By Matija Šerić

The capitalist system places the market and its principles at the center of its functioning, not people and their desires and needs for survival, recognition, emancipation, and respect. To put a non-living body (the market) ahead of the living (people) would be laughable if it weren’t true. Since the time of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher at the end of the 20th century, the market has become the main driving force of economic life in the West, while people’s needs have been neglected. Such politicians prevail today in the EU and the USA, convinced that the market, not the government, is the key to achieving prosperity and freedom. Obviously wrong, since the situation is getting worse. The rich become richer, and the poor poorer.

Offshore and Outsourcing

Capitalism created outsourcing, which led to a massive outflow of jobs from the developed countries of North America and Western Europe to China, India, Pakistan, and other nations. Mass layoffs, whose only purpose is to increase profit, have become the standard, as has the relocation of entire industries to China, regardless of whether the average American can pay his mortgage and keep his home—one of the sacred values of American society. Offshore jobs destroyed the middle class of America and Western Europe.

Outsourcing happened as leading companies sought to preserve competitiveness by cutting costs and finding cheap overseas labor. Even if companies remain in their home countries, employers rely on automation to reduce the workforce. While in the early stages of capitalism workers were the main beneficiaries, now they are its biggest losers. Although it may seem that countries like China and India profit from such capitalism, this is only partially true, because in the long run they face the same fate as Europeans and Americans. There will always be cheaper labor willing to work for the bare minimum needed for survival.

Debt Slavery

Capitalism created the system of credit and living on debt. Debt slavery is at the very core of capitalism. Capitalists strive for their companies to continuously make profit and maintain steady growth. The same applies to states. However, since this is often not possible, a system of borrowing and credit was developed. The debt slavery of companies and states can worsen the lives of millions, but ordinary people are most affected by personal loans for housing, cars, and other consumer goods.

An interesting trend in the USA is that there are fewer and fewer jobs, yet more and more loans, since everything is available on credit. Loans often cannot be repaid, resulting in evictions, homelessness, or a life lived in fear and misery.

Endless Wars

Finally, capitalism is the fundamental culprit for wars, the most horrifying instrument of politics. Left-wing intellectuals and politicians have long argued that capitalism is responsible not only for the economic exploitation of the working class but also for imperialism and countless wars. At the beginning of the 20th century, Lenin claimed that the state uses military power to defend capitalist interests abroad—in other words, capitalism needs imperialism in order to survive. That is true.

At the dawn of the 21st century, wars are breaking out around the globe. In the Iraq War, from 2003 until today, between half a million and one million people have been killed, while in Syria around 600,000 people have died in the civil war. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine are primarily driven by capitalist demands to seize valuable resources and conquer desirable territories.

Potential Solutions

The nine examples listed clearly show the negative effects capitalism has on democracy, health, people’s economic well-being, and the condition of the environment and planet Earth. Countless more examples could be given to show how capitalism of the 21st century is a bad capitalism that is leading the world toward ruin in the long term.

What is the solution? Humanity has been searching for an answer for centuries. The most correct one is probably some form of humane socialism of the 21st century, or a hybrid system that would take the best virtues of socialism and capitalism and integrate them into a harmonious whole. Or perhaps something else entirely. But what is clear is that capitalism must find its alternative, or humanity faces an inglorious end.