I have already done five blogs (see Aug 14 “Is Capitalism Doomed?”) regarding John Strachey’s 1932 classic The Coming Struggle for Power about the future of capitalism. Previously I focused exclusively on the economic structure of capitalism that dooms it to stagnation and eventual failure. Another extremely interesting section of Strachey’s book relates to the stifling effect of corporate capitalism on intellectual life. Emphasizing the narrow ideological framework capitalism imposes on intellectuals, he devotes one chapter each to religion/philosophy and science and two to literature.

The Sad State of Contemporary Religion, Philosophy and Literature

Strachey’s view is that because “capitalist” theologians and philosophers are limited to very narrow avenues of thinking that support profit taking and wealth accumulation, neither religion nor philosophy have made absolutely no progress in the last 150 years in helping human beings gain better control over their moral and ethical behavior.  Whereas in literature, an author who accurately reflects the violent social disintegration of capitalist society faces a very uncertain career

Strachey identifies two writers, one American and one English, who achieved despite their ability to “be appalled by their surroundings.” One was William Faulkner (who never would have been recognized in the US without the adoring readership he attracted in Europe) who early in his life became a severe alcoholic. The other is Evelyn Waugh. Strachey observes that after completing Decline and Fall and Vile Bodies, Waugh was left with only three possible choices. “He could either commit suicide, become a communist or immure himself within the Catholic Church.” He chose the latter and, and according to Strachey, the easiest, alternative.

Stifling Scientific Innovation

The best example of corporate capitalism stifling scientific innovation is in the area of renewable energy development (remember Carter installed a solar panel on the White House in 1979). However, as a doctor, I obviously have the most experience with the negative effect of the extreme American brand of capitalism on science and medicine. I have already blogged extensively (see May 12 blog) about how the American pharmaceutical lobby has suppressed non-drug approaches to depression in the US (which lags far behind the rest of the developed world). And the frankly criminal actions of Food Inc to stonewall efforts to prevent and treat food borne illnesses, including Crohn’s Disease and irritable bowel syndrome – which in Europe and Australia are increasingly recognized as food borne illnesses (see May 24 blog on Mycobacterium Avium Paratuberculosis).

Americans are led to believe that the US leads the world in scientific and medical innovation. In fact Big Pharma justifies the exorbitant prices they charge Americans for drugs as necessary to pay for research and development for new “miracle” cures.

All I can say is that in my field, psychiatry, nothing could be further than the truth. Historically none of the important pharmacological breakthroughs in the treatment of mental illness have occurred in the US. What American drug companies have always excelled at is creating “copy cat” drugs discovered overseas – and creating an insatiable demand for their products by lavishing gifts on the doctors who prescribe them and engaging in aggressive direct-to-consumer marketing. The reality is that marketing and lobbying (against publicly funded health care) are where they spend the big bucks.

Below is a list of countries where the major classes of psychotropic medication were first developed:

• Lithium was discovered as a treatment for manic depressive illness in Australia in 1949.
• Chlorpromazine (Thorazine), the first antipsychotic, was first developed in France in 1950.
• The first antidepressants, isoniazide and iproniazide (precursors to the Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors) were first used to treat depression in France in 1952.
• Tricyclic antidepressants were discovered by the Swiss in 1957.
• The first atypical antipsychotic (clozapine) was first synthesized by the Swiss in 1958.
• The first serotonin reuptake inhibitor (the category Prozac belongs to) was developed in Sweden in the late seventies.
• The use of anticonvulsants in refractory manic depressive illness was pioneered in Japan in the late seventies.

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