Population and Capitalism

The United States seems to have an almost religious belief in capitalism, but how well does it work out for the majority of our citizens? In a system based on profit motive, competition, and private ownership, the winners are those who enjoy the most profit; the losers are children, the elderly, the disabled, and caretakers . . . all the people at the bottom of the totem pole of productivity. Currently, with the Black Lives Matter protests happening across our nation, our country’s history of racist policies and attitudes and police brutality are coming to light. May this be a starting point to bring awareness to the prevalent bigotry, oppression, and inequity that exists in our society, government, and economy.

Aside from the blatant racism that exists, structural inequities apply to anyone on the bottom of the economic ladder. In a capitalist society, without an adequate social safety net and equal access to education, many people fall through the cracks. Capitalism does not promote equality of opportunity, instead promoting an inequality that serves the winners . . . those reaping the highest profits, the corporations, their executives, and the wealthy by birth. The theory of monopoly capitalism, which is what we currently have here in the US, refers to an environment where the government intervenes in the economy to protect larger monopolistic or oligopolistic (market structure with a small number of firms) businesses from threats.

“Capitalism” is an economic system in which private individuals or businesses own capital goods (tangible property) and the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth. The production of goods is based on supply and demand in the general market, what we call a “market economy.”

Following centuries of feudalism, capitalism emerged in the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, with the establishment of “mercantilism” (the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government should encourage by means of protectionism). It depends on the enforcement of private property rights. The word capitalism originates from the Latin word capitalis, which means “head of cattle,” first used by the French socialist Louis Blanc in 1850 to signify a system of exclusive ownership of industrial means of production by private individuals rather than shared ownership.²³ Free market capitalism leaves the private individuals unrestrained (without checks or controls), and leads to monopolistic or oligopolistic industry domination, and a growing concentration of income and wealth. In the end, the economy is rigged by those with the power and resources to buy the politicians, regulatory heads, and even the courts.

One of the inherent needs of capitalism is expansion. It depends on population growth because it needs ever larger markets (more consumers), cheaper labor, and new construction, since growth in population increases the need for more roads, schools, and other infrastructure. The fatal flaw of capitalism is that it depends on the ever-increasing use of natural resources, which are finite. As capitalism spreads around the globe, consumption rises. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the consumption of goods and services in industrial nations has been rising steadily for decades and is quickly increasing in many developing nations.

Colonialism, imperialism, and the spread of capitalist economies have shaped the contemporary world, with a focus on exploiting an “other;” suppressing cultural practices, while influencing political borders and global economic networks. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, European and western nations expanded their influence to all corners of the globe, exploiting indigenous peoples and extracting resources.

Our nation emerged through a history of colonial imperialism (“colonial” refers to the establishing of territories)—the takeover of a country or territory by a stronger nation with the intent of dominating the political, economic, and social life of the people of that nation or territory. Imperialism refers to political and monetary dominance, either formally or informally. Some have called it the most advanced stage of capitalism, requiring monopolies of labor, exploitation of natural resources, and the exportation of finance capital rather than goods.

Military power accompanies imperialism (and colonialism) and is used to protect and advance the geopolitical and geo-economic interests of nation states. When European settlers arrived in the Americas, there were over 10 million indigenous peoples living there. By 1900, their estimated population was under 300,000. Native Americans were subjected to many forms of violence, all with the intention of destroying their community and culture. The US government authorized over 1,500 wars, attacks, and raids on indigenous tribes . . . the most of any country in the world against its indigenous people. My country, the United States, was founded on a history of that genocide, something that we as a country have not acknowledged and, until we do, we cannot heal that wound, or truly take stock of the impact it has had on who and where we are today, as a country, and as a people.

Looking at history, we see militarism, nationalism, and war accompany the growth of capitalism because the military is needed to defend a nation’s interests. This partnership of the military and governments working together has continued to foster national growth and expansion. We see capitalists supporting governments that use the military to help them acquire and protect resources and reduce competition. The threat of military power alone is often enough to convince a government to grant rights to multinational companies. Hence, military spending expands along with the growth of capitalism.

I recall in 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower warning of the dangers of the US military industrial complex, sharing concerns that military spending could crowd out spending on other priorities . . . and it has. In the US, military spending is greater than that of the next ten countries combined.²⁴ This is a disturbing reality showing movement in the wrong direction.

The mandate of capitalism is to grow and expand its resources in order to sustain itself. It creates a society organized around a profit motive, and a society with ever increasing inequality. Humanity must rethink its priorities and move in a direction toward more equality and sustainability.

We are in a moment of time where the COVID-19 pandemic is shedding virus everywhere over the globe, and simultaneously shedding more light on the inequities and inequalities in our societies the world over. To quote Martin Luther King Jr.: “The profit motive, when it is the sole basis of an economic system, encourages a cutthroat competition and selfish ambition that inspires men to be more concerned about making a living than making a life.” A case in point is where presently we have states bidding against each other, against hospitals, and against the federal government for needed personal protective equipment (PPE). Widespread price gouging is occurring, and the obvious inequities and shortcomings of a for-profit healthcare system are being brought to light.

Something is deeply amiss when we, supposedly the richest country in the world, do not provide universal healthcare or a reasonable social safety net. Right now, with over 30 million people unemployed, many have lost their healthcare, are unable to pay their mortgage or rent, or even feed their families. The dysfunction of this inhumane system is becoming ever-more evident.

My husband and I came out of the era of the idealistic 60s, and we rejected the predominant lifestyle and values that we could not embrace. We attempted to find an alternative—community living—and tried to survive financially on the fringe of a “for-profit” culture and economy. Since neither of us had family money and my husband did not believe in owning land, we did not accumulate wealth. For the decade before my husband’s death, we lived with our daughter in a very simply constructed portable home he had built that could be put up in a day and taken down in a few hours, leaving no sign that it had been there. We had a simple gray-water system and a composting toilet and we rented the land. Because we did not fit the specifications of the current building laws, we had to deal with being semi-outlaws, camouflaging our house, moving it. . . . One nearby building inspector supported our experiment, while another wanted our house torn down. My husband was a master of backyard technology . . . taking discarded objects and making them useful. I guess I mention this at all because I know from my experience that we can live more simply, and that if we step outside the given economic structure of society, we might find creative ways of living differently.

The six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, which consisted of thousands of agricultural villages and hunting grounds, developed a system of collective stewardship of the land and a democratic system that avoided political control going to any single group. The clan mothers (the oldest woman from each extended family) distributed the stored grain equitably and were the ones who chose the men who represented their clan in the governing councils. They had the right to speak in the council and to recall unsatisfactory representatives. Some of their constitution inspired key parts of our government here in the US.²⁵ We have much to learn from their model. Imagine if our grandmothers became our leaders! We would see a much different world.

This is an opportunity for us to make big changes in the narrative and the trajectory, to find ways to work together instead of competing against one another. With commitment and persistence, we need to envision an international community with new cooperative and shared systems of government and economy. We need to find an ideology with heart and compassion . . . even though the odds are stacked against us.