The tribal premise underlies today’s political economy. That premise is
shared by the enemies and the champions of capitalism alike; it provides the
former with a certain inner consistency, and disarms the latter by a subtle,
yet devastating aura of moral hypocrisy—as witness, their attempts to justify
capitalism on the ground of “the common good” or “service to the consumer” or
“the best allocation of resources.” (Whose resources?)
If capitalism is to be understood, it is this tribal premise that
has to be checked—and challenged.
Mankind is not an entity, an organism, or a coral bush. The entity involved
in production and trade is man. It is with the study of man—not of
the loose aggregate known as a “community”—that any science of the humanities
has to begin.