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There is more and more evidence that the majority of mental illness is the result of traumatic experiences. Capitalism brutalises people, its ideology is one of competition, ruthlessness, exploitation, "me first, "no such thing as society" etc. That impacts on how people treat each other. How we treat vulnerable people is determined by capitalist economics too - look at the state of mental health services in this country.
The welfare state is a product of capitalism*, a necessary safety net to stop people becoming too poor and angry. Capitalism requires unemployment - full employment would lead to a lack of supply of labour and increase production costs thus reducing profit. Capitalist ideology also evolves - we're witnessing the results of the neo-liberal policies at the moment...
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*actually, I will qualify this slightly - the welfare state performs this function for capitalism
the roman empire ...a brutish police state.
looking back over all the past political institutions we've had ...it's a wonder theres any sane people left!
How do you know we are? When the insane are the majority, defining what sanity is... could we ALL be insane?! Except the ones we lock away..
Well of course I would make the standard 'show me this evidence' remark......
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1598133,00.html for what is the ideology of capitalism, read some philosophy, for "no such thing as society", read the history of the last 25 years, specifically looking at the person who this thread was originally the subject of. For the state of the mental health services - ask anyone who works in the field. Any other questions?
I don't quite see the capitalism = trauma link.
I can kind of see how people may get stressed at the competitive nature of work but even that is tenuous.
An economic system that rewards back-stabbing, bullying and climbing to the top on each other's faces works down through every social situation in the end.
This sort of system, where bullyting is encouraged, only encourages bullying. For instance.
And that's before we deal with the trauma of having a poor family, having a family that are never there because they have to work so hard to live, and the trauma of socio-economic exclusion.
Maybe, I am sure there is some proper research on it....
Well that is a situation that is not unique to capitalism is it?
You really do have trouble making connections between things don't you?
I would question the degree to which this is true......
You really are quite literal aren't you? I haven't actually stated it in quite those terms have I?
So you only question the degree? Not the underlying truth? OK, at least we're getting somewhere...
That is what you implied.....
I wouldn't say that there were no negative effects of a capitalist system with regards to mental probles etc, I would question the degree to which these are different to other systems though.....
The fact is people have to work, they have to achieve things, under any system, and that can be stressful......
No, I did not state it as simply as that.
We're not talking about other systems, we're talking about capitalism and the direction it is evolving in.
Way to miss the point by ten zillion trillion miles.
Yes well I may miss it when you makes your points so poorly.
Everything you have said has been tremendously vague......
Most mental illness I would imagine can be linked to some specific cause(s), if mental illness is on the rise due to our economic system then what causes are there that are more prevalent and that could be avoided under a different system?
I actually state them quite well - unfortunatly you seem to have difficulty following a subtle argument and making connections between things. It is also difficult 'cos you seem to have no grounding in philosophy, sociology or cultural studies.
No, everything has been stated quite clearly, with links to back up my points.
Well that is 2 different questions really. The first one I have answered (although no doubt you will deny that I have), the second one is irrelevant to the topic under discussion.
This is what I mean about being specific.
If for example you identify competition as a feature of capitalism that leads to mental illness then you have to show that competition could be less under a different systemand would thus be beneficial.
Saying anything is bad requires you to show there is something better else it is pointless.........
I think my views on this are well known. Are you amnesiac?
I didn't say that though.
So critiques and analysis are pointless unless you know all the answers? Sorry, you've lost me.
past and present ...