“Have You Considered Dying?”: 50 Bold Posts And Memes That Give Capitalism A Run For Its Money

It turns out money isn’t the man he thinks he is. And capitalism ain’t the chick she claims to be. In fact, more and more people are starting to look down on the two…instead of holding them in high regard. That's according to a global survey of over 34,000 people in 34 different countries.

The 2023 study found that pro-capitalist attitudes dominate in only six of the countries—mainly Poland and the United States. "The most frequently mentioned criticisms of capitalism are that capitalism is dominated by the rich and that capitalism leads to growing inequality," notes Rainer Zitelmann, the author of the research paper "Attitudes towards capitalism in 34 countries on five continents."

Zitelmann says the term ‘capitalism’ was deliberately omitted from the first set of questions in the survey. But it was "explicitly mentioned" in the other two sets of questions. The researchers wanted to use the second set of questions to find out what respondents associated with the word ‘capitalism.’

"This set of questions used a list of ten terms, namely prosperity, innovation, greed, coldness, progress, corruption, freedom, pressure to perform, a wide range of goods, and environmental degradation," explains the expert.

A third set of questions included 18 positive and negative statements about capitalism, such as: ‘Capitalism is responsible for hunger and poverty’; ‘Capitalism leads to growing inequality’; and ‘Capitalism entices people to buy products they don't need.’ Or: ‘Capitalism has improved conditions for ordinary people in many countries’; ‘Capitalism is an especially efficient economic system’; and ‘Capitalism means that consumers determine what is offered, and not the state.’

The six countries with pro-capitalist attitudes were Poland, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Nigeria, and the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, the eight ‘neutral’ countries included Argentina, Sweden, Mongolia, Romania, Brazil, Nepal, Uganda, and Vietnam.

20 nations stood firm in their anti-capitalist attitudes. Among those countries: Montenegro, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, and, surprisingly (say the researchers), Switzerland.

The main gripes respondents had with capitalism, according to the survey results, were that it's "dominated by the rich, who set the political agenda"; "leads to growing inequality"; "promotes selfishness and greed"; and "leads to monopolies."

The researchers also found that, in most countries, those with higher incomes and levels of education, men, and those who identified as being on the right of the political spectrum were less anti-capitalist—or more pro-capitalist—than the population at large.

Meanwhile, Oxfam revealed last year that the richest 1% have more wealth than the bottom 95 percent of the world's population put together. The poverty-fighting NGO wants to level the playing field, and is calling for the wealthiest to be taxed on their income, inheritance, and profits.

Oxfam is shining a light on the "unfairness of the richest having to pay minimal taxes, while the working class and small business entrepreneurs have staggeringly high taxes to contribute," reports Global Citizen.

To drive the message home, Oxfam points out that billionaire Elon Musk ​​paid just over 3% in taxes from 2014 to 2018; while an entrepreneur in Northern Uganda, who makes an estimated $80 a month in profit, pays a tax rate of 40%. The rich get richer while the poor die trying has never rung more true...

“Taxes on the richest in wealthier nations could also raise revenue to help their governments live up to existing aid and climate finance commitments, and to deliver much-needed additional investment to fight poverty, inequality, climate change, and humanitarian crises,” argues Oxfam.

You might be surprised to know that some of the rich are open to being slapped with higher taxes. In January 2022, more than a 100 millionaires and billionaires signed a letter, calling on world leaders to raise their taxes. The group, which calls themselves “Patriotic Millionaires,” cited the unfairness of the current tax system and rising inequality.

“This injustice baked into the foundation of the international tax system has created a colossal lack of trust between the people of the world and the elites who are the architects of this system,” they wrote. "To put it simply, restoring trust requires taxing the rich. The world—every country in it—must demand the rich pay their fair share. Tax us, the rich, and tax us now."

Last year, Oxfam said that the five richest men globally have more than doubled their wealth since 2020. The charity warned that the world could have its first trillionaire within a decade. But if current trends persist, poverty will not be eradicated for another 229 years.

Shortly afterwards, more than 250 of the world's mega-rich once again called on governments to "tax our extreme wealth."

“We are surprised that you have failed to answer a simple question that we have been asking for three years: when will you tax extreme wealth?” wrote the millionaires and billionaires.

“Our request is simple: we ask you to tax us, the very richest in society," they added. "This will not fundamentally alter our standard of living, nor deprive our children, nor harm our nations’ economic growth. But it will turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future.”

The open letter, titled “Proud To Pay More,” was signed by millionaires and billionaires from 17 countries. They included Disney heir Abigail Disney, screenwriter Simon Pegg, and Valerie Rockefeller.

“Billionaires are wielding their extreme wealth to accumulate political power and influence, simultaneously undermining democracy and the global economy,” said one of the signatories, Brian Cox. “It’s long past time to act. If our elected officials refuse to address this concentration of money and power, the consequences will be dire.”