Crimes of Capitalism

Freedom. Human equality. Morality. Humanity. All these values are ones that we all hold dearly, right? However let’s be honest, do any of these actually exist anymore? What happened to the eras where altruism was the common way of living, the eras where the difference between rich and poor was barely existent?

How is it possible that in one corner of the world, a person is swimming in pools of cash and fortune, and in another corner, someone else is watching their family die of starvation?

It happens, and it will continue to happen because of one word, one evil, and one system: capitalism.

Capitalism is a system of giving and taking, mostly taking. It’s about a desire to go in there and take advantage of others’ misfortune.

You’re free to whatever you desire; free to trade, free to make profit, to just get by or to fail. It’s all supported by the backbone of Capitalism which is free enterprise. Social critic Wally Shawn described free enterprise as “a form of words that is intended to conjure up in your mind a little town, with different shops, and the guy who runs the best shop has the most customers”.

This “freedom” has resulted in governments having no control of the welfare of their people; society has become a plutonomy – a society controlled exclusively by and FOR the benefit of the rich, the capitalist. They’re all in a race, a competition to gain the most customers so they can have the most successful shop in town.

In a report released in December 2014 by the charity group, Oxfam International, it was indicated that greedy capitalists are getting richer and richer. The richest 1% own 48% of global wealth. If this trend continues by 2016, they will have more than 50% of the world’s wealth tucked away in their gold stitched, silk covered, leather-bound pockets. This means that 1% of the world’s population will have as much wealth as the remaining 99% combined! Statistics like these further reiterate Michael Moore’s definition of capitalism as “legalised greed”.

Such grim trends have been the reason why the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing over time. Some 200 years ago, the rich-poor gap was 3:1; today, it is 100:1. Without a speck of doubt, the sole reason that poverty exists in the world is because of Capitalism. Of the 2.2 billion children in the world, one billion live in poverty. Capitalism’s other “gift” to humanity is that 22,000 children die of hunger every day. This is not because of the lack of food; God the Almighty has created the blessings of food and survival in such quantities so that everyone is able to survive and flourish. But if the rich claim and steal all the resources, whilst simultaneously usurping others’ share, then the oppressed working class will be left empty-handed, stranded and forced to get by with a meagre $2 a day. One such example is seen with the greedy monarchy of Aale-Saud. Two members from the Saudi royal family are among the top 10 richest people in the world. While “Saudi” Arabia rakes in nearly $300 billion in annual revenues – mostly from oil sales, but also from pilgrimage – 60% of its population lives in poverty; 70% cannot afford to own a house.

To succeed in the Capitalist society, the golden rules are competition and profit. As this system’s roots are based on such materialistic and greedy objectives, the fact that this system is actually the cause of all the issues and problems in the world is not surprising. In this competitive race of Capitalism, there is no room for human compassion or a sense of humanity. Even if innocent people have to be killed, or thousands have to lose their jobs, so be it. This is what we are witnessing globally. Whether it is through the example of the US invasion of Iraq to dig up that country’s oil, or if it’s through the smuggling of opium from Afghanistan. Even if a whole country is turned inside out, and crumbled to the point that cities are nothing more than rubble, and generations have been affected, as long as they are ahead in the race, everything is permissible. This then “legitimises” their careless and unnecessary spending on military hardware. Just in the United States, a massive $1.738 trillion was wasted annually on war. This clearly proves that Capitalism leads to war and bloodshed of innocents. Wars are an extremely profitable business for the corporate and banking thieves. Imagine, if just a pinch of this outrageous amount was used to end world hunger, poverty would be history by now. But wait, are there any signs of profit in that for the rich? No, right? Scratch that off the list then.

As the rich keep moving forward in this race to the top, the working class keep falling down into debt and unemployment. This is how Capitalism works, as Michal Kalecki, the deputy director of the UN economic department said; “unemployment is an integral part of the ‘normal’ capitalist system”. Without unemployed people, the banks and rich folks would be defeated. This is why the central banks intentionally create unemployment – usually by increasing interest rates – to keep inflation under control. Also by blaming and making the unemployed feel unhappy, the system of Capitalism is legitimised. It takes away attention from the fact that unemployment is caused by structural and moral failings in Capitalism. Also by promoting the cognitive bias which says that individuals are the makers of their own fate, it invites the wrongful intention that just as the poor deserve their poverty, so the rich deserve their wealth. This whole scandal is just another example of how the rich benefit from the misfortunes, in this case unemployment of the poor.

The “gift” that Capitalism has given to society in the form of unemployment doesn’t stop with its surprises here. Unemployment has been the source of increasing street crimes in impoverished countries like Pakistan. These victims of Capitalism’s crimes, when unemployed, in debt and struggling to feed themselves and their families are left with no other choice but to find a source of income through carrying out crimes and robbery. The evil crimes of Capitalism are moving these people to the darkest corners of society. Crime rates are continuing to increase in such countries, and who has to suffer from the effects of this? The working class, of course. Capitalists can roll up their security doors and line up their expensive guards to protect them from the same criminals they created, while the working class are left to be robbed and killed.

It is no surprise, then, that Father Dick Preston openly condemned the entire system of Capitalism: “Capitalism,” he said, “is a sin. Capitalism for me, and for many of us at this present moment is an evil. It is contrary to all that is good, it’s contrary to the common good, it’s contrary to compassion, and it’s contrary to all of the major religions. Capitalism is precisely what the holy book reminds us of that what is unjust”.

Capitalism is an evil system that only benefits the sinful elite. Given that fact, a question comes to mind: how is such an obscene and greedy system still running? If we, the working class are a larger number (95%) why have we put up with such an immoral system that strips us of every right? It is simply because of our wrongful, greedy desires. We have been deceived by these Capitalists and fallen into their constructed trap of the “American dream”. We all have that small lingering hope that maybe, just maybe, one day we might be part of that elite class. Trust me, we won’t. The deceitful rich have no intention of ever sharing it with anyone.

As the problems, miseries and grimness of this world increases, Capitalism will continue to do its job of delving us deeper and deeper into a dark hole until the point where there is no ray of light visible. We are already deep in that hole, but we as a society need to revolt and break loose of the deceitful promises that capitalism offers. As Michael Moore said in his documentary, “Capitalism: A Love Story”, “Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil, you have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people”.