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Anyone has the ability to flourish if they work hard enough for it, right? Regardless of where they come from or what family they are born into, if people just pick themselves up by their bootstraps — the sky is the limit. Or at least that’s what they tell us. Because while capitalism has fuelled economic growth and increased our standard of living, people are hesitant to back a system that now seems to offer little other than uncertainty and crisis.

So it’s no surprise that so many are dissatisfied with how unjust the system we’re living in actually is. And two corners on the internet capture these feelings, the 'Capitalism In Decay' subreddit and the capitalism criticizing page on Facebook. People over there are holding up a mirror to society and showing off examples of how upside-down our world can seem, one image at a time.

We’ve gone through these two communities and handpicked a selection of accurate and insightful posts that might shake you up, make you laugh and cry at the same time, or at least give a few thought-provoking ideas to consider. So continue scrolling and share your thoughts with us in the comments! And if you’re interested in even more anti-capitalist content, be sure to check out our previous publication right here.

#1

Won’t Someone Think About Those Poor Billionaires

Won’t Someone Think About Those Poor Billionaires

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MissPrideGirl
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And this is why we should tax the rich. All that money should go to people who actually need it. Not people who waste their money sending dildo-shaped rockets into space.

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#2

This Country Really Hates Poor People

This Country Really Hates Poor People

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#3

Pain Is Currency

Pain Is Currency

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Julie C Rose
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also public healthcare doesn’t “destroy” the health insurance industry; it just creates competition for it…which is supposed to be a characteristic of a free market?

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As Dr. Ron Roberts, a chartered psychologist, lecturer at Kingston University, and author of several books such as Mental Health in Crisis and Psychology and Capitalism: The Manipulation of Mind, pointed out, capitalism is about creating endless wants and needs.

"[It is about] creating the idea that there is something inherently deficient in us — and that when we cannot cope, it is because of individual weakness, defect or fragility, rather than the exploitative nature of the system," the psychologist told Bored Panda. "This is reflected in the mental health system which identifies any difficulties in coping as illness or disorder. No matter how inhuman the system, we are supposed to manage without problems."

#5

It’s Too Expensive, There’s Absolutely No Way It Can Work... /S

It’s Too Expensive, There’s Absolutely No Way It Can Work... /S

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Ivana Bašić
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sweetie, are you counting the US as a developed country? Because other than speaking English and having smartphones, it has all the characteristics of a third world one.

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#6

Louder For The Ceos At The Top

Louder For The Ceos At The Top

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Julie C Rose
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Orrrr we need a better economy AND drugs that don’t cause fatigue for those of us whose mental health issues were caused by things that won’t go away in a non-capitalist society.

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In theory, capitalism as a system may sound simple. It is rewarding effort, growth, and innovation, all while fueling the economic growth of human civilization. This system encourages the free market and provides opportunities for everyone willing to put in the work. But as great as it sounds on paper, the reality is much more complicated than that.

Capitalism has a bad reputation for causing inequality and alienation. Many workers see it as corrupt, unethical, uncaring, and often in line with what’s in the minds of the people in power. The capitalist society is maximizing profits like there’s no tomorrow, and it’s beginning to look like it’s going too far. After all, things have been getting pretty dystopian, from overworked employees that are having enough of being exploited to the middle class shrinking at alarming rates, and to the soaring inflation that makes it feel almost impossible to afford to be a person anymore.

#7

Murica. The End

Murica. The End

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Lady Goldberry
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My partner just had surgery yesterday to remove a cancerous tumour from his tongue. From the 1st GP appointment to today, it has been around 8 weeks, with MRI's and whatnot between. He's 45, had cancer twice and will be able to go on with his life as he should be...cannot begin to describe my gratitude for the NHS right now. Oh, and we've been paying into this system our whole lives. Those of you who think universal healthcare is something to be sneered at are dead wrong.

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#8

Remember The Panama Papers

Remember The Panama Papers

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James D
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The journalist who released them was killed, does that count?

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What we see now often gets labeled as late-stage capitalism, a popular catch-all phrase that refers to the inequalities and injustices of the contemporary economy. As Kimberly Amadeo, the president of World Money Watch explained, it highlights the unrealistic views of the wealthiest 1% and describes how the middle class is largely unaware of the struggles of the poor. "It's the sense that monopolies, and the oligarchs that run them, have rigged the system in their favor," she wrote. "Many feel that capitalism's winners may even favor inequality. With it, they have fewer competitive threats. They 'rig the system' by creating barriers to entry."

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This phrase expresses people’s frustrations with the modern capitalist society, something that has been years in the making. In the hunt for never-ending profit, capitalism as a whole has disappointed people and even started failing them. Many are questioning our world and why it allows a select few to thrive while the rest of society has a hard time trying to make ends meet.

#11

Context Of Agenda!

Context Of Agenda!

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#12

It's Ok To Hate This Dominant Economic State Of The World

It's Ok To Hate This Dominant Economic State Of The World

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VodkaInMySweetTea
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's because in America your value is equated with your ability to produce. If you are seen as not being able to produce much of anything to contribute to society at large, then your life doesn't have value. Banks = loans, farmers = food, billionaires = jobs. The sick? vets? children? elderly? Very low production value. No reason to invest in them. It's f****d up.

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According to Denise Stanley, a professor of economics at California State University-Fullerton, capitalism may have lifted millions of people out of absolute poverty, but inequality can be corrosive within a society. "Absolute poverty is basically folks are able to get… $4 per day per person. It’s a threshold measure," she explained.

The economy is growing, but income inequality can make people feel insecure as their relative status in the economy declines. Behavioral economists have shown that "our status compared to other people, our happiness, is derived more by relative measures and distribution than by absolute measures. If that’s true then capitalism has a problem," Stanley said.

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#13

Never Equate The Two

Never Equate The Two

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Julie C Rose
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As someone who hangs out in lefty spaces, left wing rage is often misdirected at people who make minor mistakes or write a fanfic that someone doesn’t like, because that’s easier and more cathartic than any real activism.

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#14

Capitalism Kills

Capitalism Kills

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#15

Based Charlie Kirk

Based Charlie Kirk

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RP
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Let alone the pittance that American universities pay the majority of their academic teaching staff who are also on short-term contracts

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"Capitalism is inherently exploitative," Dr. Roberts told us. "What we have now is a form of capitalism in which the social constraints on its operation given by the power of organized labor are perhaps at their weakest for some considerable time. The system always seeking new expanding markets now seeks to commoditize all aspects of human behavior and feeling."

"Capitalism has always been at odds with many human values — as its overriding purpose is to produce profit, not human well-being. Treating human beings as commodities effectively turns them into things, sources of profit. As the psychoanalyst Erich Fromm remarked, it turns human life away from the enjoyment of being into seeking relationships based on possessing or 'having.'"

#17

Silence Of The Lambs

Silence Of The Lambs

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#18

Slavery Didn't End. It Evolved

Slavery Didn't End. It Evolved

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MissPrideGirl
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Little to no pay at all” is just a fancy way of saying slavery.

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Financial expert Sam Dogen told us in an earlier interview that there is no perfect economic system. "However, capitalism is the best system we've got that advances technology, increases productivity and efficiency, and gives people a chance to improve their financial situation. Capitalism provides people the most hope to get ahead based on hard work. Therefore, I believe capitalism will remain the system going forward," he explained.

However, the system's shortcomings have become extremely apparent, especially in the past few years. "The biggest flaw to capitalism is nepotism and family dynasties," Dogen told us. "This happens when the extraordinarily wealthy hoard their wealth and provide favors to their friends and children. This helps ensure the rich get richer and the powerful stay powerful. Nepotism doesn't mean the rest of us can't get ahead as well. It just means that certain people will have a much easier time getting ahead than others."

#19

Decaying Capitalism Spares No One

Decaying Capitalism Spares No One

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#20

But We Are Getting Better Every Day Apparently!

But We Are Getting Better Every Day Apparently!

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Lady Goldberry
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They're just laughing at us all. But you know, the ordinary folk aren't supposed to know how much the overlords fear them...

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Dr. Roberts added that when it comes to pointing out capitalism’s weaknesses, the list can get disturbingly long: "The idea of perpetual growth, individualism, the fundamentally amoral nature of the economic system…" However, it isn’t helpful to see things in terms of binary opposites, the psychologist argued. "The systems in which we live need to change and are doing — but they need to be pushed in a more pro-human, pro-environmental direction."

#22

Based Shaun

Based Shaun

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#23

I See A Pattern

I See A Pattern

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Jiska Veldhuizen
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will never understand how a healthcare insurance is tied to having a job, wouldn't you need insurance even more when you are sick and can't work?

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#24

Capitalism At Its Finest

Capitalism At Its Finest

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Unsure how to deal with their bottled-up feelings, thousands of people are voicing their concerns online in a bid to find ease knowing some like-minded people agree that capitalism seems to be in conflict with human values. But as Dr. Roberts noted, looking for comfort is not the answer.

"We must seek to live better lives whether they are comfortable or not and extend warmth, support and friendship to as many people as we can," he told us. "We must learn to deal with our emotional responses to the unfolding chaos and turmoil around us — not by suppressing them but by sharing them, feeling them and continuing to think about what to do while we feel them," he concluded.

#25

Because Who Needs Jobs Anyway

Because Who Needs Jobs Anyway

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Katarzyna Gratka
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The rich would probably want the poor to disappear from their sight and stop causing problems.

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#26

PSA: Capitalism Is Bad For Your Health

PSA: Capitalism Is Bad For Your Health

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BadCat
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't really get enticed with ads much. They can be interesting but just because there's something profound in the message about cats, I'm not about to buy that brand's cat food.

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#28

It's All Class War

It's All Class War

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Random Anon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In reality, the politicians with the biggest coffers can run their campaigns and shove propaganda down peoples' throats and get votes. So cynically speaking, it's just folks with common sense vs. the zombies with some gray matter short up top.

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#29

But They Take The Risks

But They Take The Risks

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Random Anon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here's the thing. For limited liability companies, you just fold. Unless creditors can prove some shady shenanigans going on, siphoning money off to phoney vendors for example, the owners have next-to-no fall-out. You pay your accountants to make sure of that. At worst, they go bankrupt but rarely see jail time.

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#30

"Starvation Exists Because It Isn't Profitable To Solve"

"Starvation Exists Because It Isn't Profitable To Solve"

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Michael Se
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Is food a right?" asks a person who gets half the year as paid vacation.

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#31

Wtf

Wtf

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Got Myself 4 Pandas
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd rather walk than sit on that thing, it'd be less painful! Have to work on my swimming though if I want to leave the UK

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#33

Capitalism-In-Decay-Posts

Capitalism-In-Decay-Posts

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#34

Capitalism As Religion, Walter Benjamin (1921)

Capitalism As Religion, Walter Benjamin (1921)

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Random Anon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup play into the tribal minds of most people. As long as the tribe wills it, they will jump off a cliff. This has rung true for both politics and marketing.

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#35

A Landlord Contemplating To Shut Off The Water To Tenants Who Can't Pay Their Rent Due To The Quarantine

A Landlord Contemplating To Shut Off The Water To Tenants Who Can't Pay Their Rent Due To The Quarantine

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Note: this post originally had 65 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.