Mammon–Plutus

The name Mammon traces its origin, like Plutus, to a Levantine term for wealth. It appears in the Scriptures as a master set in opposition to God, and by the Middle Ages it had become the name of a demon associated with one of the Seven Deadly Sins. In the Gospel of Matthew, 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.”

This verse reads almost as if it were prophesying the monotheistic character of capitalism that would arrive in the modern age. As argued in our manifesto, capitalism reduces all values to economic value through the universal mechanism of commodification. In other words, the death of God and the rise of capitalism mark humanity’s capitulation to Mammon. Thus, Plutus is Mammon, and Mammon is Plutus.

Therefore, that against which we contend is the syncretized figure of Mammon–Plutus. And here, we proclaim a syncretic solidarity. Of course, there is no need to limit this solely to Mammon and Plutus. Those who join this movement may extend this syncretic solidarity in accordance with their own doctrines and traditions. Yet at the same time, we reject the violent integrative force of syncretism as such. As many theologians have observed, such indiscriminate blending damages the internal logic dwelling in the depths of each tradition and erodes the very grounds on which tradition can remain tradition. The syncretism of the sacred corrodes its purity. However, what we syncretize here is not something sacred. What we share is not what we believe, but what we resist—namely, Mammon–Plutus. In this shared negativity lies the foundation of a human solidarity capable of transcending ethnicity, faith, and social position alike.

Humanity, gather under the name of Blind Plutus. Now is the time for us to marshal the full strength of the world and together open a new one.