Welcome...

When we were born we were welcomed into the world by our loving parents. Or at least that's the ideal and, I'm happy to say, the norm as far as I can judge. The family is our first experience with the collective of people, which grows larger and larger until we reach the point that we spread our wings and try our luck in that nebulous thing we call society...

And that's where capitalism fails us all. While we were welcomed into the world, and while we're taught to believe we're part of a society of peers, that society is a lot of things, but welcoming it is not. It is a strange thing to think about; as a collective of people we've managed to reach a point where not a single individual has to want for anything they need to live a life of relative happiness and content. There's no need for hunger or homelessness. There's no reason why the three bottom rungs of Maslow's hierarchy of needs shouldn't be satisfied for all 7.5 billion individuals on this planet. But that's where capitalism spoils the fun, as it can not function if everybody's basic needs are met.

Full employment is a nice dream, it sounds great. But it can't happen under capitalism. The systemic pressure for ever more profits and growth needs jobless people to keep down the wages of the working people. If an employer can no longer say "if you don't want this job for the wages I offer, there are countless more out there who will be grateful to take your job," wages would have to rise and profits would have to go down. Although capitalism advertises itself as the one system that gives you the freedom to refuse a job, to go find another job, that freedom isn't a realistic one. That job is what earns you the right to have the bottom rungs of Maslow's pyramid fulfilled. There's no need for homelessness as the average city has more empty houses and buildings than there are homeless people, but the homeless fulfill a similar function to the unemployed in a capitalist society. The homeless are a constant warning for those who work a job they hate and doesn't pay enough; don't make too much demands or we'll hire someone else and you may end up on the street...

Capitalism depends on exploitation, always. That even goes for the much friendlier forms of capitalism found in Europe, you know, the ones we label as "social democracies." Ultimately those societies can only offer this friendly capitalism because of exploitation of the global south. What goes for individuals, goes for entire nations as well in capitalism; someone, somewhere has to be exploited for profits to exist, that includes the profits used to finance the expansive welfare state in European social democracies. I'm glad the below linked video, which is about how Finland combats homelessness, touches on that point.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and reading my posts dear reader, I appreciate that a lot :-) If you like my content, please consider leaving a comment, upvote or resteem. I'll be back here tomorrow and sincerely hope you'll join me. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy!