Why capitalism causes oppression

http://redflag.org.au/node/5494
Date Written:  2016-09-16
Publisher:  Redflag
Year Published:  2016
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21669

An examination of capitalism and how the aggressive competitive drive to accumulate wealth exploits and marginalizes individuals and social groups.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt: Capitalism is more than a collection of workplaces and a balance sheet. It is a complex social system in which wealth accumulation is the prerogative that underpins not just the experience of working life but also the conditions that characterise every aspect of society, including access to services, the enjoyment of culture and even our personal lives.

This is evident everywhere. Remote Aboriginal communities that don’t generate wealth or contribute to economic growth are treated as a burden – deprived of services and infrastructure and continually under threat of forced closure. The right to maintain traditional culture simply does not rate in a society in which land is seen purely as a commodity, to be used for mining, farming or tourism and little else.