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LIVING IN A CAPITALIST SOCIETY
Marian Baltazar
Class of 1980, University of the Philippines College of Manila
AB Political Science
Living in a capitalist society is just like having a few rich people living at the expense of a ton of poor people. It’s
creating a competition which drives quality and productivity. A capitalist in plain layman’s term is a person
organizing to cater to his own self-interests. When people act on their own self-interest, exploitation is
inevitable. It also follows that self-interest is all about class struggle too. Hence, class struggle will not create a
world without exploitation. Actually, exploitation is one of the disadvantages of capitalism.
Although there is one major drawback in living in a capitalist society, and that is inequality. As I have pointed
out earlier, it is very possible for some people to become poor in a capitalist society while other people
become very rich. This in fact is the one hard thing that those people who is left behind experiences. This can
also lead to the possibility of having political instability and conflict. However that part where some people
criticize wherein the rich may end up getting richer and the poor may end up getting poorer is sad to say, in
one way or another true. This is another process of natural selection in a capitalist society, and only the strong
can really make it to the surface.
On the other hand, there are at least two major advantages of living in a capitalist society. As a consumer, you
can get the best quality of goods and services at the best prices. Of course in a capitalist economy, freedom and
competition exist and these are what push the producer to make their goods and services as good and cheap
as possible so they can attract the consumers. Not only that, as a consumer or a producer, you have all the
freedom to do what you want. That is, you have the right to buy and produce what you want.
The good thing about living in a capitalist society is that there are no limits because you get as much as you
want in terms of investment, work, effort, money and the likes. It is just like saying, “Sky is the limit”, meaning
it gives you the chance to go as far as you want. Therefore, capitalism allows you to hit and miss as many times
as you want. There are no limits too to individualism and profit-making for that matter. The innovators and
inventors then can take advantage of the free market to make a profit.
This paves the way in making the capitalist society the primary source of innovation and technology. This is
needed in a capitalist system so as to keep up with the changes of supply and demand. This kind of system
should be generally prepared to deal with the influx of competition from external forces. Living in a capitalist
society has its own advantages and disadvantages to consider, one has to make a stand then to be able to
create a world worth living for and it’s up for us to decide if you would like to live in such kind of society.
Questions for discussion:
1.
Do you think it’s more advantageous to live in a capitalist society? Why or why not?
2.
Does it really pay to live in a capitalist society? Explain your answer.
3.
How would you explain the statement, “the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer”? Explain
further.
4.
Do you think working harder and trying to be more innovative will lead you to be in the capitalist class?
Why or why not?
5.
Do you prefer to live in a capitalist society rather than in a socialist society? Justify your answer.