Dear Friends,
It seems to me that whenever bourgeois virtues are compared to communal virtues bourgeois virtues win out every time. The Bourgeois virtues are vilified by the progressive, socialist and Marxist all the time but are never defined. We are told to hate the bourgeois values and embrace the communal value system. But the two are never identified for us. I will try to define both sets of values so we can compare. We must truly understand what they are and the difference so we can make an informed choice if a choice must be made.
What is known as the bourgeois virtues are simply those basic rules that we conduct ourselves by in society. Those rules are so basic to our psyche that we don’t ever question them. No matter if we follow the bourgeois value system of the communal value system. They make up basic programming. I think the best way to understand them, is to compare them, each in it’s own.
Firstly the bourgeois virtues. The bourgeois value system is what allows the individual to function within a market based society most effectively. Like a capacitor, a coil or an LC circuit, has a resonant frequency, a market based society has a resonant system of values. These values make up the bourgeois value system. The main values are listed here and explained.
-Reliability. Reliability in every action is a basic characteristic of the winning capitalist. The businessman who is reliable, in a multitude of facets of his or her interactions, is far more successful in business than someone who is unreliable. There is a severe penalty to be paid for the unreliable in a capitalist society.
-Courtesy. Courtesy is the lubricant that allows a market based society to function. Because in a market based society an individual must necessarily come into contact with others that are different, courtesy is of the utmost importance. Courtesy was a fundamental tenet of Confucianism’s Human Heartedness. The discourteous are severely punished in a capitalist society. The discourteous does poor at business, and finds him or herself looking for a new job, often.
-Willingness to take risks. The smart risk taker is handsomely rewarded in a market system. The risk taker who has a good idea and takes the plunge often crashes. But if the society is lasses faire enough more often they will succeed. The success lifting up other risk takers and second and third tries. In America the average millionaire has gone bankrupt three times. Lack of risk taking is not severely punished in a capitalist society however. Those that want the nine to five are generally rewarded with one as they constitute an critical part of the market both as labor and as consumer.
-Empathy. To do well in business, or in any area of life in a capitalist society, one must have at least some level of empathy for others. If a salesman has empathy he or she can better meet the needs of the customer and the customer can be better served. Empathy is rewarded in a capitalist society the lack is punished. Those that display a lack of empathy better have some other extreme virtue to make up for this extreme handicap.
These are but a few of the virtues that can be called bourgeois values. Communal values are those that resonate with a socialist society. The resonant set of values that give the individual the best outcome under a socialist system. Some of the communal values are.
-Amorality. To keep a socialist system going everyone must be willing to do what is necessary for the collective. Collective good being superior to the individual’s good. Those that are amoral are rewarded under a socialist system. The dissenters must be eliminated and those that are willing to do it enjoy special privileges. Those that are moral are punished in a socialist system. Morality leads to actions that are not necessarily materially selfish. In an utterly selfish society those that are not utterly selfish are often starved to death.
-Hostility to outsiders. In a community, members of the community or tribe, have special privileges. Outsiders are always a potential source of new ideas. Ideas that may threaten the absolute power that must be in the hands of a few for a planned economy to function. Any source of ideas that are not fully compatible with the commune are blasphemous and those expounding them are to be eliminated. Brutally if an example must be made.
-Rudeness. In a communal society those that are rude get more food than those that are courteous. So we can say that rudeness is rewarded in a communal society and courtesy is severely punished. In any socialist society, because of the incentives for production, food is necessarily scarce. (Unless an outside source is available). So, if only those at the front of the line get food… Where will you find the rude and where will you find the courteous? Look at the example of a lane closure on an interstate…
-Rent seeking. In a system that has the goods of society distributed by political favor those that seek political favor are rewarded. Those that work hard are punished. Those few in a communal society that have political power, wield as a tool of that power, the ability to bestow franchise. Those that seek franchise by political favor, then, have a better chance than someone who has worked hard for it.
We see that the two systems have clearly divergent value systems. When someone calls for and end to the bourgeois values system now you know what they are calling to end. When someone calls for community you know the value system they want to install. No matter where you stand, it is my view that everyone see the truth, and keep everything above the table. Let the people make an informed decision.
I have. I am an International Capitalist. I support the Bourgeois value system… Do you?
