English Essay: Capitalism is Failing, Why is So?

Amazon, Google, Facebook, and mining companies in 3rd-World countries all have one thing in common, they exploit workers. Now, you might say;

how could that be? Doesn't Google, Facebook, and sometimes Amazon have high wages and benefits? You must be a dirty commie!

This is a short-sighted comment and one that fails to recognize the political reality and material conditions of the companies' actions. Google and Facebook lead the way in establishing Capital's information imperialistic empire; Amazon has their wage slaves pee in cups but hey, at least they pay well. All the while mining companies in third-world countries pay their miners less than a penny yet have them work in less than unsafe conditions. But the Social-Democrats like Bernie Sanders and AOC say that we can save the working class by merely voting and enacting reforms. However, we can see from the end of WW2 and the devastating collapse of the Soviet Union, that social democracy that backslides closer and closer into laissez-faire Capitalism and the degradation of the welfare state.

Firstly, Social Democracy, the poster child of post-WW2 west-European recovery, is a reformist attitude of Socialism in a Capitalist framework and a strong social net. This ideology has helped countries like West Germany and the United Kingdom in recovering industry and employment. However, Social Democracy has historically, and still presently is, simply a concession of Leftist ideals into the current Capitalist System we have today. Social Democracy is just the welfare of the national middle-class (Petit-Bourgeois) and the proletariat from the national Bourgeois from the often oppressed and exploited peoples of the developing world. From just statistics alone, one can see the level of poverty and instability of African and southern Asian nations alone. This however, is not to say that the Developed world is devoid of its poverty either. But back to topic, the tools and means of production used by Social Democracies were mostly built from the raw materials that the Bourgeois directed from poor countries, using the cheap labor and unsafe working conditions in those nations. Even within the Social Democracies themselved can we say a reduction and abandonment of Leftist ideals, and the retreat into the failed Neo-Liberalism that we have today. After all, we have an excess of Welfare Queens do we not?

Moving along, The United States, once a bastion of Labor militancy and strong support of labor unions is now a bastion of anti-unionism and needless, reckless anti-communism; a country that became a laughing stock among the more Social Democratic European countries. The United States that once had President Franklin D. Roosevelt campaign for an UBI, can no longer afford to pay its teachers in various states. The United States and its ardent supporters claim that this country is a leader of the "Free World" yet wages have stagnated since the 70s, and union-busting, combined with the efforts of the FBI through its Counter Intelligence Program commonly abbreviated as COINTELPRO. Not to mention, the post-911 Patriot Act, founding of the DHS, and the NSA surveillance program and the attempt to ban encryption by our vary own government. What happens to our so-called "Bill of Rights" if the government that instated it tries its best to bypass it? One of our countries largest companies, Apple, builds their expensive and luxury devices from the sweat and blood of Chinese and Indian workers. Yet, in 2020 one of their suppliers' factory got burned down by its very own workers because they weren't paid. And that is only one incident, how many more do we not know and how many of that does Apple know (internally)? Amazon, the US' favorite retailer, is known for borderline illegal union-busting and ridiculous rules like the disability to urinate in the restrooms while at work. McDonalds, Walmarts (of which I work at), Burger King, Marco's Pizza, all pay just barely or below the relative poverty level of their areas. How can one work with $7 per hour yet still be expected to pay for their college loans, their children's college, or even an apartment in the cities anyway? More and more does the average American hear about wage stagnation, inflation, and our leaders' ineffectiveness from both sides of the aisle. Why does the government seem so inept to solve economic issues yet at the same time all-powerful in military and national defense measures? We do we spend over $690 billion USD yet at the same time spend less than 50% on public welfare and development? The only answer we can say is that the government, lobbied by the national Bourgeois, put up a farce and merely pretend to be on each others necks but are both controlled by the idol of capital (money).

One topic the brush upon is the hypocracy of Capitalism and its implementations. Capitalism, how is it supposed to exist? One could argue that Capitalism is the free trade between two consenting entities. But such a thing was once known as bartering has existed for much longer than even Feudalism. Free Trade is not exclusive to Capitalism, yet it is what proponents of Capitalism attribute it to as. So that begs the question, what is the definition of Capitalism, and what is a trait of Capitalism that we can use to generalize it? The definition of Capitalism as according to Merriam-Webster is

An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

As "distribution of goods…by competition in a free market" suggests, essential goods like food, water, and even housing is determined by the whims of a so-called "free market" yet the "invisible hand" does all but choke the lower classes of comfortable living and smacks the peoples of the developing world into destitute and dependence on the major Capitalist powers. How can we say that private ownership of the means of productions and capital a good thing? How can we say that capital concentrated at the hands of the few a good thing? How can we accept unemployment and worker abuse and negligence as a good thing? The only good Capitalism has done is move society away from the oppressive nature of Feudal lords and nobles into the manipulative Bourgeois class. One could say that we could just change our jobs if we don't like them, but how easy is it to say so. How could a struggling father, just change their job for another on whim? Nobody knows how long the hiring process would take, nor does one know wether they would even be accepted? In most cases, it is simply safer to just maintain their current job. Yet, proponents of the Capitalist system, would use every argument in the book even though said arguments are like children screaming at their peers in kindergarden, how does that even defend Capitalism? Free markets, as continously shown is inherently destined to fail and require the government to prop the system, so why are we still poking a dead horse? Moreover, the Capitalist system imagines a world with infinite resources, how would that be possible within a finite world? How could we keep mass producing phones, computers, tablets, all of which contain rare elements that could only be found in certain parts of the world. Eco-Capitalism fails to provide solutions to our growing climate issue yet we still put all our hopes in it.

To summarize, Capitalism, a failed, poorly implemented system, promises many yet fails. Capitalism, also a system that can be controlled within a Social Democratic system, yet it is a system that has shown time and time again to fail in the long run, by the concessions to the Bourgeois class and the retreats by the so-called "Leftists" in Social Democratic parties. Capitalism, also a system defended by the Bourgeois class and their power over the many Capitalist powers in the western world, of which terrorizes, dictates, and crushes all serious opposition to Capitalism, merely maintaing a facade. Capitalism, system where unemployment is considered good and treated god-like by its proponents. What must we do to overcome the many challenges we will face in the near-future, will we unite together against neocolonialism and exploitation? Or will we accept the new order and bow down to the Bourgeois and watch both our world and democracy crumble.