Thoughts on Capitalism

Capitalism is often portrayed as a system of exploitation, where plundered raw resources and slave wages are combined to create cheap goods for ridiculously high profits. Of course exploitation is rampant within the system of capitalism, but this is due to human greed and the desire to maximize profits at all costs. In the equation of capitalism, as written by Richard Robbins, money is used to buy goods which, when combined with labor, produces a product that can be sold for more money. Each component of that equation has a fair price. There is a fair value for raw resources, a fair value for labor, and a fair value for the finished product. What is "fair" may be subjective, but it typically revolves around sustainable resources, standards of living for the laborer, and enough profit to keep the company financially solvent and growing. Thus capitalism can be compatible with equality and social justice.

Unfortunately equality within capitalism is a theoretical optimum as opposed to the rule. Much larger profits and faster growth can be easily had through exploitation. Since maximizing profits is often a priority at the expense of all else, the majority of capitalism does ebb and flow on the ideals of exploitation. This can be in the form of plundering resources, underpaying labor, or exorbitant price increases of the final product. Federal regulations often don't help as they tend to hinder smaller businesses while those large corporations most at fault simply move to areas where the people or officials are willing to turn a blind eye to exploitation. Exploitation may seem unsustainable, and it should be considering the finite natural resources on the planet and the limits laborers are willing to endure, but corporations are resourceful in finding new innovative ways to exploit others to maximize profits. Perfect examples would be the US using the prison population for labor, or how Wal-Mart maintains its low prices by keeping wages so low that their employees rely on government aid to federally subsidize that low price. It doesn't have to be this way, again, capitalism can be compatible with equality and social justice. But it does seem that human nature and fair capitalism are not compatible.