Simultaneously with capitalism’s rise, in the latter half of the 19th century, the dreams of many poor became embodied in the ideals of socialism and the beginnings of new egalitarianism, which took years to include women, Black people, and other oppressed groups. The emerging empires of the 20th century inherited tremendous wealth from colonialism and continued to conquer numerous countries while polluting and burning up the resources of the earth at a staggering rate. The rise of capitalism in the 19th century brought incredible changes for humanity but it also came at a high cost for the world’s people. The dreams of serfs and free workers in the new world created their own mythology of American exceptionalism and democracy, but were marred by the slaughter of the original nations of the Americas and the economic foundation of the United States based on slavery. Throughout history, it has often been the baggage that each generation carries that has undermined the social revolutions that struggled for change. How ironic that the corporate world whines about a lack of workers while thousands of Haitian and Central Americans clamor at our borders eager for jobs and a better life, and thousands of African, Middle Eastern and Ukrainian victims of wars fueled by the wealthy countries seek refuge in Europe.Įvery form of government and ideology is only as good as the people who create and run it. The easy answer is to blame immigrants, the poor and foreigners. Fearing the loss of “white” privilege in an ever more diverse and egalitarian world, with economies in turmoil, and extreme weather events pounding our world and compounding a serious extinction event, people are afraid for their future. Right-wing extremism and anti-science ignorance are fueling nationalist movements while denying climate change. An absurd example is Kazakhstan where cryptocurrency investment is so great that it’s endangering the country’s electric grid system, recently reported by the BBC. Capitalism continues to produce endless junk, burning through the world’s resources. Most drastically, short-term fossil fuel profit remains more important than the survival of humanity as corporations use every stall tactic possible to slow the use of renewable energy. Just think, capitalists used to sneer at communists who were unable to provide consumer goods to their people in Russia and elsewhere. Today a handful of capitalists control the lion’s share of the world’s wealth while containers sit clogged off the shores everywhere. The insanity of shipping the bulk of the world’s production of goods from China became painfully clear with the help of a world pandemic. The quality of products is less and less important, and the survival of companies became less important than selling debts, taking CEO bailouts and running away. Meanwhile, millions of manufacturing workers lost their jobs in the West as it hobbled along with a service economy despite the IT bubble.
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