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35 ‘Humans Of Capitalism’ Pics That Might Make You Laugh And Cry At The Same Time (New Pics)
When modern capitalism started, it was full of promises of a better, brighter future. But as we pass its 300th anniversary, it becomes clear that innovation and improvement don't come without consequences. The consumerism that capitalism kicked off now poses a huge threat to our environment and the technological advancements are dwindling our self-awareness, declining our cognitive abilities, and riddling us with anxiety and depression.
Sadly, these are just a few things that make up the capitalist dystopia we currently live in. The Instagram account ‘Humans of Capitalism’ we’re featuring today is full of examples that further illustrate the eerie consequences of corporate power we encounter daily. Scroll down to find them, and be sure to let us know your thoughts below.
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To make more sense of how we got here, let’s take a little trip back in time to see how capitalism came to be. Its origins can be traced to the 16th century, when Britain’s main source of wealth and power was broken up after the plague Black Death killed more than half of Europe’s population.
A new class of merchants came to replace them and began trading with other countries. The newfound opportunity for export and import started changing the local economy and determined the prices of goods.
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StrangeOne 1 year ago
Wow. She's had her eyes on her phone for so long she forgot what the natural world looks like.
With the crumbling of feudalism, the system that kept poor people dependent on their master’s land for a place to live and protection left them with no homes or work. Over time, this pushed them to flee the countryside and reside in urban centers where there were more opportunities to sell their labor. Already, a competitive work environment formed where the new business owners or capitalists dictated their terms.
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#8
StrangeOne 1 year ago
I'm glad I'm not the only one who notices how greedy and out of touch shareholders are. They should have 0 input into management decisions.
The 18th century comes and England has been transformed into an industrial nation. The manufacturing and production of goods that flourished in smoky factories during the Industrial Revolution marks the start of modern capitalism. In 1776, economist Adam Smith published his work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, which provided the basis for this economic system. Even though not all of his ideas are used today, he is still often called “the father of capitalism.”
Capitalists are typically people who have acquired a lot of money and invested it in business. Since capitalism is dictated by the free market, an economic system in which prices and production are controlled by corporations that are competing against each other, the wealthy are getting wealthier by receiving profits from their businesses.
This is why capitalism is often badly looked down upon, as the people with a lot of money become greedy and refuse to share the money with their workers. Subsequently, this drives social and economic inequality.
Of course, for those who own businesses, capitalism may make sense: greed motivates innovation and new products for those who can afford to buy them. Supporters of capitalism believe that economic freedom equals political freedom and that this economic system is the only way to organize our society.
As former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher once stated, “There is no alternative.” Those with pro-capitalist views even say that the negative consequences of this system, like pollution of the environment and shrinking of natural resources, will only make them more valuable and people will be willing to pay more for them.
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lovemy suffolk 1 year ago
I wear a sign like this at work sometimes. It rude not to respond to folks when they talk to you, but yeah, I can easily chat the day away and then I don't get my actual work done, Which then causes me stress.
There are many more beliefs and opinions that constitute this way of thinking, which can essentially doom our society and planet. Already, it has successfully widened the gap between the wealthy and the poor, with millions of people living below the poverty line. Capitalism has created a nightmare labor market, while its byproduct overconsumption is posing the threat of a climate crisis.
Many people are waiting for the capitalist era to come to a close. However, what that may look like isn’t exactly clear. Most likely, it will still be centered around selling and buying, but we can only hope that the process will become more conscious, ethical, and sustainable.
In the meantime, what we can do to oppose this economic system, or rather, an ideology, and start slowly chipping away at it is to scale down on consumption and shift to buying from small, local businesses. This reduces the waste that is plaguing our planet and gets rid of long-distance supply chains that pollute the environment.
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StrangeOne 1 year ago
Imagine drivers sleep driving while being paid to crash into people's homes because there's a house in the way of their route in their lucid dream.
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YakFactory 1 year ago
What's so good about having almost the same photo as thousands of other people? Put the phone down and just enjoy the experience.
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Paul Gerrard 1 year ago
Las vegas beggar. Costume people who extort cash from tourists who take a photo..
Staying healthy by eating good food and exercising avoids our contribution to the overproduction of medicine and drugs. Educating ourselves on the matter and speaking up about what we believe in allows others to get inspired and help to achieve the change we want to see in the world.
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Amber White 1 year ago
and thus starts the story of how something that should have been left alone was unleashed
Basko 1 year ago (edited)
The Vikings dug too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the coldness of Greenland.
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Rigor Moreno 1 year ago
Imagine all the ancient microscopic things frozen in that ice. And we're not immune to. Oh no!
Sand Ers 1 year ago
Not a lot of harmful microscopic things in snowfalls.
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Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 1 year ago
Yes... because those pesky glaciers are just not disappearing fast enough for the über-wealthy. And Greenland, you should know better!
ABC no seven FCK CENSORING 1 year ago
Maybe Greenland is looking forward to being green again?
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David 1 year ago
This seems like a weird business. However, while shipping the ice may not be 'green', the harvesting may not be hurting the glaciers at all. They might just be using ice that falls off on its own. Google and you can find videos of HUGE GINORMOUS many tons of ice falling into the ocean. Harvesting that and selling it doesn't make the glacier melt any faster.
Miomirko Buhtlić 1 year ago
"If you can think of a better way to get ice, I'd like to hear it."
Bryan Wright 1 year ago
It seems that money can buy you everything/anything. Utter madness. Why didn't the whole UAE not just relocate to the North Pole?
Michael None 1 year ago
Get it before it's gone. This must be the 21st century version of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
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Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 1 year ago
For some people, this may be the only way they can go, or afford to go "to the beach".
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Lost Penny 1 year ago (edited)
TIL that "...'Lorem Ipsum blah-blah-blah' is a well-known placeholder text commonly referred to as 'Lorem Ipsum.' It is derived from a work by Cicero, a Roman statesman and philosopher, and is used in the design and typesetting industries to demonstrate the visual form of a document without relying on meaningful content." So basically it's the "Text goes here" thing. BP is educational.
#35
I'm a Jimmy 1 year ago
Very interesting debate actually. The US outlaws selling kidneys, and there is a huge shortage. Not so in most other countries, with respect to both. A few years back an economist built a match software which allowed trades, as in I’m not a match for my sister, but I will be willing to give my kidney to someone else, if someone else can secure a kidney for her.” It has been wildly successful, include 3-way trades.
#37
Child of the Stars 1 year ago
I didn't want to celebrate my divorce (I don't hate my ex-husband, we just weren't a good fit anymore). Nor did I feel particularly sad about it (I'd grieved the end of my marriage long before it actually ended). Mostly, I just felt relief when it was done.
#39
StrangeOne 1 year ago
Geebus. I thought she wasn't wearing any pants for a moment and she had some tan lines.
#42
Jrog 1 year ago
Chris Rankin, a 21-year-old from Glen Waverley, Melbourne. Was travelling along the Monash Freeway when near the Malvern Rd exit a car wheel bounced off a vehicle and hit the car on the windscreen. He asked a cop to snap a commemorative photo while they were doing the survey of the crash scene. Nothing to do with "capitalism"
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iseefractals 1 year ago
This is overkill, but about 15 years ago i did have a monitor arm mounted directly over my bed when i was recovering from a back injury, and it was awesome.
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I'm a Jimmy 1 year ago
The promise of communism “you’d spend your time on your talents of art and music, while the guy who is talented at farming will feed you!” The reality of communism, “the state has decide your talent is working 72 hr weeks in coal mines on Svalbard… report to the shipyard in 6 hrs.”
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René Sauer 1 year ago
Why is that here? You would rather have an ugly, undisguised phone tower in nature?
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What do you think ?
David Bramhall 1 year ago
Whoever assembled this ridiculous page doesn’t actually understand what capitalism is.
Alt Beel 1 year ago
Yeah it's Bored Panda: The writer thinks capitalism means something with a capital letter..... .
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laura lee 1 year ago
Yeah, not a very good assembly of cohesive entries. Some fit the title, some not at all, and the poll at the end which I guess was supposed to be a summary of the overarching theme, kind of threw me. I hadn't thought this was supposed to be a specifically "anti-capitalism" thread. Thought it was more about some people fringe take, not an indictment on the entire system. If it was supposed to be that, an indictment, it failed. Some were funny/absurd. It's still the best system we have for large scale government, though I do fall more on Democratic Socialist side.
Vera Diblikova 1 year ago
About capitalism, I am uncertain. I am certain about socialism, in whom i live most of my life. It is full of shortage inclusive freedom.
XenoMurph 1 year ago
What brainwashed rubbish. In an unregulated free market humanity means nothing, people mean nothing. Capitalism will let people starve, freeze, die of cancer, and does, ALL THE TIME! Good regulation is the ONLY thing that stops the "free market" from killing almost all of us and leaving a few super rich to wonder why their champagne isn't chilled.
Load More Replies... David Bramhall 1 year ago
Whoever assembled this ridiculous page doesn’t actually understand what capitalism is.
Alt Beel 1 year ago
Yeah it's Bored Panda: The writer thinks capitalism means something with a capital letter..... .
Load More Replies... laura lee 1 year ago
Yeah, not a very good assembly of cohesive entries. Some fit the title, some not at all, and the poll at the end which I guess was supposed to be a summary of the overarching theme, kind of threw me. I hadn't thought this was supposed to be a specifically "anti-capitalism" thread. Thought it was more about some people fringe take, not an indictment on the entire system. If it was supposed to be that, an indictment, it failed. Some were funny/absurd. It's still the best system we have for large scale government, though I do fall more on Democratic Socialist side.
Vera Diblikova 1 year ago
About capitalism, I am uncertain. I am certain about socialism, in whom i live most of my life. It is full of shortage inclusive freedom.
XenoMurph 1 year ago
What brainwashed rubbish. In an unregulated free market humanity means nothing, people mean nothing. Capitalism will let people starve, freeze, die of cancer, and does, ALL THE TIME! Good regulation is the ONLY thing that stops the "free market" from killing almost all of us and leaving a few super rich to wonder why their champagne isn't chilled.
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