Living our Contradictions

Everyone is a hypocrite under capitalism, and it’s important that we recognize this.

There is a common saying that “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism”, because at some stage in the global supply chain, there is bound to be some form of intrinsic exploitation, at least based on how we currently do things. Whether it’s the exploitation of cheap labour and harmful working conditions overseas, or the production of massive volumes of waste and the destruction of our environment, there are inescapable injustices almost anywhere one looks. And just as there can be no ethical consumption under capitalism, we are all hypocrites under this particular way of orienting our society (also known as the mode of production).

To me, it’s important that we are able to criticize the society in which participate within. Yes, I have been fortunate enough to be able to carve out an existence that I enjoy for the most part, and I count myself lucky, but that doesn’t mean that I’m unbothered by the state of the world, or the conditions that we are required to live under. If we aren’t critical of the world in which we live in, then all we can ever hope for is the status quo, and just because the status quo has worked out alright for me, doesn’t mean that’s the case for every other person in my community, province, city, or the world at large. My quality of life comes at the expense of someone else’s exploitation.

Part of being critical of society, is understanding the contradictions that are inherent (a.k.a., systemic) to the world we live in. Those contradictions are not static, because they look different (and have looked different) at any given stage in human social history. These contradictions are shaped by the dominant mode of production which dictates how we operate as a collective society, and right now that means our existence is being shaped by capitalism. Resolving these contradictions is only possible through a collective understanding of the issues, which is why I feel that it is important to recognize our contradictions and understand them, so that we can help educate others and hopefully seek to remedy them together. Nobody is perfect, but I believe that striving for a world where our systemic contradictions are resolved should hopefully move us to a kinder, more sustainable, more equitable place for all living things.

Let me give you some examples of the contradictions that I have to navigate in my everyday life.

Being a Canadian citizen, as a descendent of European settlers. As a Canadian, I constantly witness other Canadians getting on their moral high horse about being Canadian as opposed to being American or any other country that we perceive to be barbaric in contrast. Yet the entire history of the settler state known as Canada, including the standard of living that many of us enjoy only exists on the theft of Indigenous land and the genocide of entire Indigenous cultures. No, I am not personally responsible for these injustices, and I cannot take back the intentional harms of my ancestors, but I can recognize the harm in our shared history and seek to fight for a more just, equitable and sustainable future for those who were (and still are) on the receiving end of colonial violence.

Bringing it even closer to home. In my immediate family, my grandpa (on my mom’s side) made a career working in the oil and gas industry for Husky Energy. He was a Pakistani immigrant, who moved to Canada in search of an education and improved work prospects compared to those in his home country. I wouldn’t have the standard of living that I enjoy today without the labour he gave in service to the fossil fuel industry, and now I spend most of my time (in my own career) fighting against that very same industry. I recognize that my very existence is a product of the oilsands, but I also understand that this is the industry responsible for most of the emissions that are driving climate change and the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters. I am a walking contradiction, but my family ties to Husky don’t prevent me from trying to right those wrongs. Or at least I don’t see it that way. I can be against the fossil fuel industry while still living in a world which enforces my dependency on those same products. I bike to work, and we own an electric vehicle, but neither of those two things eliminate fossil fuels from my life. I still rent a home that burns natural gas for heat, and I have no control over that. I didn’t create the world that necessitates my reliance on fossil fuel products, but I can fight to change it.

As a Marxist, I understand that western notions of private property created the conditions for capitalism as it functions today, which means that I am vocally against private property, especially when it comes to land and housing. Right now, under capitalism, the only way that we can guarantee secure housing for ourselves, while avoiding exploitation at the hands of landlords, is to purchase your home yourself. This requires an immense amount of wealth, that many people will never be able to afford, while enabling those with wealth to buy up vast amounts of landed property to use as investment vehicles by letting them sit empty or by charging rent to those who cannot afford to buy. My wife and I are in the position right now where we have enough money for a down payment on a home, and as much as I don’t want to spend my entire savings for the luxury of enslavement to a mortgage, I battle with the trade-offs of potential rent increases and/or evictions at the hands of our landlord. Those are the only two options available, because we have little to no social housing or non-market housing where we live. So, do I buy property knowing that it only adds to the problem while the less fortunate will continue to remain unhoused? Regardless of my decision, it doesn’t prevent me from advocating on behalf of those who suffer, or demanding a more equitable world where private property is abolished, and social housing becomes the norm — regardless of what that does to my initial investment. Houses are for housing people, fuck your equity.

I am also someone who cares deeply about our collective, societal, health within the ongoing — and much ignored — Covid-19 pandemic. I care deeply about those who are immunocompromised, who cannot get vaccinated, and are still unable to participate “normally” in a world that ignores their needs and puts their lives at risk. I continue to promote the use of respirators and encourage people to keep up with their vaccinations (as informed by science), but I also recognize that — unfortunately — I cannot control everyone around me. I am in relationships with many people who I love and care for deeply, but who no longer think about the immunocompromised, and who don’t look at the pandemic the same way that I do. This means that even if I’m still diligent about masking in public and/or high risk to exposure areas, it almost negates its effectiveness when the people around me no longer care, since I may just catch covid from them.

Without recognizing that these contradictions are systemic and inherent to capitalism means that many people out there will presume you’re a “woke” hypocrite for taking any of these various stances when that’s genuinely not the case. Calling someone a hypocrite does nothing to help improve our collective situation. The nature of systemic issues means that they are largely inescapable with out prolonged, organized, large scale, collective action. They can be resolved, but not until people genuinely understand the issue at hand. I try to take the path of harm reduction where I can, but that doesn’t mean it’s possible one hundred percent of the time. And even if the better option is available to me, that doesn’t mean it’s available to others, because there are time and cost limitations for making sustainable choices that the less privileged don’t even have the luxury to consider.

Using these contradictions against one another or calling each other hypocrites because our everyday performances don’t meet unattainable standards of perfection is nonsense. It only harms the movement for a better world by putting us against each other. We are dividing and conquering ourselves. The point isn’t about being perfect atomized individuals in a still-shitty world, but rather, to collectively resolve these systemic contradictions so that we no longer have to make morally ambiguous decisions that only reinforce the status quo. All I ask of people is to do the best you can with the circumstances that you have been given. And at the very least, try. If you catch yourself in contradiction, do not blame yourself. These are not moral failings of you as an individual, they are systemic contradictions that we are all forced to navigate. But it’s better to recognize them and demand better than to live in ignorance and apathy.