True freedom requires transcending capitalism, says Prabhat Patnaik

Capitalism can’t guarantee particular person freedom as a result of all brokers act underneath systemic compulsion. True freedom requires transcending capitalism, by making a system based mostly on collective possession and real cooperation, free from financial coercion and alienation, stated Marxian economist and political commentator Prabhat Patnaik.

Taking part in a dialogue on “Past Liberalism”, his newest guide that gives a Marxist critique of liberalism in Vijayawada on Friday, the previous professor of Economics asserted that socialism, underneath which frequent possession of the technique of manufacturing is feasible, is thus the one framework the place actual particular person freedom can exist.

He stated given the present day’s disaster of neoliberal capitalism and suppression of freedom worldwide, the necessity for collective motion and socialist transformation was pressing. He stated his guide challenges two frequent liberal propositions — that liberalism values ​​particular person freedom, whereas Marxism doesn’t, and that capitalism ensures particular person freedom, whereas socialism suppresses it.

“Each claims are false,” he argued, stating that Marxism is deeply involved with particular person freedom, and real freedom can solely be achieved underneath socialism, not capitalism.”

Mr. Patnaik, who taught on the Heart for Financial Research and Planning within the College of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru College in New Delhi, spoke concerning the Marxist view of the Particular person underneath capitalism. He stated people underneath capitalism don’t act freely; they’re pushed by systemic compulsion and competitors. He stated capitalism depends upon a “reserve military of labour” (the unemployed) to self-discipline staff by the “menace of job loss”. This creates ‘financial coercion’, as manufacturing requires strict coordination with out bodily power however underneath the worry of unemployment. “Therefore, people, together with capitalists, are ‘alienated and unfree’, compelled to behave by market forces,” he stated.