You likely have familiarity with these two terms, namely imperialism and capitalism, and it has certainly come to your attention.
In a general definition, imperialism pertains to governments and politicians aiming to amass more wealth through their political power.
Imperialism is entirely focused on extending its political and economic power beyond its national and ethnic borders, gaining control over lands, nations, and other ethnicities.
It often involves trespassing and reaching into the assets and markets of other countries, leading to the destruction of its competitors through monopolistic laws.
The United States is recognized as the largest global imperialist system, colonizing and exploiting the world through its oppressive sanctions.
Imperialism is also called wanting an emperor.
However, the story of capitalism is an entirely separate subject.
Capitalism is related to the private sector where a specific group of people become owners and decision-makers of assets and capital, employing the majority.
Capitalists, through the exploitation of workers, increase their income and financial status, sparing minimal consideration for their workers.
They grow richer day by day, while their workers live in poverty and struggle to afford their sustenance, clothing, and housing.
To better understand, let's explore images of these two capitalist systems, and then delve into the intellectual backgrounds behind them.
Imperialism - leaders' plotting to annex territories
Imperialism - global superpowers competing for world domination
Capitalism - a master getting richer while his subjects endure hardships to feed him
Capitalism - a factory owner giving only a fraction of his wealth to the workers
Shared Characteristics of Imperialism and Capitalism
At the beginning of the text, we talked about the difference between these two systems, now we want to talk about their similarities.
These two systems have three main commonalities.
- Their sole economic power increment comes from increasing their share in production and trade in markets.
- Eliminating rival entities of the same kind, whether imperialist or capitalist, is considered the most crucial strategy for their progress.
- In their deep mindset, they view people as worthless and merely a means to enhance their power and wealth.
In the capitalist system, the general population is not supposed to engage in trade.
Since trade and production are the only avenues for the power of imperialism and capitalism, their leaders strive to prevent ordinary people from entering trade.
If people engage in trade, they won't be subservient enough, and the cost of labor will increase, making it challenging for them to exploit workers.
Therefore, common folks should not entertain thoughts of trade so that leaders can comfortably focus on annihilating their equal competitors.
Leaders of both systems have no issues whether you become a laborer, a teacher, an employee, a builder, a carpenter, a lawyer, a judge, a driver, a shopkeeper, or any other profession that comes to mind.
Do anything but trade – that's the encouragement of the capitalist system.
To steer people away from trade, they have incorporated three fundamental elements into their agenda.
Knowing that the virtues and merits of trade are more than they can conceal, in the first element, they use their media to instill the idea that merchants are unclean and impure.
They paint a picture that an honorable person doesn't turn to trade, leading to a group with a hateful view of commerce, considering it a source of human dignity destruction.
In a previous article titled "Cinema and Trade," we extensively discussed this topic.
The second element they implemented was an exaggerated and incomprehensible definition and praise of professions other than trade.
It's like when they want to push a child into a job that has no benefit for them, they falsely define and praise that job so the child thinks it's the only worthwhile option in the world.
Please accept the author's apology in advance for saying this sentence.
In essence, they say they've fooled the child.
It's painful, but since it's the truth, we must accept the words and titles they use to deceive people and keep them enthusiastic about low-level jobs, among those phrases is:
The glorification of the worker.
The nurse as an epitome of patience and perseverance.
The teacher illuminating society like a candle.
Brave firefighters risking their lives.
Athletes bringing honor to the country.
The military personnel as proud sons of the homeland.
And so on.
We, too, believe that the worker is esteemed, the nurse is patient, the teacher enlightens, the firefighter saves lives, the athlete delights the nation, and the military personnel deserve respect.
But a question remains for us.
Why, when the esteemed and noble worker needs a loan to cover a sudden expense for his child's surgery, aren't you quick to hand him a high-interest loan?
How much effort did nurses put in to increase their wages, and what was the result?
How much do teachers, firefighters, and military personnel get as a salary increase each year, despite all the extravagant titles you bestowed upon them?
How many of the thousands of youth who step into the field of sports become players in the premier league and earn money?
How much of the young people's lives were wasted on the way to sports and had nothing for them except breaking their arms and legs and wasting their youthful vitality.
All these praises and accolades are mere slogans and deceptions to make them feel content with these words because they won't let go of the money that comes with it, not even in the face of death.
Yet, we don't see any praise or acknowledgment of the merchant's position, which God and the Commander of the Faithful have praised and recommended to us.
At the beginning of the year, the leadership explicitly mentioned the importance of the people's economy and involvement in foreign trade but it was treated as if they did not hear this.
However, despite hearing these words, it seems their worldly interests prevented them from promoting this statement.
The third element, aimed at deterring people from entering trade, is explained as follows:
They realized they couldn't keep everyone satisfied with low-paying jobs, as people seek ways to increase their wealth.
If they search, they undoubtedly arrive at trade.
So, what do they do?
They buy some uneducated individuals, dress them in the attire of knowledge, and through our media, convince people that these individuals are economic scholars.
Once this narrative is established, these economic scholars twist economic growth and progress into versions for the people.
Some of them invite people to become rich through cosmic laws and the law of attraction.
Some encourage people to get wealthy through investments and the stock market.
Some guide people toward wealth through pyramid schemes and network marketing.
Some persuade people to get rich through cryptocurrencies and digital currencies.
In summary, each of these paths leads people away from trade, and effectively, they are deceived to play house.
Among them, a few individuals benefit, creating a spectacle for all, and eventually, they engage with these mere patches.
As time passes, those who followed these paths find no return on their investment, and the losses linger.
After experiencing losses multiple times in misguided attempts to get rich, people generally lose hope in wealth accumulation and settle for those same low-paying jobs.
In the end, they are content with their daily routine, having lost hope in getting rich through misguided endeavors.
On the other hand, if Arad Branding or any other group attempts to invite people to trade, those individuals, having previously fallen victim to fraudulent schemes, unconsciously label it as another form of deception.
If you don't believe it, just once tell ten or a hundred acquaintances the simple phrase: "Give me your hand, and I'll make you rich."
Afterward, inquire about their thoughts, asking them to honestly share what crossed their minds after hearing that statement.
Some might say they thought you were trying to scam them.
Others may believe that your acquaintance has gone mad.
Some might think it's a joke, and you're attempting to deceive them.
In reality, with this third element, they have shot an arrow of despair into the hearts of people, cutting off their hope of entering the world of the wealthy.
However, it is essential to remember that God is the provider for all creatures.
And losing hope in becoming wealthy is, in essence, losing hope in His sustenance.
As He has said: "And never has anyone despaired of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people." (Surah Yusuf, 12:87)
The Weakness of Imperialism and Capitalism
You likely perceive the power inherent in imperialism and capitalism, witnessing its tangible impact on society and perhaps you feel disillusioned about humanity's prospects being ensnared in their grasp.
However, if you believe this, you are entirely mistaken.
The global capitalist system has two major flaws.
The first flaw is that it deludes itself into thinking that it has successfully steered people away from commerce with the three devised principles, and the notion of trade never crosses their minds.
The second flaw lies in the intense arrogance, ambition, greed, and avarice of those involved.
Their minds are wholly consumed with eliminating their fellow competitors, and they pay no attention to ordinary people.
They cannot fathom a scenario where someone like Arad could invite people to revive the forgotten tradition of commerce, teach them trade from scratch, and awaken them.
Even if they become aware of Arad's existence, they dismiss it lightly, as Arad Branding has meticulously crafted measures to counter their hostility.
Let me present an image from Google Analytics of Arad Branding's website, covering a recent week from January 4th to January 10th, before continuing with our discussion.
Please review carefully.
These statistics represent only 6 pages of the site, while currently, 385 thousand pages of Arad's site are visited daily.
We selected these six pages, the most visited ones, to demonstrate that they can be confronted.
Pay attention to the first item.
The page titled "Wealth Through Trade" is accessible through Arad Branding's website menu under our mission section.
It requires no password to enter, and in the past week, 33 thousand people visited it.
On average, each visitor opened 3.5 pages and spent around two minutes on the page.
So, they surely understood that wealth lies in commerce and that one can become a merchant.
However, the bitter truth is that most of them don't enter.
Only 3 out of every hundred actually engage in trade, which is an improvement from the past year when it was one in a hundred.
Undoubtedly, this number will improve in the coming years.
May God have mercy on you, Arad merchants, and your dedicated employees, fathers, and mothers who, having heard the truth, have embraced it.
We pray that God grants you the strength to endure the challenges of trade and reach your desired destination.
Another interesting point is the site's homepage in English, which had 5 thousand views in the past week.
Arad Branding's global advertising has led foreigners to search for Arad, and our statistics show that 91% of them found our site through an English search for "Arad Branding."
The two images below demonstrate that the Arabic homepage had over 1,500 visitors, and the Turkish version had over 300 visitors.
We express our gratitude to our colleagues in the international negotiation unit who are actively introducing Arad Branding to foreigners.
The fifth line is about three semesters of "Business School" page, visible in the menu.
And the sixth line refers to the "Business School" from the third to twelfth terms.
Look at the visit statistics.
In the past week, 2,851 people visited, and since it has a unique username and password, and we have removed non-Arad users, it means either they are Arad merchants or Arad employees.
Considering that all employees might have attended the school, more than 2,300 Arad merchants are associated with school.
How can we claim they're associated and not just briefly visiting the school?
Check the last column, "Average engagement time," indicating the average time spent on this page.
On average, each user has spent one hour and three minutes in the Business School.
This statistic is impressive.
Before launching the Business School, many Arad merchants infrequently visited the Arad site, focusing on their own businesses.
Some had even forgotten about Arad.
But now, we witness their return.
These statistics are specifically for the third to twelfth terms of the Trade School.
You can see the statistics for other platforms in the images below.
What is understood from these statistics?
It can be understood that if we continue on this path, undoubtedly, in the near future, we will acquaint a larger number of people with commerce, and a higher percentage of them will respond positively to the call for commerce.
Most of them will become empowered through the Business School platform and other platforms.
This signifies the failure of all imperialist and capitalist schemes aimed at keeping people away from commerce.
A form of trade recommended by our Prophet, peace be upon him and his noble family, was the blessed livelihood of him and his honorable wife Khadijah, peace be upon her.
The Prophet was someone who stood against the capitalist system of his time and, with firm articulation, stated there are ten parts of sustenance, and nine of them are in business, encouraging everyone to engage in trade.
This wisdom has endured throughout the centuries, persevering through various historical events.
The widespread involvement of the general public in trade during the time of the Prophet contributed to the prosperity of the Muslim economy.
If it is the will of God and we are granted success, we will continue the glorious path of our ancestors through the descendants of Fatimah, peace be upon her.
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