I am hungry. I need food. To get food, I need money. I have some money I can spend to get a meal, but it really is not all that much. I need to stay in college so that I can get a better job, so that I do not have to keep living on pennies. If I complete college and climb up the corporate ladder, I can get enough money to live comfortably and finally have my dream life.
What I just described is how college students across America are forced to think. This is because of our prevailing economic system: capitalism. Now, I do believe that capitalism, at least, in the somewhat socialistic way it is practiced in the United States, is one of the best economic systems humanity has developed. That being said, I think capitalism is morally flawed.
The reason our current system of capitalism works so well is that it feeds our base desires, most prominently, greed. People want stuff. They are greedy. This greed leads people towards wanting more money so that they can buy the things they want. Capitalism gives people the perfect situation to commoditize anything that people will buy. I believe that humans are sinful and have many twisted desires. The main of these desires are described by the cardinal sins: lust, gluttony, pride, wrath, envy, sloth and greed. Our current system allows people to commoditize things that allow people to give in to what they want most.
One of the biggest examples of this is the modern porn industry. It is one of the most highly profitable in America. I believe this is, in large part, because of our economic and political systems. Once people realized just how lucrative the porn industry could be, they lost the values that they might have held beforehand. People are so blinded by their greed that they cannot see the harm they are inflicting on the world.
Another example of greed triumphing in our current system is the food industry. Companies pack foods with artificial oils and sugars, all while knowing that they are terrible for us. They do this because they know it will increase profits, by both lowering the cost of production and making food taste better than it actually is.
One might object, “Is greed not universal? There have always been tyrants, swindlers and thieves. How can you say that these results are due to capitalism itself and not just bad people trying to play the system?” The answer is, I cannot. The reason any economic or political system is good or bad is because of how people act within it. In theory, aristocracy, democracy and monarchy are all good. In practice, however, things fall apart. Capitalism in our current political system allows for large companies. These large companies are often unrestrained morals, which is how many of them get so large in the first place. Large companies have many customers. Each of these customers is influenced by the company they buy from. The reason I am critiquing capitalism is not because I think it is inherently evil, but rather because it allows a pathway for people with a disregard for morality to guide the values of the masses. In a sense, it is not our elected officials who run the country anymore; it is those with the power to commoditize.
Why do I say all of this? While there is not much that we can do to change the intentions of those running our major businesses, we can choose what we do with our own money. Do we buy from the chain company next to our house or the mom and pops store down the street? When we buy something, are we doing it because we need it or because we think it will help us feel more satisfied? Our small, every day, value-oriented actions are all we can do to keep us sane in this crazy world.
Here is one final question: How can I say all this? Have I not benefited so much from the economic system that I claim only works due to feeding our base desires? Perhaps. I have a place to sleep, a full belly, a good education and knowledge that if I were to run out of money, there are government programs I could fall back on. I have the money to spend at the mom and pops store down the road. Does that make me a better person than a person who does not? Maybe I am some sort of elitist prick, but doing what you can is more than enough to live a morally based life in our society. In the end, it was not the rich who gave large amounts to the temple who were counted righteous; it was the widow who only had two copper coins to give.
