The following quotes were published on 7 January 2012, by Portuguese economist Guilherme Alves Coelho.

Myth 1: Under capitalism, anyone who works hard can become rich.

“In fact, the probability of success in the capitalist system for the average citizen is the same as you winning the lottery.”

Myth 2: Capitalism creates wealth and prosperity for all.

“The objective is to enable the employer to accumulate indefinite wealth without being asked how they did it. At the same time the hope is maintained that sooner or later workers will be rewarded for their work and dedication.” 

Myth 3: We are all in the same boat.

“The goal is to create a guilt complex for workers, allowing capitalists to increase revenues and pass their expenses onto the people.”

This is similar to Mitt Romney style vulture capitalism, in which “investors” like Romney used other people’s money to make profits.

Myth 4: Capitalism means freedom.

“The goal is to create something similar to a religion of capitalism, where everything is taken as blind faith, and deny people the right to participate in making macroeconomic decisions. The myth of the freedom to “negotiate” for your job being considered the ultimate freedom.”

Myth 5: Capitalism means democracy.

“This myth, which smoothly follows from the previous one, was created in order to prevent the discussion of other models of societies.”

Myth 6: Elections equal democracy.

“It’s actually the capitalist system, that manipulates and corrupts everything, that the vote is conditioned and elections are merely formal acts.  The simple fact of the bourgeois class minority always winning elections demonstrates it’s non-representative.”

Don’t forget, one of the main reason for the 1776 Revolution that created the United States was no representation in the British government!

Myth 7: Alternating parties in office is the same as having an alternative.

“It is intended to make people believe that the political parties that alternate periodically in power have alternative policies.  In fact this apparent multi-system or bi-partisan is a one-party system. Two or more factions of the same political organization, sharing the same capitalist policies alternate in power, simulating independent parties with alternative policies.”

Another way to say this is the Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same coin.

Myth 8: The elected politician represents the people and can therefore decide for them.

“…once in power, the elected…Does not fulfill what he promised and what is even worse, put in place measures that were not talked about publicly before, often opposite what was promised and even unconstitutional.” 

“…being a major cause of the growing number of people who do not vote.”

Myth 9: There is no alternative to Capitalism.

“It is intended to make people believe that capitalism, though not perfect, is the only political/economic regime possible…The aim is to eliminate competition from other systems…using all means, including force…”

This is ironic considering the masses are always told that capitalism is about competition, or that competition is good.

Myth 10: Austerity cuts (severe and enforced economic deprivations) will save the economy and your job.

“It is intended to make people believe that the blame for the economic crisis is caused by the excess of benefits for workers….The aim is basically to transfer to the public, people in general and for workers specifically, the responsibility of paying the debts of the capitalists. Make people accept the plundering of their property in the belief that better days will come later. It is also intended to facilitate the privatization of public/government services….without mentioning that these were the most profitable sectors of the state, whose future earnings are lost as a result.”

Myth 11: Less government equals better government.

“It is intended to make people believe that the private sector manages the state better than the public sector.  The actual goal of capitalists is…to facilitate the takeover of functions and assets of profitable government operations.”

This is exactly what is going on with the U.S. Postal Service.  The USPS is not in trouble because they’re not making money, they’re in trouble because the U.S. Congress refuses to hand over the money the USPS has made from selling postal services (the money earned is actually controlled by Congress).  Remember the U.S. Congress is controlled by Corporate America.

Myth 12: The current crisis of Capitalism is short-term and will be resolved for the benefit of the people.

“It is intended to make people believe that the current economic and financial crisis is a normal cyclical crisis of capitalism, and not a systemic/intentional crisis.  The aim of the capitalists…is continuing to plunder and exploit the people while they can. It has also served for some politicians to remain in power, fueling hope among people that better days will come if they continue to vote for them…..what we see is the continuous deterioration of living standards of people without any hope of improvement.”

Guilherme Alves Coelho also warned that as Western style “democratic” capitalism continues to fail, the capitalist elites will force the working class to make more and more sacrifices.  Proof of this are the continuing and increasing austerity measures implemented by Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom, to name a few.  The austerity cuts have been taking place in the various states of the United States since 1999/2000, but they’re not called austerity, they’re called “reforms”, “improvements” and “cutting costs” supposedly to save taxpayer dollars (have they really saved taxpayers any money?).

This is clearly class warfare already being waged by the elites against the rest of us.  Coelho says we the People need to prepare for the final battle: “Today, more than ever, you need to create barriers to the final round of capitalist barbarism, reverse the situation, by presenting other political solutions, refusing the obscure statements of the elites by demanding clarification, and mobilizing and organizing the people.”