the rich get richer and the gap between the rich and everyone else grows…
but are the rich really thriving?
capitalism rewards more. more money, more growth, more consumers. stagnation is bad so you constantly see companies doing more and innovating more and trying to be first because money is the incentive. but when you stop to think about the people behind it and why they keep going, it starts making a lot less sense.
nestle is a controversial company because of its immoral business practices. and it should arguably be held responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people. however, what sane human would think “yeah, the potential murder of thousands of innocent lives makes perfect sense as a means to make more money"? while the people in charge should be held responsible, when people talk about nestle, they don’t talk about the ceo or the owner or the manager. they talk about it like it’s its own entity. like it’s making the choices by itself.
this is almost certainly not on purpose. however, it goes to show that companies like this don’t benefit anyone the way we think it does. again, capitalism prioritises making as much money as possible as quickly and efficiently as possible. and under this system, corporations stop acting like they are run by humans, and start acting like entities that are trying to keep themselves alive and dominating the market, for as long as possible, no matter the cost.
(of course, within the legal boundaries (but, of course, those boundaries are often manipulated and well, lobbying exists))
so while the companies themselves are thriving, how are the people on top doing? probably not as good as you’d expect.
elon musk himself said, ”whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about.” and while this is difficult to believe when it comes from a fucking trillionaire, it may truly show the emptiness the hyper rich feel. even though they stop being cogs in a corporation, they are still slaves to the system. and they become slaves to their own “grindset.” no matter how rich you are there is always more, you can always get richer, and it’s this mentality that prevents people from a peaceful, comfortable life.
and capitalism may just be a reflection of human nature; it’s damn near impossible for us to be happy, because we keep striving for more. we would never be at the place we are today if we managed to be at peace with our current predicament. we constantly strive to improve and innovate. and it’s not only because we want the best for humanity, but because it’s an instinct. and while it is possible to be somewhat peaceful and content, there will still always be a desire and longing for more. we will never truly be fulfilled.
and this is not to dismiss the struggle of those living around or below the poverty line because elon musk feels stressed out too but it is to make you think a bit more about who actually benefits from all of this.
(though, this doesn’t really reflect my viewpoints. i’m just… exploring?)
Not if they are unhappy and/or are still wanting more money.
But stagnation in regard to the economy has never been a bad thing at all.
The ones with more money say and claim that it is bad in order to fool those with less money to keep working hard, and harder, so that the monetary rich can become even more monetary richer.
What are the immoral business practices of that company?
Why?
i personally have not heard anything about that company.
Looking at and/or blaming companies, themself, as though they are something with thinking and considering capabilities, happens far more often than not. Some people also blame ‘the system’ as though people cannot change ‘the system’, when, in fact, the whole system was and is created by people and human beings only.
The people who and/or run companies are some of the greediest and selfish people alive. They do not like this fact to be obvious and clear to others, so they, even unintentionally, make out ‘the company’ is its ‘own entity’ with its own structure and with its own way of doing things, which, laughably, some people ‘try to’ claim cannot be changed or altered.
The only reason companies exist is so that some people, only, can obtain money. Some people even ‘try to’, laughably, claim that companies/business have to make a profit, but the actual Truth is the reason companies/businesses are created is so some, and very few, people can keep obtaining more and more money.
Not just the ones who are monetarily rich can and do feel emptiness. Everyone who does not feel satisfied by achieving what ‘it’ is, exactly, that they Truly want and desire in life has this feeling of emptiness to some degree.
If one wants ‘more money’, which obviously even the most monetarily rich still do, it shows and proves that obtaining money never makes one Truly happy nor actually ‘rich’, in Life.
Very, very True. And, it could be said and argued they are more of “a slave” to ‘that system’.
Which, again, every adult human being is a member of ‘that cult system’, even if and when they do not yet recognise and realise that they are.
you are speaking of ‘monetarily rich’ here, correct?
The love of (wanting more) money only comes to and exists in those people who lack happiness and who feel empty.
See, when people do not receive ‘the love’ that they Truly want and desire, they turn this emptiness towards ‘the love of’ ‘other things’, hoping that these ‘other things’ will satisfy and fulfil them, which they NEVER do, by the way.
Why, what is ‘human nature’, to you, exactly?
To me, ‘capitalism’ is certainly not a reflection of ‘human nature’ at all. In fact, adult human being created ‘capatism’ is a direct result of younger human beings NOT getting and receiving what they naturally really wanted, desired, and needed, in Life.
Human beings, naturally, want to learn, understand, and know more. Human beings, naturally, love to discover new/er and ‘more things’. This is one thing that makes them ‘happy’.
Wanting and desiring ‘more money’ is the result of NOT getting what one Truly wanted, desired, and needed as a child, and then as an adult. Adult human beings have replaced what they Truly desire ‘more of’, which is ‘Love’, itself, with the desire to obtain ‘more of’ what they have “learned” to have a ‘love of’ and/or a ‘love for’. Which, obviously, for most adult human beings is the ‘love of (obtaining more) money’.
Even if some people do not hoard money, like some others do, they still have the ‘love of money’ because it is usually money that buys them ‘the things’ that they have ‘come to’ love and desire, for example, drugs, alcohol, sex, food, fitness, shopping, or any of the multiple other things adults have replaced the missing out of ‘Love’, itself, for ‘the love of …’.
Human beings want to feel filled, full, satisfied, and fulfilled. They do not want to feel empty, alone, separated, nor less than. So, when people are not feeling like they are getting what they Truly want, desire, and need, and so feel ‘empty’, they seek out what they think and feel will satisfy and fulfil them.
Which, in the day and age when this is being written, ‘money’, and obtaining more of it, some people think or believe will satisfy and fulfil them.
‘We’ could already be at ‘the place’ that ‘we’ ALL really want and desire, if only adult human beings gave ALL children what they ALL Truly want and desire. That is; To feel heard, listened to, recognised, and accepted for who they ALL Truly are.
This is just a natural consequence of naturally desiring to learn, understand, and know more, and more, and more.
Human beings do not ‘strive’ to learn more and more. They actually ‘thrive’ on learning more and more. They just, unfortunately, have tricked and fooled “themselves” into thinking and believing that they really want something, like ‘money’ for example, (which again never makes anyone Truly satisfied), and to continually obtain ‘more money’ human beings have ‘had to’ ‘strive’ to come up with new/er innovations or ideas, and work harder, to compete with and out do each other.
When people are working together, as One, towards and for the same One goal everyone wants, then there is no ‘hard work’ and ‘striving’, instead, everything is simple and easy, and so everyone is just ‘thriving’, in working together.
Every human being’s instinct is to connect with and care for one another, as One. This is human beings’ nature.
However, because human beings are in the natural state of evolution and always learning and discovering more, in the days when this is being written, they had not yet learned and discovered how to achieve what ‘it’ is they ALL Truly wanted and desired. In fact, they weren’t even ‘consciously aware’ of what ‘it’ is that they ALL Truly wanted and desired. What the older ones thought they wanted and desired was ‘more money’. So, just about always and in all situations they would only ‘improve’ and ‘innovate’ in ways that would make them and a few others only ‘more money’.
On the contrary, when ‘we’ are achieving what ‘it’ is that ‘we’ ALL Truly want and desire, then ‘we’ most certainly do feel absolutely satisfied and fulfilled.
Obviously, ‘we’ have all had ‘that feeling’ of satisfaction, and even fulfilment, when ‘we’ have created and/or accomplished something that ‘we’ set out to create and achieve. However, if ‘we’ still want to create, accomplish, or achieve something new/er or more, then ‘we’ were obviously not fully fulfilled and satisfied.
Feeling fully fulfilled and fully satisfied comes with creating, accomplishing, and achieving what ‘it’ is that is Truly wanted and desired, in Life. And, this occurs when ‘we’ KNOW, for sure, HOW to created, achieve, and are living in ‘the world’ that ‘we’ ALL Truly want and desire of “ourselves” [everyone].
Now, it could be said and argued that it is impossible to reach and achieve pure perfection where everyone is living in ‘a world’ of absolute no pollution, no stress, and absolute Peace and Harmony, but that does not matter at all here, as it is when ‘we’ are doing only ‘that’, which leads to living in this ‘kind (of) world’, then ‘we’ are doing exactly what engages with ‘our True nature’ and fits in perfectly with what ‘we’ ALL Truly want and desire anyway. It could also be said and argued that only doing what leads to creating and living in a Truly Peaceful world for everyone, forever, is not just a want and desire by all but is also a ‘need’ as well. Just for the simple fact that if ‘we’ obviously keep doing what is Wrong in Life, ‘we’ will not be able to keep on surviving and living.
Absolutely NO one actually benefits at all from having ‘the love of (obtaining more) money’.
The world obviously suffers, and so to does every human being in one way or another.
The mark of a True ‘philosopher’, and of the wisest of ‘the wise’.
Again, ALL human beings are born ‘exploring’, unfortunately though because of the Truly amazing ability of being able to capture and store False or Wrong knowledge, and presume or believe them to be true or right, older human beings instead of ‘still exploring’ tend to want to fight and/or argue for ‘their own beliefs and presumptions’ or fight and/or argue against ‘others own beliefs and presumptions’ instead.
Thus, leading to and creating ‘the world’ in which NO one wants NOR desires. ‘We’ all certainly did not want to live in ‘a world’ with conflict, wars, and killings. Which is what arguing and fighting ‘for and against’ obviously leads to and creates.
‘We’ can call the ‘wanting to obtain or have more money’ by any other term, name, or label. But, if what you mean by, ‘banking’, is the ‘wanting to obtain or have more money’, then okay. ‘capitalism’ is also a word that could also denote a society or place where people have the ‘want to obtain or have more money’, as well.
Since I had a question also, I take a guess that she’s wondering why we can call the economic system some people - incorrectly you say - call capitalism, we can call a thing called banking. How is that a good description. It seems like a number of economic systems have banks, even communist countries. What kind of banks? Do the markets in the country need to be a certain way for it to be this system? Or is it just that people do banking sometimes.
You are asking existential questions through the lens of exclusive materialism.
The shortest answer i can give you is that money has absolutely nothing to do with your quality of life.
If a homeless hobo can be happy and content, and a billionaire celebrity can end up ending themselves due to despair and depression, then that would be the clue for you to consider that money and materialism has no inherent say in this matter.
but it is to make you think a bit more about who actually benefits from all of this.