Saturation of Capitalism

Capitalism under refined lens depict a disastrous system of exploitation. Specifically, when individuals achieve its meaning of success; they inherit an oppressor’s mindset where they begin to celebrate their wins, and work in conjunction with its principles. Social networks are created to justify new privileges’ and its usual top-down approach gains new participants.

Those who become rich mingle with others who are rich, and those with influence to increase their powers. Becoming rich benefits the most prosperous, who in-turn, uses money and fame to propagate their personal beliefs.

Sadly, on a global scale, capitalism continues to affect the lives of people who are not rich. Their daily experiences are filled with financial uncertainties, competitive labor practices, and taking on sacrifices which are soul-draining and psychological detrimental.

Healthcare: Even in 2021, healthcare remains unstable because there is a high cost for medical treatments. The harsh reality of illnesses, diseases, and injuries, which are norms in the lives of individuals become more injurious with increasing medical costs. Who would think that to treat the human body and mind would be accompanied by such a hefty expense?

While the world has made great strides in medicine and the technology to help individuals throughout their different life phases; healthcare is an expense account of its own. An article on investopedia.com gives a snapshot of primary medical care in the United States by stating these truths:

• Healthcare costs in the U.S. have been rising for decades and are expected to keep increasing.
• The U.S. spent more than $3.8 trillion on healthcare in 2019 and was expected to exceed $4 trillion in 2020, according to a study by the Peterson and Kaiser Foundations.

Education: Education begins in the environment of the child before it is validated by a certificate, and/or degree. It is a process of developing different skill-sets, which can lead to higher chances of career gains.

To educate children and adults should always be a priority in any civilization because education and healthcare are great necessities. No human being should have to battle between paying for housing, and education, and healthcare. This is a burdensome scenario and one that constricts’ families who aim for progress and betterment.

There is always money to fund militarized line-items, but never enough money to help schools which are budget trapped, or students and teachers who cannot afford to buy resources. The cost of an education is a high-priced ticket that deters some students from even entering learning institutions. School fees can become burdensome to families in poverty-stricken status. Education, like work, requires commuting, resources such as school uniforms and books, and food for students to remain nourished.

Poverty: Nothing is more upsetting to the soul and psyche than to bear witness to homelessness, and watching the layout of slums in different regions of the world. It becomes more depressing to watch innocent children become victims of homelessness and hunger. This happens as homes are vacant, and are featured on a housing market, and the foods of Nature are displayed in grocery stores.

According to worldbank.org, “While less than a tenth of the world’s population lives on less than $1.90 a day, close to a quarter of the world’s population lives below the $3.20 line and more than 40% of the world’s population – almost 3.3 billion people – live below the $5.50 line.”

Deprivation is the effect of the systemic and systematic framework of capitalism. The issue is its standard of attainting wealth as the end-result. Bettering human life is not a primary concern; instead, the aim is to give a tangible product for purchase. With the market over-flowing with products after products; the quality-of-life for individuals remain in a seller-buyer relationship.

The caption, “cycle-of-poverty” that is familiar in separate dialogues is directly associated to capitalism. It is of the system and one that reduces the well-being of everyday people; thus, victimizing them where they are preys to those with funds. Human beings would never make decisions to experience destitution and they should never receive blame for encountering poverty. It is solely from capitalistic apparatuses, which are reinforcing an unreliable modus-operandi.

Labor: In the category of labor practice, capitalism fails to uplift human beings to levels where they can provide for themselves and their loved ones. Its model strips’ resources from people to overfeed the rich. This is visible in the statistics, which are validating just how erroneous this system truly is.

Unemployment and even employment can send groups of people to poverty. Poverty is real, because salaries are governed by the venture capitalists who work alongside elected officials to create laws to minimize pay and benefits. Consequently. laborers face financial and personal conundrums because of the actions of governments and business managers.

The working-class feeds the rich by using their products and services, and toiling in production phases of product creation and delivery. It is the force of the working class that keeps business philosophies afloat, so founders, CEOs, and directors can maintain their titles.

Environment: Nature intends for water, air, and soil to work in collaboration to sustain life on Earth. Those are necessities for the preservation of plant life, human health, and animal growth.

Families rely on agriculture for sustenance to feed and strengthen their minds and their bodies. Clean water is essential for everyday purposes, toxin-free air is important to breathe without facing respiratory problems, and fertile soil is a constant need to cultivate vegetation. Together, all three are needs which are important building blocks toward the advancement of people. Sadly, the water we drink, the air, and the soil are compromised with waste from industrial and manufacturing plants.

Capitalism does not support the preservation of the resources of Earth. Instead, it works to deplete its most valuable materials. Deforestation, pollution, and unhealthy water supplies are all conducive to the economic surplus that the system desires. Products, which are displayed on shelves in different markets are derived from environmental sources. In a sick twist of irony, those items are thrown into landfills after usage and decomposition takes place. Methane, a potent, greenhouse gas creeps into the atmosphere because of those landfills; thus releasing more dangers into the air.

The innumerable reports and stories of water being contaminated with chemicals, and oil leaks, to plastic waste on the ground, are preventive disasters. The questions are; what if a thorough examination sheds light on an activity that is informing us of toxicity in the air and water; do we continue with old ways, or change the behavior? What if there is an opportunity to create a more livable setting for present and future generations, but this requires us to act now?

Climate changes are happening, and the field of Science is informing us of the hazards of poor environmental care. An article on eponline.com, states this about the current situation; “The environment plays a crucial role in the sustainability of life as we know it here on Earth. All living things depend on the planet’s resources to survive and, if humans continue to pollute and over-use these resources, they may be completely destroyed or depleted in a matter of years.”

It is a fore-warning and one that needs our attention. Mostly, the frequency and intensity of environmental catastrophes cannot be ignored, so that capitalistic goals can take precedent.

Religion: One would not expect to have the ills of capitalism to be in various religious settings, but financial affairs are happening there. While many of these religious denominations prophesize about non-conformity, they too, adhere to taking funds from people. Sadly, many of these members are poor-and-working class beings who struggle; yet their thirst for spiritual abundance convinces them to give resources to other poor people.

Poor-and-working class people are being duped into believing that paying tithes are ideas of God. That the Creator of the Universe is a God that favors the giving-and-taking of money in a place where prayer and spirituality should reign.

Even the Creator of the all good things would not support a practice like “free enterprise”, because it reeks of waste and greed.

Non-profit: The world has so many good-hearted , loving humanitarians who still have hope that circumstances will improve for all people. Those individuals have emerged throughout history to establish organizations to ensure that families without food, clothing, and shelter would receive alms. Organizations such as the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, and United Negro College Fund, are just a few charities, which are answering the call to change the lives of the marginalized and the displaced.

These organizations remain intact because the protocols of economics’ rages on with little mercy for humanity. The irony of these not-for-profit groups, is the connections to revenue. Venture capitalists use the non-profit angle to present a front while being fully committed to capitalism.

These organizations, in their attempts to solve a problem stemming from the system of capitalism also become wrapped in its fiscal definition. They need the investor who comes from a capitalist background to push a mission forward. Without cash donations, they cannot serve their populations and the services which are needed would end.

Governments and Law: Capitalism has friendship with government heads because those officials are also venture capitalists. In addition, their support is further justified by the fact that they make laws which are maintaining the status quo. Poverty is legalized because of their acceptance of a system of abuse.

The never-ending protests by workers are signs that the venture capitalist is working from a business angle and with the backing of governments. Consequently, both groups are in place to trap human beings to a work schedule that can be fruitless.

The minimum-wage in different countries is the clearest case that shows that a vote for democracy, communism, or socialism can be a vote for capitalism. In socialist meanings, countries such as Cuba and Venezuela are continuously targeted by the venture-focused agenda of North-America. In contrast, those two countries aim to create a communal, collaborative way-of-life for their citizens without the predatory manual of capitalism.

As long as capitalism continues to exist; its dynamics seeks to destroy all other ideas, which could potentially re-define it. Both socialism and communism are alternatives to the it, because capitalism ruins all resources on Earth.

Debt: Stagnant pay, competition in jobs, lack of jobs are all factors which are contributing to the cycle of debt. Capitalism is a monetary system that is continuously subjecting human beings to some level of debt. These debts listed below are typical stories from who work tirelessly to feed their hungry mouths and to clothe their bodies:

Student loan debt; credit card debt; personal loan debt, business loan debt, etc.

Many will take on two-three jobs to either pay off their debts, or to avoid getting into debt. There is always the presence of indebtedness to someone, and that can ruin relationships both personally and professionally. Furthermore, the rule-of-law allows’ debtees to initiate lawsuits against the borrower. This adds insult-to-injury as the the majority of people who face debt are experiencing it because their jobs are meeting their basic needs.

Patriarchy and Sexism: The patriarch structure that supports the upliftment of men while subjecting women to sexism has been tarnishing women’s lives- specifically their economic lives. This set-up benefits men in the workplace, in geo-political set-ups, and in religions, and women continue to be exploited by patriarchal decisions.

The culture of patriarchal that governs the world finds comfort in many settings, because society defines manhood as having material wealth. Men are being taught that they are the head-of-household even though the household has a family unit. As a result, women and their children are thrust into accepting male-dominated rules, which are undermining them..

These ideas are confirmed by the presence of religious books, which are supporting male governance over women. Even in personal relationships, women will face misguided male actions. One of the top reasons why women stay in abusive relationships is because of financial needs. This means that the man is many times the breadwinner; therefore, he creates the rules, and throws punches if he decides to.

Racism, colorism, prejudice: Racism is an institutionalized model that drives the unfavorable statistics in education, in income, in labor, in healthcare, and in the development of laws. Since Europe’s immersion into the global world and the agenda to dominate the lives of non-Europeans; an entire social construct has taken place.

In western civilization, the distinguishing ethnicities of people are blanketed with European specifications. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese are world-wide languages; tribal divisions are partly due to advantages which were given by colonists; international protectorates still have Europe and North-America’s identifications, and strong financial systems in Europe and North-America are governing the financial outputs of non-European countries.

The historicalness of racism continues to unleash discriminatory practices, and prejudicial activities between neighbors. Racial categories replaced the communal ways of black and brown neighborhoods, and separated them within their own units. For example, rastafarians in the Caribbean are targeted by police forces, because the members embrace their Afrocentric history. Bleaching of the skin in countries like Jamaica, India, and Kenya are psychological happenings, which are detailing how oppressed people are suffering with identity issues, because of racism.

Psychology and stress: The contextual activities within one’s environment explains their approaches to people and situations. Essentially, they are walking compositions of the environments, which they call, home.

Stress occurs when situations are so demanding that the individual feels defeated. And, stress can be damaging both physically and emotionally- it can cause digestive problems, to emotional pressure that can lead to depression.

An article on the website, mind.org.uk, details the causes of stress as:

• being under lots of pressure
• facing big changes
• worrying about something
• not having much or any control over the outcome of a situation
• having responsibilities that you’re finding overwhelming
• not having enough work, activities or change in your life
• times of uncertainty

Worrying about the next meal, not having enough for rent, a job that doesn’t pay well but demands your entire presence, are all factors, which will upend the psyche. This become a constant attack on the output of the poor-and-working class who have to report to work while being existential in their personal lives.

The workplace will most certainly upset the soul of someone as labor remains a forced act. Capitalism does not give populations the option to opt out of its scheme; instead, they are mandated to accept it. Poverty becomes the next option for those who do not report to work.

It was the late Charles Bukowski who wrote a famous quote that reads:

“How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 8:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so? ”

Be “grateful” because of a job? Is this job providing the needs, which Abraham Maslow wrote about? Are jobs allowing individuals with the time, the flexibility, and the monetary means to cater to their dreams, their aspirations, and their sanity?The answers are many times- no.

Professors do not tell students that receiving a degree does not always equate to trade attainment. Students are taught about the probability of securing work, but they are not told about the harsh candor of injustices and competition in every job pool. Consequently, it is the face-to-face realism that every being, degreed and all, will be paired with other prospects before an employment is solidified.

It is in that confinement that the tendency to sell everything to access cash becomes a norm. The drug-fueled enterprises, blue-and-white colors’ crimes, prostitution rings, the selling of children and human organs, and the money that is paid to transportation smugglers are a snapshot of industries of capital.

In that form of pragmatism, the “make it or break it” moments will test one’s resilience, their patience, their hope, and even their spirituality. The world eventually learns of those who made it through, as well as those who fell apart while trying.

How capitalism effects people and environment:

4-12-2022–Scientists chained themselves to a building to highlights the dangers of climate change. According to Business Insider, five scientists aimed to warn the public about the global warming and encouraged us “to stop using fossil fuels after a dire UN climate report.”

2-18-2022–Tents for the homeless population in major cities like Portland and Los Angeles are becoming more of an option for families. Sadly, as the cost of housing rises coupled with an unstable capitalistic market; more citizens are being pushed into homelessness.

6-21-2021–An entire website dedicates its time and energy toward tackling human trafficking cases. The site is called, Exodus Road, and it educates the public about the prevalence of human trafficking as well as highlighting stories of victims and survivors. So many people are lured into trafficking because of false promises of jobs and education, but instead they face intolerable treatment by money-hungry traffickers.

10-28-2021–On Science.org, a freelance correspondence details the percentage of land that Native Americans lost since the American Revolution. An excerpt:

Indigenous people in the United States have lost nearly 99% of the land they historically occupied, according to an unprecedented new data set. The data set—the first to quantify land dispossession and forced migration in the United States—also reveals that tribes with land today were systematically forced into less-valuable areas, which excluded them from key sectors of the U.S. economy, including the energy market. The negative effects continue to this day: Modern Indigenous lands are at increased risk from climate change hazards, especially extreme heat and decreased precipitation.

Natives are still working firmly to restore their lands, as well as some dignity since the arrival of European settlers. Their lives have been completely re-arranged causing them to continuously work to restore valuable resources, which were taken from them.

People of African descent are still working to be heard as more policies are written. Their angle is about the historical slavery that removed them from the continent of Africa into new territories. They continue to struggle while finding avenues to rise against the economic brutality that is geared toward them.

Many generations of African-Americans have yet to receive monetary compensation for the enslavement of their people. Instead, the U.S. and its European allies continue to avoid any dialogue about racism and slavery.

1-13-2022— The island of Puerto Rico is being gentrified and many natives of Puerto Rico are suffering through this change. Wealthy investors are flocking to the island to buy land; thus, making property-buying a farfetched idea for everyday Puerto Ricans. I personally follow the journalist who cover the stories in her native country to better understand the magnitude of this. The Los Angeles Times showcased a story about the visible pandemic that is turning housing into a luxurious item. One resident said this, “They’re pushing us out,” Yanira Ocasio, another San José Hills resident, told independent journalist Bianca Graulau, who broke the story of what’s happening in Quebradillas on her YouTube channel in a 15-minute video. “They’re pushing us out of our place. When we open our eyes we won’t have an island and we will be Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans.”

Gentrification is the clearest display of wealth inequality that rewards new money while destroying middle-class neighborhoods. This is happening in major cities and even countries. Sadly, the lives of people who sacrifice to earn a livable wage are being replaced by those with monetary advantages.

The pleasures of the rich are often acquired by the tears of the poor– Leo Tolstoy