Marx and his influence. What is wrong with Marxism? Why had communism to fail? What is left in it that is correct? Has Marxism had its day? These are questions that present themselves and call for attention.

CCFMC, Lesson Unit 21