Tuesday, March 24, 2015

1:39 AM


THE EVOLUTION THEORY ON CAPITALISM PERSPECTIVE

Sitti Aaisyah Sungkilang
(Student of Ankara University)
 

“Our curriculum was geared to a society of Dutch rule. The science I learned was science of a capitalist technique, for instance, the knowledge about irrigation system. It was not how to irrigate rice fields in the best manner. It was only about the water supply systems for sugar cane and tobacco. This was irrigation in the interest of imperialism and capitalism, irrigation not to feed the starving masses, but to fatten the plantation owners” (Soekarno, An Autobighraphy, 1965: 67)
At the previous discussion it has been mentioned that theory of evolution is based on the inevitability of life form changes. Some evolutions are natural while some others are helped by science advancements. Natural evolution, in actual, was organism’s defense mechanisms to survive against their predators. Lamarck in Theory of Shaping Power of the Environment explained anatomy changes on heron legs lengths. To adapt to always changing water volume of its habitat and to keep his body always above the water level, heron gradually lengthen its legs. Other sample is Peppered moth population, which originally dominated by the white-colored variant became dominated by the black-colored variant at polluted industrial revolution environments in England. Even more often mentioned sample is the change in giraffe neck lengths which became longer over time in attempt to get more food resources.
Beside natural evolutions, there are evolutions that happened because of human intervention. With the science and technology advancements, scientists create new organism varieties through many methods, such as genetic mutation, DNA modifications, etc. In these cases, human interventions were done in order to keep and or develop individuals with beneficial traits. If there are thousands or millions DNA and gen available, we can imagine that scientists will be able to develop even many more varieties. However, when we discuss the objectives to create such new mass producible varieties with better traits through DNA modifications, it is possible that they have good influence to life or the contrary.
Interestingly, science produces the novelties that changes human civilization from phase that considered primitive, full of mythologies, and traditional into modern civilization that rely on scientific logics. Advance technologies one by one were developed and help human to meet their main needs such as food (primary), clothing (secondary), and housing (tertiary). We also can observes how easy nowadays to cut a tree, that previously was done using machete, then chainsaw, and now using feller buncher. With the latest machine, a wide area of jungle can be cut just in several days. So, we can say that the advancement in modern technology contribute effective and efficient culture for human being, where both create help to facilitate human works and to create disasters.
With those science advances, capitalism strengthens its grip on these areas as the base and the most efficient tools to produce commodities. Capitalism is a system based on production to accumulate unlimited capitals. To achieve that, the production rate must always be increased, profit should be increased as well, while production cost should be lowered, of course with the help of sophisticated technologies and low wage labors. Besides that, sources of raw materials is from nature then natural resources be rapidly exploited which often damaging nature faster than its ability to recover itself, natural balance disrupted and ecological disaster is certain.
In addition to produce high number commodities, capitalism also always produces the novelties. At this phase, human become lost his life and inner his self, unable to define which one is primer, secondary, and tertiary needs. From wake up in the morning till sleep again at night, people are surrounded by many products fascination that hypnotize their subconscious and desire to have all of them and leave their consciousness behind, causing human to have no time to deeper think, to realize, and to reflect their life.
Other samples from our daily life experience is how scientists have created chicken varieties that only need to be grown in a couple months until its ready to be consumed. Some rice varieties that no longer dependent on season and ready to be harvested in just 2-3 months is another sample. In the name of human needs fulfillment, new advances continuously be created and tend to be instant. Are changes in plants and animals that consumed by human as energy sources have no bad side effects on human as person, social creature, and part of complex universe? For Plato, the system that works in our universe is The Great Chain of Being. There are connections of many entities that keep universe in harmony. Small changes can affect the whole universe and the contrary.
Beside the key word of production, there is other function of sciences that utilized by capitalism, that the power function. Scientists community hold the authority to legitimate things that related to modern views of scientific logics (empiricism and positivism) as tools to analyze the truths. For example, the truth that we hold currently is that marijuana is something that harm human body. In Indonesian laws, ownership of those things (except for medical purpose) is highly prohibited. Before it become a law, of course there is a rationalization behind the bad effect of their consumption. And those were done by a group of scientists. These group of scientists somewhat become elites that have the authorities to determine whether marijuana is harmful or not, which in turn translated into government views of it. Then in turn again, based on the founding that marijuana is harmful, law that prohibited the sale of it was made, resulting in high price of it. If there is no such law probably marijuana is just another plant with uneconomically value. That means, the law provide benefits to certain parties that have interest in this issue. We know that Acehnese have cultivated the marijuana plants since long time ago and used it as their food ingredient. We can say that this plant is a part of their culture. But suddenly some scientists, all are outsiders, come to their community and prohibited the use of the said food ingredient, prohibited the use something that has done no harm to their body, that even considered beneficial to those living in mountainous regions.
There are a lot of other examples on how scientific communities change society perceptions. Capitalism exploitation on beauty treatment is one of the best samples. Human body is heavily exploited as commodity in capitalism market. To suit the standardized beauty definition, scientists under capitalism system create and supply the market with many kind of drugs and products. This leads pharmacy to become one of the most profitable industries in the capital profit term. The facts mentioned above are actually in line with Indonesian first president, Soekarno, views that under imperialism and capitalism, irrigation system was not about the supply of water needed for rice and tobacco fields, which in turn can be used to feed the starving masses, but it was all merely about plantation owner’s profits.
There are inverted logics practiced in sciences progress under capitalism system which changes its essential purpose to supply human needs into profits for only small group of people while harm other people in general. Unlimited production system also created false sense that tertiary needs are somewhat the priority ones. New products are offered to consumers so rapidly as it is needed to change clothes five times in a day. Human views become distorted and focus to temporal instead of things that real and everlasting. Education is affected as well into producing graduates with academic degree only to serve the requirements to get jobs and high salaries. Actually, there are lot parts of our life that rotting under capitalism grips. However, even after we realized that, we can’t get out of it since it has become our reality, our inseparable parts.
As science is the frontline of capitalism system, scientists should be more sensitive to the changes in human society. Exact and social sciences depend and influence each other. They, in fact, are not two separated sciences, but instead an inseparable culprits to create betterments in life. It is never too late to change, as theory of evolution necessities the change itself. So let’s creates a new vision that exact scientists are not only involved in laboratory works, or in other hand, social scientists only talks about the idea of social changes, but instead the synchronization between the two of them in order to criticize those madness that previously we accepted as the truth and reality. The wide gap between rich and poor is not natural, but instead is craziness. Likewise, without criticism we accept life as reasonableness and normal, we cannot see oppressions that occur in reality, also it is an illness. Therefore, should we fight! Fighting by raising the critical consciousness in understanding the world that is strongly influenced by the capitalist system. 
 Referensi:
1.    Jonathan Miller and Borin Van Loon, Darwin and Evolution (Introducing), 1996, Icon Books Ltd., Australia
2.    Soekarno, An Autobiography, 1965, The Hobbs-Merrill Company, INC, New York


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