Why are folks so anti-capitalist?locked
Hi all,
I'm seeing a lot of hate for capitalism here, and I'm wondering why that is and what the rationale behind it is. I'm pretty pro-capitalism myself, so I want to see the logic on the other side of the fence.
If this isn't the right forum for a political/economic discussion-- I'm happy to take this somewhere else.
Cheers!
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Because they're poor and they're mad that people are richer than them. And with the economy getting worse, the envy will only intensify.
That is an extreme oversimplification of the issue. It would be way easier to support capitalism if the end result wasn't continued increasing concentration of wealth with a decreasing number of people. Maybe a better phrasing for the disdain people have is that we hate American capitalism. That encompasses not just the market, but the tax system and general financial landscape Americans have currently. It's the ability for companies to report record profits, announce layoffs, increase supply, and fight against wage increase and better benefits, all in the same breath, that creates the hatred people have right now.
Everything boils down to that, though. The only people you see actively going against the grain of capitalism are poor people, not rich people (you'll have some "socialists" like Bernie Sanders and AOC but c'mon, they're capitalists too, with their million dollar mansions and whatnot).
I see enough and know a few relatively "rich" people that go against American capitalism. They're obviously not Musk and Gates, but where they have no wants and would be able to weather most any hardship thrown their way, short of the catastrophic medical emergency (but again, that is only a function of American capitalism).
It's hard to point at a specific part of the American system and say "this is what is wrong". I think a lot of millennials are coming to the conclusion that the system is broken and is absolutely stacked against them. Student loans, medical debt, the housing market, stagnating wages amongst record profits across the board, bailouts for banks, Wall St corruption, billionaires paying $50 in taxes, continued failed DoD audits and lost money. There is plenty of money in the system to be "given away" when the receiving party is a corporation or hedge fund or defense contractor or bank.
It also doesn't help that anyone not retiring in the next 20 years is paying into Social Security under the assumption that it's lost money. The devil that is socialist programs is a hard sell when the population blaming you for the "collapse of American Capitalism" actively benefits from a program I'm paying into, but will likely never see benefit from. Universal Healthcare UBI, free school lunches etc seems way more palatable through that lens.
Fair, if you're taught that you're doomed to fail within a certain system, then naturally seeing other people succeed within that system will make one feel upset.
I'm not angry that people are richer than me, I'm angry that they're so UNBELIEVABLY MASSIVELY rich that they're basically black holes sucking in more money and leaving others with nothing. I don't want to be rich, I want to know I can still afford food and basic amenities next month and not have to think about whether my shoes can withstand another winter or if I should buy new ones and not to wonder whether that slight pain in my teeth needs to be fixed now or if it's just my imagination and not have to fight my health insurance for non-urgent leg surgery and other treatments that would increase my quality of life by several orders of magnitude (and enable me to work again at least part-time!) instead of treating symptoms. And I'm saying this in a first world developed industrial nation with a comparatively good social security safety net.
My point exactly, if they weren't as rich, you wouldn't be as envious
Sure. If they weren't as rich, the money would be elsewhere where it's actually needed. I'm envious of the fact that they don't have to spend even a second thinking about buying a new house while I can't afford new shoes. I'd like to be able to buy new shoes when I need them because mine are broken without having to think about it, please and thank you.