Understanding The Lies Capitalism is Selling Us (That We Keep Buying)
Let’s talk about the reality of the so-called “normal.”
I don’t normally go off on economics or politics, save mentions here and there. But this keeps bothering me. I keep seeing memes, posts on social media, and other references to corporate welfare, the “needs” for subsidies and tax relief for uber-wealthy people and businesses, and other lies of capitalism we’re constantly bombarded with.
Businesses whine about losing money on properties that are now empty due to work from home and its surprising effectiveness. On the other hand, different businesses are buying private homes to unnaturally drive up housing costs. Hell, the “relief” Trump wants to offer you is a new 50-year mortgage. The lunacy of this idea is mind-boggling when you look at how much more debt it will create in an already utterly unbalanced market.
Then there’s health insurance. People would rather pay private insurers who seek to deny coverage than taxes for universal health care (taxes that would end up costing a fourth of what we pay now for the private for-profit shit).
Capitalism has overrun common sense, to the point where the “majority” American political party is barely hiding how corrupt they are as they help their benefactors make money above and beyond what any one person could spend in a hundred lifetimes.
Don’t believe me? Let’s do some simple math.
Some of the numbers behind the lies we all buy into
Let’s look at some hard facts.
1 billion dollars in a year = $19,230,769.23 (19 million, 230 thousand, seven-hundred sixty-nine) dollars a week = $480,729.23 an hour in a 40-hour work week. Do YOU make over $480,000 an hour? Of course you don’t. Very, very few people do. Ergo, that could pay more than 19 million PEOPLE $480,729.23 once, or 38 million PEOPLE $240,384.61 one time. Can you see why 1 person earning 1 billion dollars a year is obscene?
Now, let’s tax that at 50%. Outrageous? Not when you look at the numbers.
That one person still gets, after taxes, $500,000,000 (five-hundred million dollars). This breaks down to $9,615,384.62 (9 million, 615 thousand, three-hundred sixty-nine) dollars a week = $240,384.62 an hour in a 40-hour work week. I don’t know about you, but I could do a LOT with that much money. No debt, outright own my home, my car, and so on.
Nobody earning a billion dollars a year suffers. Period. No business, no individual, nobody. That those earnings aren’t properly taxed should outrage everyone. Maybe this doesn’t because people don’t understand the meaning of profit?
Profit is the amount of money you make above and beyond any and all operating costs. It’s pure, unadulterated cash. It no longer pays for anything; it simply exists. Which is part of why there is no reason whatsoever for it not to be taxed!
Trickle-down economics – the idea that these profits will come to you and me – is a lie. For nearly 50 years, they’ve been selling it. But look at the numbers. The rich get richer, the middle class has shrunk, but the working poor keep growing. It’s the most ludicrous inverted pyramid scheme anyone could have cooked up.
So what, if anything, can you do about this?
Your path and the lies capitalism is selling us
No matter what anyone tells you, whatever topic it might be, you ultimately choose if you believe it and buy it. Or not.
It’s way too easy to dumb down and simplify things into black and white, for and against, and eliminate all nuance and complexity. By doing this, you numb the senses and create lots of false equivalencies that put us where we are today.
You can change this by not buying it. Recognize the problem. Acknowledge the bullshit. Then demand better of your politicians, business leaders, and fellow citizens, for that matter.
No, you can’t change the big picture. You and I cannot directly influence our economic policies, nor any of the other shit this government is doing. What we can do, however, empowers us.
Boycott dirty businesses (that you can. Sorry, sometimes you will need to work with an evil empire, because the alternatives might be worse or otherwise complicated). Vote in elections. Go to protests. Spread the word about the bullshit people are falling for, such as the lies capitalism is selling us.
When you take those actions, recognize and acknowledge things, you are empowered. When you’re empowered, you’re more capable of making choices and decisions to drive your life and make a difference.
But, and this is important, giving all your time, attention, focus, and energy to things you can’t control disempowers you. It’s good to be aware of the lies capitalism is selling us that we keep buying, but apart from not buying elements of the lies, you can do little to nothing about the big picture.
Work on your small corner of the world to impact the collective consciousness.
Recognize the lies capitalism is selling us that you buy
You cannot change anyone else’s mind for them. You can make suggestions, offer help, give examples, and work on influencing them. But you cannot make them change. Likewise, they can’t make your choices and decisions for you.
This is because you, and you alone, are in your head, heart, and soul. Nobody but you knows your inner mindset/headspace/psyche self, your mind, body, and spirit. You alone can choose and decide things for yourself.
My mom, for example, believes the worst of Universal Health Care based on Canadian issues with it. She’s not alone; lots of people believe that healthcare for all will make our options worse. But the truth of this is one of the lies capitalism is selling us.
Private health insurers are for-profit. That means they care far more about what makes them money than what makes us healthy. With expiring subsidies created via the imperfect Affordable Care Act, they’re going to exponentially increase fees. Why? Because then they make more money. The benefits of private health insurance make us sicker overall and are one of the most pernicious lies capitalism sells us.
I’m not anti-capitalism, nor a proponent of socialism. I’m going on here about controlling a runaway train. A profit-driven society is a heartless, cold, ruinous beast. It will chew you up and spit you out if you let it. However, by recognizing and acknowledging the lies capitalism is selling us, we can make better choices and decisions for ourselves to fight this dragon and bring it to heel.
Start by being aware. Wake up. Recognize and acknowledge the problem. Then, make your own choices and decisions for the paths you walk and the best options for you and yours.
Take the wheel of your life
Only you know what you desire for your life. You alone know how much money you need to live comfortably, the kinds of people you desire to have around you, and the things that bring you contentment, joy, and happiness.
Nobody lives a perfect, stress-free, zero-negativity life. Nobody. But that’s part of the balance, the yin and yang of life that everyone can learn from. If you buy the lies capitalism is selling us, you allow yourself to be influenced, swayed, and disempowered by entities and people who don’t give a shit about anything but how much money they can make.
Recognizing and acknowledging that you can’t avoid, disregard, or not use all of them is important. Pick your battles to maintain your self-sovereignty. For example, I will never shop at Hobby Lobby, eat at Chick-fil-A, or vote for anyone who still supports the Republican Party (even if they’re reasonable, because the party is not). That’s how I’m taking the wheel to drive my life, by being awake and mindfully choosing for myself.
When more people take the wheel, they become empowered. More empowered people apply reason and logic in place of fear and opinion. Every “woke” individual is a beacon of light to help get out of the dark place where we buy too many of the lies capitalism is selling us.
I don’t know about you, but I prefer to be the one choosing and deciding who, what, where, how, and why I am. You can’t do that without being aware of things like the lies capitalism is selling us and related matters, but only you can choose and decide for yourself.
What choices and decisions do you make to take the wheel of your life and choose your paths?
This is the seventh-hundred-thirtieth (730) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in the world and empower as many people as possible with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to repost and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out my author website for the rest of my published fiction and nonfiction works.
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