Learning to use the "C" word
'Tis a magic word. It is. "Guns" is a magic word. Say it out loud, scream it from the car window, drop it in over dinner. Stuck for something to say? Just mention "guns".
HIM: What will we talk about?
HER: Let's talk about guns.
Everybody is talking about them. Prime ministers, premiers, cockies and crims ... we've all gone g*u*n mad.
For some, mention the "g" word and they'll tell you what's really wrong with the country. "Really, it's not guns", they'll say, "It's poofters and abbes and migrants and unwed mothers and dole bludgers and feminism and the violent trash on the telly. That's what's ruining our society. There's no respect for traditional values."
To others, guns mean violence — it's a G = V thing. Take the toys from the boys. Point your finger instead of a gun. "Perhaps, it isn't guns", they'll say, "But I'd feel a lot safer if I lived in an artillery free zone."
The problem is that if it really isn't guns per se then it must be something else. In fact, the debate essentially rages not over whether or not or how much the population should be armed but what's wrong with the country.
And that — believe it or not — is what we are actually talking and arguing about in our thousands.
I'm always keen to join an argument. Here we are debating head on about what's wrong with the way we live and the likes of me can't seem to get a word in edgeways. If we agree that our problem is not simply "g" then maybe, just maybe, it is "c".
I put it to you that "c" rather than "g" is much more relevant to this discussion. What am I on about here? Catholicism? Conservatism? Chromosomes? Canines? While these seem appropriate items for everyday discourse, I am, instead, trying to resurrect a tired old bogey, a subject that occupies so much of my waking moments — capitalism.
"Here we go", I hear someone say, "Riley is one of those economic reductionists." And I am. I do not believe in hobgoblins, the devil or ever-lasting damnation but I wholeheartedly believe that capitalism is real. Despite so many attempts to get rid of it, it still exists.
I haste to add that I'm not one of its supporters. Indeed, capitalism and I parted company some time ago (at least in spirit).
What capitalism does is make a fetish of things — like guns, for instance. We all get hung up on the thing but miss out on what it stands for or represents. This big C goes about its diabolical work in secret and each one of us are as much its victim as its agent.
So next time you are stuck for something to talk about you can say:
HER: I was reading somewhere that it was thought that the violence in our society was caused by capitalism.
HIM: You don't say. Capitalism, eh? Now there's a thought.
Then you can probably lead on with how capitalist competition functions by setting individuals against each other, or how it alienates us from our own lives and those of other people.
You'll be able to chew the fat for hours. You see, as historical periods go, the epic story of capitalism is bigger, grander and more drawn-out than it needs to be.
And after you've finished chatting about it, let's get rid of it.
Dave Riley