Capitalism

Another friend has asked; he asks: Osho, why does capitalism exploit the worker?

Some notions, if they are proclaimed long enough, we simply pick them up and forget to ask whether they are true or false. Capitalism does not exploit the worker. In fact, under capitalism the price of everything is set by its demand and supply. If in a village there are ten laborers but fifteen are needed, those laborers will get higher wages—ten are available while fifteen are required. But if there are fifty laborers and only ten are needed, wages will be low, because there is an excess supply of labor in the market; the buyer will buy cheaply. Capitalism fixes the price of each thing according to its scarcity, its rarity. And there is no other sane way to set prices. God does not send price tags with things—how much wheat should cost, or what the Kohinoor diamond should be worth. There is only one Kohinoor diamond, so its…

A friend has asked: Osho, adulteration is happening—water is being mixed into milk; everything is being mixed into everything. Isn’t capitalism responsible for this?

The West employed both means together: they reduced the birth rate and reduced the death rate, so they are not in trouble. We are. The birth rate remains the same, fewer children die because medicines and treatments are more available; people live longer, average life expectancy has risen. All of that—but the land is the same. God sends children but does not send land along with them. If he sent a little plot with each child, it would help—but he doesn’t. And our mahatmas, for all their prayers, cannot get land to descend. So this country will rot. To stop the stench, the ugliness, the filth, the dishonesty and theft—there is only one way: reduce births and increase production. But we know only one kind of production—children. We know no other production. The person who cannot produce anything else can at least produce children. He feels pleased that he has…

Beloved Osho, every time I hear you praising capitalism I get angry. You say sannyas means to get rid of all conditioning and to escape out of every cage whether it is religious, philosophical or political. But isn't capitalism a cage too? Why can't we live a creative life in wealth and freedom without any "isms"?

Swami Prem Vardan, capitalism is not an "ism" at all; just don't get too obsessed by the word. Sometimes words become too important to us and we tend to forget the reality. Capitalism is not an ideology; it is not imposed on the society, it is a natural growth. It is not like communism, or fascism, or socialism -- these are ideologies; they have to be imposed. Capitalism has come on its own. In fact, the word "capitalism" has been given by the anticapitalist thinkers: the communists, the socialists and others. Capitalism is a state of freedom; that's exactly why I am in support of it. It allows you all kinds of freedoms. Communism will not allow you all kinds of freedoms; communism will give you only one ideology to believe in -- there is no question of choice. I am reminded of Henry Ford.... When he made his first…

What about socialism not as a means of creating equality but only as a means of providing everyone with the basic necessities of life?

The less successful capitalist countries and the undeveloped countries, the poor countries that have no capitalism at all, have become more and more socialistic, while America has not become socialistic. According to Marx, socialism is a natural outgrowth of capitalism so America should be the first socialist country. It has not been so. Socialism exploits the jealousy of the poor. To me, it is the greatest exploitation that has happened on earth. Capitalism has exploited the labor of the poor and socialism has exploited their souls. It is through jealousy that socialism steps in. But through jealousy, no revelation, no transformation can be achieved. It can kill, it can destroy, but it cannot create. Socialism is a fiction. It is not scientific. To me, only a capitalist society is a scientific society. I am not saying that capitalism will remain as it is. It will go on growing and changing…