From phones to food, capitalism has been the framework for our American society as a whole since its inception. As defined by Cambridge University Press, capitalism is “an economic and political system in which property, business, and industry are controlled by private owners rather than by the state, with the purpose of making a profit.”1 In short, it’s a free market, or laissez faire (French for ‘let it be’) system. However, the economic benefits capitalism brings are just the tip of the iceberg: the other side unveils a dark history of classism and oppression.
Modern society overvalues Adam Smith’s economic philosophy and its idealistic structure. Known as the “father of capitalism,” Smith revolutionized economic ideas and created key concepts such as the “invisible hand”.2 In 1660, his school of thought was adopted by a newly-formed United States of America3, which led to the development and expansion of free market capitalism.4 That’s why western society believes that other schools of thought surrounding the economy are considered taboo and nonsensical, even to this day, 364 years later. We are taught from a young age that poverty, corruption, and class differences are all inherently embedded in our society, and the best thing we can do is work harder. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Class struggles are not a result of societal truths, but rather that of Smith’s capitalistic philosophy. These struggles only expose the flaws within his economic structure of oppression.
Capitalism may be one of the greatest tools to oppress others. It is a system that strengthens the class hierarchy, benefits the rich, and drags down the poor. This can be seen globally, as it was found that the top 1% of individuals control over half of the world’s wealth, whereas the bottom half of individuals control less than 0.75% of the world’s wealth.5 Because private owners don’t have the responsibility to share their wealth with others who are suffering from starvation or sickness, they are instead permitted to keep their wealth within their family as they become more wealthy over time. In fact, the wealthy are often discouraged and even prohibited from sharing wealth among the lower classes of society, even if those classes constitute their own employees as in Dodge v. Ford Motor Co., as they are instead encouraged and required to distribute said profit among other wealthy shareholders.6 Therefore, the working and lowest social classes have the greatest struggle to gain wealth, as working capital is a prerequisite to investment and wealth accumulation. The lack of opportunity further oppresses them because they don’t have enough material wealth to spend on investments beyond basic needs. Furthermore, our government doesn’t take enough care into providing opportunities. Those in poverty have a harder time getting jobs, education, and healthcare because they simply do not have the resources: all the money they do receive is spent on basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. Without such privileges, it is impossibly hard to gain wealth in the long-run. Though it is possible to climb up the social ladder, it is significantly harder compared to staying at the top. Capitalism keeps the rich wealthy and the poor impoverished.
Yet our society doesn’t recognize this struggle. We are ignorant of capitalist injustices against the lower classes. When we read articles or newspapers about the increasing number of unhoused people, the jobless, and the poor, we can’t connect their suffering to capitalism. It has been so ingrained in our heads that this is how our society works, and the fault of the system is now the fault of the people. This is why we tell those in poverty to just “get a job,” or “work harder.”7 However, it is almost impossible to do so because employers choose not to employ less qualified applicants, in this case the low-income individuals. Being low-income affects other parts of life, such as the ability to gain a quality education, job internships, and overall opportunity for many. Therefore, those who live at the bottom class stay in the bottom class. The answer to success seems so clear, yet it is just the tip of the iceberg. Those who suffer from capitalism suffer from the greatest form of structural violence because people don’t recognize it as violence in the first place. We often describe those who suffer as simply acting lazy or stupid because they are unable to get a job, when such an act is in and of itself near-impossible due to capitalistic and structural barriers. As social norms solidify, we see that there has been little action to help the lower class. We blame the people for their misfortunes, not the system of inequalities we have endorsed for centuries.8
Our government, on the other hand, is also not helping the situation. They, too, don’t recognize the consequences of capitalism. Therefore, government assistance programs which could serve as the solution to capitalistic inequities only ever work within a system that perpetuates the problems with Smith’s harmful ideology. They don’t work. When the goal is to lift people out of poverty, these welfare programs do the exact opposite. In a phenomenon known as the poverty trap, impoverished people purposely stay in poverty so they can reap the benefits of welfare programs, rather than use the welfare to escape the cycle.910 When we as a society determine welfare based largely upon income, we incentivize the poverty we seek to remove; if an individual is even a dollar above the income threshold, they lose all benefits previously held. That’s why government assistance programs haven’t worked, and they are likely to not work in the future.11 The government tries to put a bandaid over a broken leg, yet complains when we continue to limp.12
If we were to adopt a new economic system, socialism would be the best option. It ensures that those in the lowest classes can better their lives while blurring the lines between class distinctions at the same time.13 By having the government redistribute the share of wealth within the country, we can have a more equal society and find solutions to issues that specifically target the poor. Elsewhere in the world, the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway have already demonstrated the successes of this pathway. Though they have not adopted a fully socialist economy, these countries have socialist elements that allow the people to thrive. Through a redistributive taxation policy, the governments can give money to the poor and bring them out of poverty. As a result, these countries are known to have some of the greatest happiness and highest living standards.14 Overall, a more socialist approach to reform our capitalist system would be great to ease the wealth inequality seen today.
Capitalism will lead to the death of our society. With capitalism, societies fall apart because the upper classes are driven by material wealth over the health of other communities. When the consequences of our actions never reach us, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand how we impact others. Our current capitalist economy is not working, and we need to start taking action now.
