From dawn to decadence : saving capitalism through cohesiveness

• Main Author: Foo, Sarah Rui Ern
• Other Authors: Dimitris Apostolopoulos
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Humanities::Philosophy
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137449
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In this essay, I attempt to remedy capitalism’s decline into decadence (stagnation of growth in wealth). In order to jumpstart the growth in material freedom, I argue that capitalism needs to restore individual practical freedom by instilling cohesiveness in society. I show that, contrary to the idea that group constraints limit freedom, individual practical freedom can actually flourish under a cohesive social order that guides individuals towards a common cause. To outline my argument, I first discuss how under decadence, capitalism cannot be justified as a social model because the benefits of material freedom no longer outweigh the disadvantages brought about by its suppression of individual practical freedom. Subsequently, this essay synthesizes Marxism and Sartre’s Existentialism to explain why individual practical freedom is crucial to humanity. Following that, I argue that instead of using scarcity as a tool to condition society and suppress individual practical freedom, capitalism should use cohesiveness to maintain social order and promote individual practical freedom. I conclude by proposing that capitalism enforces cohesiveness through two methods—establishing the organized group structure and fostering culture.