‘Humans Of Capitalism’: 40 Pics That Look At Capitalism From A Sarcastic And Ironic Perspective (New Pics)
Things are feeling pretty darn dystopian right about now. Oh, capitalism has pretty much always seemed to have this edge of unfairness and greed to it, but these days, things are reaching nightmare levels of aaaaAAAA and No, God, Please, No! Inflation is rearing its ugly head and many workers feel like their wallets are getting thinner and thinner. Energy prices are up. The cost of rent is up. Food prices are rising faster than bread yeast. And the stock market is in a pretty confusing place. So, yeah, things are looking pretty grim. And with how everything is costing a bit extra, you (yes, you), have effectively taken a pay cut.
Angel, the founder and moderator of the ‘Humans of Capitalism’ Instagram page, documents the most egregious and dystopian examples of capitalism and corporatism, and shares them with their 351k-strong community of followers. We’ve collected some of their best posts, showing the worst side of the reality you’re currently living in, to share with you today, Pandas. Scroll down to lose your faith in humanity (though if you want it back again later, take a peek at our super wholesome post full of animals and awesome people).
If you enjoyed this list and would like to see some more apocalyptic, soul-draining economic stuff, feel free to check out Bored Panda’s previous feature of the ‘Humans of Capitalism’ project in this article right here.
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Yup. And stop saying "expat" for Europeans or Americans who go live in another country, especially poorer countries. Just say "immigrant"
While the story has a sliver of truth (Reflective paint was tested on reindeer in Finland in 2014, the test failed along with similar others) the photo is fake and is part of a series by a visual designer and digital artist https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-glowingantlers-finland-idUSL1N2OP2K9
During an earlier in-depth interview, Angel, the founder of ‘Humans of Capitalism,’ opened up about their project and shared their thoughts about economics with Bored Panda.
"I was inspired by a lot of things, like the absurdism of the current capitalistic system and its flaws, the injustice that 99% of the people experience every day while they are at work, shopping, and home," they told us about what made them create the Instagram page in the first place.
Might have been during covid lockdowns, and the lobby was closed.
Load More Replies...Is the line start from top right corner? Oh my, that a long que for a coffee.
Yeah I pass these people on my way to work everyday. There's even a cop in the lot because it gets backed up on the highway. Makes no sense
Load More Replies...Convenience. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
This must be old gas is now $7... But people still do this stupid c**p
I never understood this, even when I worked for SB. Where I live people regularly line up their cars at the local SB and wait, but right across the street there's another locally-owned coffee shop that they could easily go to. That coffee shop also has comfy couches and chairs, live music, poetry and open mic nights, a fortune teller works there, and they even put on short plays (some of the staff are theater actors). Why the f**k would you choose to go to SB when you have the other, more interesting, friendly, and inviting place you can go to?
That's because they prioritize the drive-thru. I walked in once for a drink, waited 15 minutes !! for it while they were preparing all the drive-thru orders. They only started on my order when it calmed down. Never went there again.
I know! All those parents with their engines idling for sometimes 30 minutes! I can't believe they don't turn their cars off. I always do, and it never gets too hot or cold. Deal with it.
Load More Replies...This is so stupid - those arrogant anti American posts here on bored panda. Clean up in front of your own doors before you point to others! This site has turned from a fun entertaining site to an US bashing one. Of course there are more than enough things to criticize about the US but it is becoming ridiculous here!
With the price of gas now, waiting in line would in the drive thru would cost as much as the coffee.
This may have been during covid restrictions. I've never seen an empty Starbucks parking lot.
Canadians do it to - except at Tim Hortons (for coffee that tastes like swill).
Yeah I do not get this trend also. With that many empty spot, I'll just park and grab it over the counter. It's a lot quicker too.
Would they sell me latte if I parked my car and went for coffee on my foot?
America is all about personal convenience. There is no mandate for common sense.
Do people really wait for 30 people/cars to get coffee instead of parking, going inside, and get it?
Yes. I would be the unicorn to go in and get whatever it is everyone is waiting for. There is a different queue for inside versus outside so if inside was dead you usually got your food sooner. Now we are all trained to stay in our cars because of COVID. Businesses wildly change if it is okay to go inside or not due to staffing issues making it is not worth trying anymore.
Load More Replies...I really don't get this if you can afford this c**p you are not poor you are rich. Wtf is wrong with these people.
It may be that some of these people are enjoying an infrequent treat. For myself, I might go out and get one of their fruity drinks once or twice as a special treat for myself. Certainly doesn't mean I'm rich. Could be that this cup of coffee is the one thing they look forward to in their day.
Load More Replies...NO THIS AMERICAN. I MAKE MY OWN, I MAKE MY OWN FOOD I RARELY GO TO A RESTUARANT. PEOPLE ARE SUCH SHEEPLE. SAD.
I'm never going to understand how a drink could cost that much at Starbucks. Sometimes I think basic white people just like to hold a Starbucks cup as an accessory to their personality.
Maybe that's the treat the baristas like garbage fee? If you took $5 x 120 days of going to Starbucks you could have a very nice Breville Espresso maker and make good espresso quickly and never have to clean out that charaff and messy filter holder again. Takes only seconds to make one shot. I used to hate coffee, espresso all that until I started making my own. If I'm forced to go to Starbucks now (Look! Someone has a gift card they want to burn!) It is just watery disappointing sadness.
Load More Replies...The "myself" looks greyed out (i.e. it would not do anything if clicked). Presumably it's a standard "form" but that option has been disabled for when requesting death certificates.
According to Angel, consumers are bombarded, non-stop, with information to build up their consumerist spirit so they can keep capitalism alive."A not-so-famous movie from the late '80s, 'They Live' (1988), explains this concept perfectly. I believe everyone should watch it if they want to combat the urge of consumerism and mind control," they told us.
In their opinion, “human greed cannot be measured,” which leads capitalism to evolve into corporatism.
My workplace has a few child-friendly office rooms for short term situations when parents have no childcare available. It's actually a good thing, as the alternative would be unpaid leave for the parent. So this picture might simply be something similar.
"We often see many small businesses collapsing because they are not able to fight with the current trend or to combat with the giant competitors. So they have two options, close the business or sell it," Angel pointed out that small businesses have to constantly compete with well-established, powerful companies.
"We have many companies that have been bought by enormous giants that I do not want to mention and they won't stop there, they are trying to get their hands on any business category. Is there a solution for it? I believe that there can be some solutions, but capitalists will work and find a way to bypass those solutions and continue with the destruction of the system while being totally ignorant about it.”
In their opinion, all systems, whether we’re talking about capitalism or socialism, can eventually become corrupt. This happens when ‘bad’ behavior isn’t punished.
"If we go back in time where socialism or communism were at their prime, we can see that the top of the head of the system was corrupted and that resulted with the fall of the system," they pointed out that corruption was endemic in these cases.
According to Angel, humanity as a whole may be moving toward a “utopia” of "automated communism where machines will produce, deliver, and take care of food supply, clothing, health." Though that still leaves the question as to who will control the distribution system and how it operates. That’s where the power is. What’s more, some people will end up losing their jobs as they become replaced by machines.
"The idea of getting free food, water, health, clothing, is nice and, in reality, if we take a closer look at the current system we can see that more people are let off and replaced by machines. For example, we can see that McDonald's workers are fired and they have been replaced with machines that work on touch or by sound and they take orders, forward orders to the employees, etc."
The founder of ‘Humans of Capitalism’ told Bored Panda that, eventually, more and more people will lose their jobs due to automatization with barely any need for human input. That way, businesses will be able to maximize their profits and reduce employee costs.
How does dancing like a moron for the amusement of idiots help the war effort?
"I believe that 50 years from now machines will provide food, clothing, healthcare services, and much more, by themselves, with little to no employees monitoring them. But there is an issue with that. You will leave millions of people jobless and cause huge riots as the famous quote from Jean-Jacques Rousseau goes: 'When the people shall have no more to eat, they will eat the rich.'"
You know, when we envisioned living in a cyberpunk dystopia, we thought we'd have a lot more neon and cool body modifications. Alas!
Tell us how you're dealing with all the recent financial pressure, dear Pandas. Are you worried about the future or are you hopeful? How do you stay optimistic during hard times? What would you change about the way the world runs if you could do anything? We'd love to hear your thoughts.
Near me on the last shopping weekend before Christmas 2020, at the entrance to a major supermarket, blocking the entrance for everyone, the idiots in charge thought having the town brass band play was a good idea. The number of covid cases that Christmas was huge and we went back into lockdown.
Not sure how this shows 'most egregious and dystopian examples of capitalism and corporatism'?
Note: this post originally had 77 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
At least half of these are not "dystopian" they're mainly clickbait headlines designed to elicit a response from people who think everything to do with the modern world is bad.
This is a clickbait site with copied content. What were you expecting.
Load More Replies...It's like a failed attempt to attack the Great Capitalism. But most of the pictures just depicts human behavior.
@Novel Idesa : Why old ? Already the title has nothing to do with the content, let's not add a supposed generation conflict based on prejudice.
Load More Replies...It's kind of sad we just joke about the nightmare millions of us are experiencing. Not taking it seriously is what these rich folks want. Denial and mocking the horrible things that are happening is just sad. But I guess since we can't change it or fix it we laugh to keep ourselves from crying.
At least half of these are not "dystopian" they're mainly clickbait headlines designed to elicit a response from people who think everything to do with the modern world is bad.
This is a clickbait site with copied content. What were you expecting.
Load More Replies...It's like a failed attempt to attack the Great Capitalism. But most of the pictures just depicts human behavior.
@Novel Idesa : Why old ? Already the title has nothing to do with the content, let's not add a supposed generation conflict based on prejudice.
Load More Replies...It's kind of sad we just joke about the nightmare millions of us are experiencing. Not taking it seriously is what these rich folks want. Denial and mocking the horrible things that are happening is just sad. But I guess since we can't change it or fix it we laugh to keep ourselves from crying.