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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.

More info: Instagram | Patreon

#2

humans_of_capitalism Report

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

Yup. And stop saying "expat" for Europeans or Americans who go live in another country, especially poorer countries. Just say "immigrant"

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#3

humans_of_capitalism Report

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

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

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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.

#5

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

That's called "hostile architecture". Sometimes makes sense, most often it's just harassment. The contrast with the advertisement is striking though.

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#6

humans_of_capitalism Report

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

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.

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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.

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In their opinion, “human greed cannot be measured,” which leads capitalism to evolve into corporatism.

#7

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

how nobody predict that Louis Vuitton is actually Lord Voldemort!!

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#8

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Aran Lindvail
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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"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.”

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#13

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

Has to be America. If you fall and sprain your ankle plus dislocate your finger, will cost you 2 visits...

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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.

#16

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

This may not be dystopian, just out of context. Some japanese companies allow nap breaks in the afternoon.

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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.

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#20

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

That's not going to look good by post-birth. Nobody does. I'm glad there were no pictures and videos of when I was in labour. And my post birth photos are never seeing the light of day again.

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

i can;t wait for this ridiculously huge fake eyelash trend to finally s**t the bed. it's soooo goofy looking

sueuser avatar
Sue User
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just starting going out after years of isolation ( got critically ill two years before covid ) . When did this start ? Saw some women with them and all i could think of is good thing they dont wear glasses.

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Lara Verne
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder how their makeup will look after they give birth.

gw14eatwellbeatrice avatar
Autistic apricot
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because everyone that follows you wants to see you look good before giving birth /s

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

How is it related to capitalism? Some people really throw this word for no reason at all, they jut want to be angry at society.

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

It's related to capitalism because people are making money off streaming something that should generally be an intimate family moment, and this is an example if some girl doing her makeup presumably for her social media followers to make money from. That's the idea - people selling off their special moments to strangers, even selling off the baby's first moments, for money. That's capitalism.

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

Yes and end up looking like Joker from The Dark Knight after giving birth.

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

Disturbing on so many levels. At the top is that the person is about to have one of the most intimate moments of their lives (birthing and meeting their child) yet they thinking about social media followers, then there are the followers who are not turning away from what is a very private moment between loved ones and lastly that a person would be so insecure and needy of attention as to do this. My heart goes out to their kids.

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

if I ever had a kid. (which I never will) id stream a video game instead. make up is just stupid IMHO

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Kevin J. Henning
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Gee, all my wife did was call me the antichrist when our first son was born.

gabbym avatar
Gabby M
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think that's Alexis Jayda on the left. She's a makeup YouTuber. Makes sense I guess?

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

If it makes them feel more comfortable and confident then why is it a problem?

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Peter Pan
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1 year ago

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

Good for her! I was a disaster. Certainly didn't look like that! Lol.

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Bee she/her
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember watching Colleen Ballengers (too lazy rn to look up spelling) and she straightened her hair and edited a YouTube video while in active labor.

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

Wearing/not wearing makeup is a personal choice and shouldn't be criticised zither way!

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Serendipity911
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I find it weird people judge them when we know society values appearance. Its how so many actors/entertainers/influencers (even corporate jobs like sales/law) make money. Girls are taught about the value of beauty from a young age. Why do we expect women to shift their mindset just because they are pregnant? If you want that, change the values in society.

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norabest321
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think it's a commentary on how impossible beauty standards are working their way into the most base human experience. Beauty shouldn't be a standard, even if it's how some women are raised.

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

It would be much more difficult to do makeup DURING the labour, so you must appreciate their ability to plan ahead

faridred avatar
Farid Red
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, they will experience giving birth again (if by chance), but its a life experience and they want to looks good.

tw72 avatar
tw 72
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because, as we know, there is NOTHING more important than looking good. /s

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"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."

#22

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

Change of mind, fortunately, it won't be dismantled https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/06/rotterdam-bridge-wont-be-demolished-for-jeff-bezos-yacht-trouw/

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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.

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#27

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

How does dancing like a moron for the amusement of idiots help the war effort?

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"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!

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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.

#31

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

Include the photo of gatherings/concerts organized to fight against pollution, where the place is left covered with litter...

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#33

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Fenchurch
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#37

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

Not sure how this shows 'most egregious and dystopian examples of capitalism and corporatism'?

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#38

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mulk
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And this company have a notice on its closed door: EVICTED ^^'

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#40

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Note: this post originally had 77 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.