Hypocritical?

[rsinger09]

Hi,
I don’t know if this is a stupid question but, here goes…
I am in high school and live in a single-parent household, my father is a college professor. I feel like due to my privileged economic background I have no right to talk about the proletariat. What are some ways I can distance myself from capitalism and over consumption and still attend school? This is besides the obvious, stop driving because I don’t drive and don’t plan on learning. I constantly walk through impoverished areas and do volunteer work and protest and such. Still, I feel infected with capitalism. I feel like I can’t escape! Basically, my question is since we are living in a capitalist society how do we fight back? Should we just burn our wallets and never use money? But, if we do that, how can we eat if we live in the city and can’t grow our own food?

[bloody_capitalist_sham]

you have to live in capitalism, there are no two ways about it, you, like the poorest person in the world have no say in this matter. growing your own food will only make you a little less dependant on the system.

just find a party or organisation you feel generally in tune with, and help out and see what you make of it all. we cant hide from capitalism and we shouldn't try.

[jake williams]

You're gonna have to kill yourself.

But seriously, this is a problem all of us (not currently living in the woods as a hermit, or hiding out in the mountains with guerrillas) have to deal with - whether or not we're from an economically, or otherwise, privileged background. If you happen to be very lucky, it can be uncomfortable, and in some circumstances, yes, it may be appropriate to reject it to some extent. It's difficult. Do what you can.

[Dros]

Hi,
I don’t know if this is a stupid question but, here goes…
I am in high school and live in a single-parent household, my father is a college professor. I feel like due to my privileged economic background I have no right to talk about the proletariat. What are some ways I can distance myself from capitalism and over consumption and still attend school? This is besides the obvious, stop driving because I don’t drive and don’t plan on learning. I constantly walk through impoverished areas and do volunteer work and protest and such. Still, I feel infected with capitalism. I feel like I can’t escape! Basically, my question is since we are living in a capitalist society how do we fight back? Should we just burn our wallets and never use money? But, if we do that, how can we eat if we live in the city and can’t grow our own food?

I think you are confused. Firstly, being a communist is different from being a proletarian. There is no reason to feal guilty that you happened to be born into privelidge. It is important to recognize where that comes from and how to fight it which involves understanding capitalism which, it seems, you've already figured out. Communists are those who seek to establish a classly society as per Marx and Engels; they are not necessarily poor. Secondly, fighting capitalism does not mean rejecting capitalist society in the way your talking about. We are not hippies who run out into the woods and start a commune and eat ganja brownies. Communism is ironically not "commune"-ism. We except that we live in a capitalist society and we strive to overthrow that society and usher in something entirely new and different. There is no point in distancing yourself, burning your wallet, and not driving except some kind of idealistic, deontological, trancendental whatever which is not going to actually solve any of the real problems in the world today.

[Colonello Buendia]

I know what you mean. my justification is as Drosera said, we want to established a class less society. this doesn't mean we all have to be proletarians, we just want to eliminate the distinction between the classes. and as we live in a capitalist society we need to make a living etc, so long as we don't work for massive corporations or with banks.

[RadioRaheem84]

Do people expect you to live in a log cabin in the woods? If any hardcore capitalist tells you that you're being hypocritical, tell them to hand over their social security check. Tell them they shouldn't be at public school, tell them they shouldn't complain about long hours too or any of the gains he enjoys that were given to him because of the democratic struggle against capitalists in America.
We do what we can to survive. Now unless your sipping champagne off the cleavage of some stripper in a stretch limo, then you're being quite hypocritical. But for now, you're just surviving in a capitalist society. My advice is just be conscious of your class and discern what can be viewed as acting hypocritical or not.

[BIG BROTHER]

Hi,
I don’t know if this is a stupid question but, here goes…
I am in high school and live in a single-parent household, my father is a college professor. I feel like due to my privileged economic background I have no right to talk about the proletariat. What are some ways I can distance myself from capitalism and over consumption and still attend school? This is besides the obvious, stop driving because I don’t drive and don’t plan on learning. I constantly walk through impoverished areas and do volunteer work and protest and such. Still, I feel infected with capitalism. I feel like I can’t escape! Basically, my question is since we are living in a capitalist society how do we fight back? Should we just burn our wallets and never use money? But, if we do that, how can we eat if we live in the city and can’t grow our own food?

Don't condem yourself, if you are wealthy keed doing what you say you're doing, and always try to be generous and not greedy with your money.