Capitalism creates aliens. Any sufficiently wealthy person, whether owner of the means of production, the owner of property, or simply the parasitic inheritor, is an alien in the sense that they are removed from the common experience of the rest of society. The more isolated they become from the work of survival, the less like everyone else they are. That is to say, they lose (if they ever had it) the ability to empathize with their fellow humans, and believe that everything they have they deserve; everyone else simply isn't worthy of success due to their own character flaws.
This follow-on effect of capitalism is dangerous, not only because it reflects the unjustifiable hoarding of wealth on the part of a small number of people. But, also because those people, especially after a generation or two, begin to feel like they are different from the rest of the population, better and more deserving, not just because they work harder (which, of course, they don't) but, because they are somehow chosen by God. This is the basis of feudalism and monarchy.
If this seems far-fetched, all one has to do is to look around the US at this moment. People who think this way are already here. The whiny, over-privileged little boy who currently occupies the Oval Office is a prime example. He feels like he deserves whatever he wants, simply because he is who he is. This intense, maniacal gluttony for acquisition is precisely what makes people like this alien.
The seed of alienation is inside all humans, however. Anyone who becomes wealthy, by whatever means, is at risk of this unfortunate fate. We know this, because these people are still just human, with the same biology and underlying psychology as the rest of us. They simply have been poisoned, and transformed into something less than human, something alien.
I say unfortunate because it is a condition that, no matter how wealthy they are, cannot last. Eventually, everyone dies, and they have spent their short lives bent on getting more and more, and it is never enough. They damage society by removing resources that would be better used in some other way than just sitting in their coffers. They poison those around them by infecting them with the same psychosis. They damage themselves because they are never happy.
Capitalism is an alien god, and it creates aliens in its own image. We can do better. We can purge the alien influence on our society and rule ourselves instead. We don't need them, they need us.
This follow-on effect of capitalism is dangerous, not only because it reflects the unjustifiable hoarding of wealth on the part of a small number of people. But, also because those people, especially after a generation or two, begin to feel like they are different from the rest of the population, better and more deserving, not just because they work harder (which, of course, they don't) but, because they are somehow chosen by God. This is the basis of feudalism and monarchy.
If this seems far-fetched, all one has to do is to look around the US at this moment. People who think this way are already here. The whiny, over-privileged little boy who currently occupies the Oval Office is a prime example. He feels like he deserves whatever he wants, simply because he is who he is. This intense, maniacal gluttony for acquisition is precisely what makes people like this alien.
The seed of alienation is inside all humans, however. Anyone who becomes wealthy, by whatever means, is at risk of this unfortunate fate. We know this, because these people are still just human, with the same biology and underlying psychology as the rest of us. They simply have been poisoned, and transformed into something less than human, something alien.
I say unfortunate because it is a condition that, no matter how wealthy they are, cannot last. Eventually, everyone dies, and they have spent their short lives bent on getting more and more, and it is never enough. They damage society by removing resources that would be better used in some other way than just sitting in their coffers. They poison those around them by infecting them with the same psychosis. They damage themselves because they are never happy.
Capitalism is an alien god, and it creates aliens in its own image. We can do better. We can purge the alien influence on our society and rule ourselves instead. We don't need them, they need us.
