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Challenge Ended

Rant on capitalism.

The most riveting rant wins. I will announce the winner and explain my reasons for choosing this writer on October 3, 2017.

Ended October 2, 2017 • 7 Entries • Created by A

Challenge

Rant on capitalism.

The most riveting rant wins. I will announce the winner and explain my reasons for choosing this writer on October 3, 2017.

Wealth is artificial.

It's a gimmick, a bizarre social construct to ensure civilization's longevity. This incarnation of us anyway.

Think about it... today, you probably frequented a cafe, ordered a hot beverage, and either handed over a plastic card or paper or more pieces of plastic (Australia uses plastic notes), and in return, some person behind a machine produced your order. In tandem, some machine (half a country away) acknowledged the transaction, and deducted from some figure stored on another machine to indicate you have less capacity to order more hot beverages (or whatever else you wanted).

The concept of ownership is equally baffling. Think about it... we possess clothes, electronic devices, vehicles, houses. Our nearest evolutionary cousins, the Chimpanzees, missing out by a handful of chromosomes, have nothing (at least not legally).

Wealth and by extension, power and influence, is an illusion created between those who have lots and those who have none. And for those who are born with silver spoons in their mouths, they'll never fathom what it means to struggle.

So, NO. We are not all equal. We may bleed red, are susceptible to the same viruses and bacterium, breathe air, eat and defecate. But we are all different. We may all shit, but some of our shit don't fucking smell!

This is such a mind-fuck, isn't it? The filthy rich get filthier, and the rest of us, the 99% of us who only have access to 1% of the pie; we'll just keep running after our cheese (because some jerk keeps moving it!).

Therein lies the trap:

The more you earn,

...the more you feel obliged to provide your family with better things in life;

...the more you feel the need to give your children an advantage so they may gain a better chance at success;

...the more you feel disenfranchised when compared with others who were more blessed;

...the more depressed you get;

I wish I could escape. But I can’t.

The reality of it is that I’m a slave, pawn, puppet, expendable red-shirt in the grand scheme of things. I like to think that an individual, or groups of individuals sit out there in their plush comfortable leather chairs, smoking cigars, indulging on caviar pulling the strings from high above, dictating what happiness should be…

But I dare not. We are the ones to blame. Us. You and me, and that guy across the office, and that girl who works at the coffee shop.

We choose to sit tight, hang back, subscribe to the idea of capitalism—a bastard of a way of life...

...for rats like us.

#WhoMovedMyCheese #OnePowerBall #MyRantForSep

Image taken from: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-tot-cartoons-pg-photogallery.html

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@MsH @sandflea68

JD4

And it's still the best we got... so hang on for the ride.

@JD4 true, but only because we're so entrenched in the system for drastic change to be beneficial. I'm momentarily inspired to live off the grid, off the land. A man can dream, can't he?

Mavia

Vi thanks so much for the tag! I'd like to take a moment to reread and dwell on it... will get back to you over the weekend promise... naturally am aiming towards writing up my own bit on this :)M

@MsH I tagged because I resubmitted. Didn't spell check.

JD4

Well, you can live off the grid if you choose to. Capitalism doesn't restrict you from doing so, you need only the skills. There are other systems that would restrict you though. What kind of drastic change are you talking of btw?

Mavia

Thanks for letting me know! I've printed and will comment today/ tomorrow latest thx:) M

poeman

The idea of the 1% controlling the world (as put forth by the occupy movement) is, in my humble opinion, a house of cards when you look at it in any detail. In truth, if you have a home, clothes, food in your belly, a car, a tv, a computer, a cell phone, or many of the other conveniences of life, you are part of the 1%. It may be true that 10% of the people have 90% of the wealth, but if all the money in the world were divided equally among the worlds population tomorrow, in five years 10% of the population would have 90% of the wealth. The difference would be that then you might not have your computer to go online with, or electricity, or a car etc. Anyone who thinks communism, fascism, etc., is a better alternative to capitalism is very mistaken, and a poor student of history as well.

@poeman I'm not a student of history, nor do I claim to fully grasp the numbers. All I know is that if we don't accept and promote meaningful change, together with the sacrifices that are required to implement change, it's only going to get worse and worse. Capitalism may work, but it's very broken. But human greed is what's holding us back. Everything wrong in the world can be traced back to some form of capitalism. There must be another way.

Mavia

Vi I tend to agree... there must be another way... undoubtedly flawed and corruptible as well! The beginnings of social systems tout the benefits of mankind under it... wasn't the Industrial Revolution supposed to save man from work? and Capitalism intended to give control to individuals? Communism was supposed to be for the common good! ...in our everyday choices we do have the ability to counteract, though not as you write "escape" the system being part and parcel. Change of course requiring a shift in balance, opening the doors to something new... every gesture counts :)M

@MsH Indeed. We need the thinkers of tomorrow now, here, today. We can't move the world, not yet, but only if we could sow the seeds of change. How do you convince a poor man to part with his hard-earned money for something that money can't buy? If only Gene Roddenberry were still alive, the Great Bird would lead us out of despair.

JD4

Capitalism has brought the most prosperity to the world than any system before or after it. Much of the issues today arise from Government corruption that facilitates private corruption (not the other way round). I understand that you want to see some kind of change, but you haven't really specified what changes you want you want to see. Out of interest, what issues do you see and how would you change them.. Thanks.

poeman

"Everything wrong in the world can be traced back to some form of capitalism." That is a very bold, very broad statement. Communism is responsible for the killing of more than 100,000,000 people in the twentieth century. Fascism is responsible for the holocaust. Today, communism in China and North Korea oppresses citizens in unimaginable ways. While some would argue that China has welcomed capitalism into its society, it is actually controlled by the government and not capitalism at all. These are leftest ideologies that are as far from capitalism as you can get. Everything wrong in the world can be traced back to some form of capitalism?

I am 21 years or older.