Capitalism’s Flaws: Is a Financial and Social Utopia Possible?

As Falhas do Capitalismo: É Possível a Utopia Financeira e Social?

Luís Henrique Vieira Fernandes

Aluno no Curso de Negócios Internacionais

Universidade do Minho

luisfernandesmsn@outlook.com

ABSTRACT

The present article has as main objective the qualitative analysis of economic theories, such as
Capitalism, Socialism and Communism (being the latter studied with lower attention due to its
similarity with Socialism). Based on an economic and social analysis of each theory, the
following article pretends to review Capitalism’s flaws and to search for solutions on alternative
economic thesis. The study and consequent comparation between economic ideologies is
recurrent between academics, but the idea of an Utopia, although imagined, is never developed.
With the development of this thesis we will elaborate the idea of a Utopia, and, in the
conclusion, we will rationalize if it is possible, under the philosophical lens of Liberalism,
Realism and Constructivism and the main factor for its creation or demise.

Keywords: Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Utopia.

RESUMO

Este artigo tem como principal objetivo o estudo qualitativo das teorias económicas,
nomeadamente o Capitalismo, Socialismo e Comunismo (sendo este último estudado com
menor atenção devido as suas semelhanças com o Socialismo). Baseado numa análise
económica e social de cada uma das teorias, o presente artigo pretende estudar as falhas do
Capitalismo e procurar soluções nas teorias alternativas. O estudo e resultante comparação entre
ideologias económicas é recorrente entre académicos, mas a ideia de uma Utopia, apesar de

1
imaginada, nunca se desenvolve. No decorrer do texto a ideia de uma Utopia será formada e na
conclusão iremos desenvolver se o conceito é mesmo possível através das lentes filosóficas do
Liberalismo, Realismo e Construtivismo e o fator condicionante para a sua criação ou
destruição.

Palavras-chave: Capitalismo, Socialismo, Comunismo, Utopia.

Introduction

With the recent Covid-19 pandemic, the political compass as once again turned its attention to
Capitalism and how badly the system is handling such economic pressures derived from public
spending in hospitals and the economic blowback that every industry has suffered during the
quarantine period. The criticism of Capitalism and the consequent idolising of socialist and
communist thesis is not rare in the political spectrum. But it serves as a good example how both
political sides are detached from reality. In one hand we have Capitalist advocates that fail to
recognize the erosion that has been brewing in Capitalism womb for decades and on the other
side a left that idolises authoritarian regimes and embraces insanity as it pushes once again
socialist and communist agendas, both economically and politically.

As coined by Ronald Labonté (2019, p.175) we now see “The Rise of Illiberal
Capitalism”, result of the Neoliberalism philosophy that as gained many followers. This far cry
of Pure Capitalism has allowed the enrichment of the top 0,001%:

The hidden agenda of the Reagan/ Thatcher revolution was to reverse this “Great
Compression” and allow income and wealth to be restored to their rightful owners at
the top- combining market liberalisation with and array of sate measures which had
the effect, intended and unintended, of intensifying redistribution upwards. (Wade,
2009, p. 541)

This combined with an ever-growing hostility towards globalization allowed right-wing parties
to bloom (Savio, 2019). This vile combination of extreme ideologies from ancient ages with
neoliberal economics as led to rise of neo-fascism ( Palma, 2019). This new waken face of
Capitalism is once again used to push the socialist/communist agenda, dreams of an equalitarian
Utopia rise once more amongst the left side of the spectrum. “The Marxian demon walks
again…”, (Bonlding, 1959). This insanity, which we will address later during the analysis of
Socialism, brews once again in society and Capitalism in put on trial to answer for its crimes.

2
 But is the thesis really to blame, or used just as a scapegoat for an ugly truth, one that
academics seem to ignore or dismiss? By analysing the 3 different economic thesis we will be
able to identify the flaws in modern-day capitalism and the solutions proposed by Socialism
and Communism. Near the end we will use the philosophical lens of Liberalism, Realism and
Constructivism to formulate the possibility of a future Utopia and address the key factor behind
its possible success, the ugly truth.

Capitalism’s Metamorphism into an Evil Doctrine

Like a butterfly, Capitalism as suffered transformations throughout the times. The larvae
conceived by Adam Smith, the Father of Capitalism, has now metamorphized into an evil
doctrine according to many. But is the current system similar to its initial vision by Adam
Smith? As mentioned by Maciej Miszewski in 2019: “Capitalism has evolved into a system
which, while retaining some of its original institutions, has fundamentally changed its
character”. To better understand the issue at hand and to more clearly analyse the flaws of the
economic thesis, we must first understand its core values and ethics.

Although Capitalism (and consequently Socialism) evolved from feudal bureaucracy that
dates back to Ancient Rome in the Third Century, a closer chronological timestamp is more
desirable, namely the Cold War Era. Many have commented the end of then Cold War as the
victory of Capitalism (Bassiry and Jones, 1993). But it’s not enough:

The demise of the Stalinist political economy in the East says very little about the
absolute virtue of Western institutions, only that the Western model is relatively
superior in fulfilling individuals’ economic and political aspirations. (Bassiry and
Jones, 1993, p.621)

The “virtue” addressed in the previous statement relates to the ethical construction envisioned
by Adam Smith in 1980 amidst the Mercantilism Era. Smith and his discontent with the
practices performed under that system, lead him to the development of a model of a market
driven and an economic system that was consumer- based and not producer- based.
Mercantilism pushed the agenda of colonialization and a self-sustaining economy which lead
to inflated prices for consumers, “whose interest has been entirely neglected” (Smith, 1979,

3
 1
p.626, apud Bassiry and Jones, 1993, p.622) . The main objective of the system was to
maximize consumer choice, was it political or economic. This was achieved by decentralization
of structures, democracy, markets with no monopolies and the abolishment of autarky. This
system would later be known as “Capitalism” and Adam Smith as its Father.

Assuming a more modern understanding of Capitalism, T. Kowalik described in 2005

the system as profit-based, which used market competition as a self-coordinating method.
(Miszewki, 2019). In a societal basis, this meant that two sides were created: one that possessed
capital and one that would sell their work as labour. But for the majority of contemporary
capitalists the system can be summarised to 3 characteristics: Private ownership, freedom of
business and economic success derived from market competition.

This finally leads to the era of “woke capitalism” (Kirby, 2020), a self-conscious thesis
that recognizes and acknowledges its short comings. The current system is no longer what was
envisioned by Adam Smith nearly 200 years before. This “woke culture” follows a generational
shift, a young generation that is more preoccupied with the social implications of economic
policies. Support for socialist candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren rises as
the Marxian demon still wanders the land even after almost 60 years. According to Gallup Poll,
49 percent of young adults feel positively towards socialism. In contrast, a decade ago would
see two thirds of young adults with favourable views towards capitalism.2 If the trend continues
Capitalism may lose all its power on the West and Socialism can rise amongst the younger
generations. But what can explain this loss of trust?

Figure 1 Visual representation of loss of trust in Capitalism

1
Due to the difficulty of obtaining the original text by Adam Smith and reviewed by Skinner, I resorted to using
the citation of a citation “apud”.
2
Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/268766/socialism-popular-capitalism-among-young-adults.aspx

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Capitalism on trial

1. Covid-19 and corporate greed

As mentioned in the introduction, capitalism is once again put on trial and the recent pandemic
just fortifies the case presented by the left. Companies that have annual profits of million and
even billion dollars have showed during this pandemic the extent of corporate greed. Some
examples are McDonald’s which guaranteed paid sick leave to every corporate-owned store
(disregarding the fact that 90 percent of its stores are franchises, so it can not enforce the policy
on them); Domino’s managed to make McDonald’s look good by only providing sick leave to
6 percent of its stores3. But above all this one man managed to harness the wrath of the worlds
and represent everything that is corporate greed.

Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, is the richest man in the world, with an estimate net worth
of 146.9 billion (in perspective, Jeff Bezos earns in a second more than double of what an
average American worker earns in a week). In just a few short weeks Bezos managed to
demonstrate how little corporate elites care about people. Firstly, he donated 100 million dollar
to FeedingAmerica. A noble act surely, although it represents just 0,1 percent of its fortune4. I
do not wish to be badly interpreted, every help is commendable, no matter the amount. But the
fact that elite corporates, the ones who report yearly profits of 11 billion dollars and pay 0
dollars into federal taxes, can get praised for donations that in comparison to what they possess
are miniscule leaves me astonished. This is even more perplexing to the mind when reports
show that Amazon, the richest company in the globe, refused to pay sick leave to warehouse
employees in California, even though laws were implemented to do so. Due to the greed of the
richest man in the world, 29 workers of the Californian facility contracted Covid-19 and one
eventually died from a disease related to the virus. To conclude this small deviation of the main
premise, Jeff Bezos created the Amazon Relief Fund, a fund created to help Amazon employees
during the pandemic. The company contributed 25 million dollars to the fund and allowed for
public donations5. “While we aren’t expecting anyone to do so, you can make a voluntary

3
Source: https://www.eater.com/2020/3/16/21181862/are-mcdonalds-starbucks-and-other-chains-offering-
paid-sick-leave-for-coronavirus
4
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/07/twitter-chief-to-donate-quarter-of-his-
fortune-to-coronavirus-fight
5
Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-amazon-jeff-bezos-relief-fund-
covid-19-billionaire-net-worth-a9422236.html

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donation to the fund if you desire to do so”. The social backlash was ruthless. How could
Amazon, a company worth 1 Trillion dollars, create a public-backed relief fund for its
employees? The richest company in the world that, as a mentioned before, did not pay a single
dollar into federal tax, can not pay its employees?

These are just a few examples of corporate greed, one of the biggest problems in modern
capitalism. But even if one can argument that capitalism as a system allows for the free and
unrestricted flow of human greed, can capitalism really be accounted for it? Or is it just a pure
coincidence?

2. Coincidence of Phenomena

G.W. Kolodko in 2015 and eventually D. Acemoglu and J.A Robinson in 2012 would develop
the notion that “things are happening in the way they are happening because many things are
happening concurrently” (Miszewski, 2019, p. 171). The same coincidence phenomena would
also be addressed by Ramirez in 2015, where we defended that one of capitalism’s biggest
flaws, the economic inequality, and consequently the resistance to reform, ascended
independently from Capitalism (Ramirez, 2015)

This coincidence of phenomena could explain the rise of either economic thesis and consequent
problems in the future as a simple consequence of pre-existent factors. Such factors are global
debt and the consequent concentration on GDP growth, the rise of consumerism, the
exponential evolution of technology out of human locus of control and the ever-growing global
access to internet, dubbed as “transparency of the world” (Miszewski, 2019, p.171).

i) Global quest for GDP growth has meant that there is a bigger focus on the
profitability of products, namely the immediate profitability, that leads to
launching of new products without the proper testing of side effects- this is the
mentality that has led us to the consumerism era ( Consumerism that empowered
companies like Amazon to achieve such colossal revenues) .
The quest for GDP growth leads to the government promotion of consumerism
attitudes in the society. The household debt is heavily associated with consumerism.
The same applies to public debt. Since the rates of treasury bonds are linked to GDP,
a government sees itself almost obliged to follow the mentality. To dismiss the idea
that a Socialist economic would not suffer the same fate, “Given that public sectors

6
 are usually less efficient, it can be assumed that under socialism, vulnerability to
problems caused by increased issuing of currency can be even more acute”
(Miszewski, 2019, p. 172).
ii) Although Capitalism created a larger area on influence for creators, the loss of
human locus of control over technology would affect both economic systems in the
same way. Capitalism countries would search for the capitalization of technological
advances and Socialist countries would search for military applications of
technology. “This does not, however, have any bearing on the- so far- slim chances
of bringing this snowballing process under control” (Miszewski, 2019, p.172)
iii) Even though the Internet has facilitated the free flow of information, it has also led
to animosity between countries, contrary to tech giants reports. The “image
campaign” (Miszewski, 2019, p.172) that portrays and incentivizes consumerism
through distorted depictions of reality, when confronted with the harsh reality, can
lead to cultural consequences. Migration rises as those of undeveloped countries
search for the capitalist dream depicted by the Internet. Anger brews inside migrants
as they realise that the skills they possess are not enough to obtain the way of life
they’ve conceived in their dreams. This can potentially lead to the second
consequence: terrorism. The continuous disappointment that spreads through
generation to generation of migrants slowly erases any hope of overcoming
obstacles, substituting hope to anger and wrath. This is the only point where the two
axes differ. Capitalist societies tend to promote freedom, including freedom of
information, contrary to socialist systems such as the Chinese society 6. But on a
global perspective this hardly matters since the system is only implemented in a few
countries. Even if both systems disagree, this has little impact on the global system
((Miszewski, 2019).

6
“The Great Firewall” is one example of China’s internet censorship, where a series of digital blockades are
imposed in major websites.

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 3. Symbols for Capitalism

Kenneth E. Bonlding addressed in 1959 the importance of symbols for the longevity of
economic systems. Although the views expressed were highly pro-capitalism, mostly due to the
era it was published, the author made compelling arguments for the reason behind the ever-
growing number of countries that fell “into the communist lap” (Bonlding, 1959, p.42). As he
exceptionally explains: “It is little wonder that socialism has stirred the hearts of men as
capitalism as not, […]” (Bonlding, 1959, p.42). And after nearly 60 years this continues to be
true. A younger generation that is ever more focused in feelings and emotions sees in Socialism
salvation, a safe place, and sees in Capitalism greed, individualism, selfishness and most
important lack of fairness (Kirby, 2020).

Capitalism will not be able to sway the younger generation until it represents something
that embodies pureness, perfection, Utopia. Although the concept of “symbolism” is hard to
discuss or to be taken serious in an economic perspective, I share the opinion of many
academics: Capitalism lack of popularity stems from the coldness and sense of emotional
detachment between individuals it transmits.

But can Socialism really be the answer both socially and economically?

Socialism’s Metamorphism into a Good Doctrine

Much like Capitalism’s metamorphism, Socialism as also suffered conceptual changes

throughout the times.

Early socialists, dubbed utopian socialists, predated Marx and Engels. While many of
them eventually shared the Marxist vision, and perhaps for a strange coincidence, early
socialists “endeavoured to transform capitalism into a more egalitarian system in order to
realize a collective well-being for all people, […]” (Azria and Christiansen, 2019, p.2). Utopian
Socialism was more focused in social aspects, appealing to cooperation, association in contrast
to capitalist self- interest.

With the publication of the Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei by Karl Marx in 1848
a new form of Socialism took form: Communism. The most commonly understood form was
the Marxist-Leninist that identified socialism as “an intermediate stage between capitalism and

8
communism wherein resources are collectivized under the authoritarian rule of the working
class or proletariat” (Azria and Christiansen, 2019, p.3).

The final form of Authoritarian Socialism would be implemented by Stalin in the Soviet
Union. “Stalinism”, as it was recognized, represented a rigid socialist regime that oppressed
any dissident opinion and controlled the economy through government. The last years of the
Soviet Union would see policies such as glasnost 7 and perestroika8 lead the socialist regime to
embrace capitalist reforms. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, satellite states embraced
capitalist political and economic systems. Socialism as a concept remained present in countries
such as China and Cuba and socialist philosophies integrated many capitalist economies.

The most contemporary form of socialism is Democratic Socialism, that differs to

socialism only in the aspect of a public elected government. It also dissociates itself from the
vision of Marx by being based on an incremental change, rather than a revolutionary one (Azria
and Christiansen, 2019).

The classical concept of Socialism describes the economic system as a simple opposite
to Capitalism. This means that enterprises are state owned, and every revenue is centralised
(belongs to the society). A central planning coordinates the market, contrary to market
competition. This allows for the eradication of poverty and unemployment, equality of
opportunities, reduction of wage disparities and reduction of waste. As an economic theory
socialism presents itself as un Utopia, able to attend to every social need from any citizen.
Conceptually, Socialism guarantees a harmonious society, where everyone is equal. But at what
cost?

Socialism’s Authoritarian Roots

Despite Socialism being based on social liberties and social rights, pushing agendas that
represent equality, indiscrimination and economic fairness, analysing current socialist systems
may reveal authoritarian roots imbedded in the theory.

F
Moviment that would lead to a higher freedom of speech.
8
Economic policy that restructured the country’s economy and social relations.

9
 A truly socialist country is difficult if not impossible to find (as I will address in the next
topic), so we will analyse the one´s who most resemble the philosophy, both economically and
politically, and the social implication of said philosophy.

Contrary to leftist belief, although Nordic countries adopt socialist policies that are
aimed to protect and serve the population, they are far from a socialist economy. The best and
most used example of a socialist country is the People’s Republic of China, where even though
most companies are not state owned, the government still has control of any business decisions.
The country is also under the influence of a single party government, the Communist Party of
China. Despite showing one of the highest GDP’s in the world, happiness census in China
reveal a certain paradox: China’s Happiness Paradox.

According to the 2020 World Happiness report, in 2019 China was placed at number
949, behind countries such as El Salvador ( for comparison reasons, El Salvador was in 2019
the ninth most dangerous country in the world10) This is especially concerning and the reason
for the paradox because during the same year China placed second on the World’s GDP
Ranking11. So why is the Chinese population struggling to find happiness. The reason is found
on the authoritarian roots of the Socialist vision. Reports of censorship by the Chinese
Government, such as the already mentioned Chinese “Great Firewall”, are highly common. The
oppressive regime most recently managed to infiltrate himself in the Hong Kong Government,
a region that will soon loose its independence to the Chinese behemoth.

In 1959 Kenneth E. Bonlding explained the mentality that a socialist regime imposed
on the population, by demonstrating the possible reactions to market limitations. A market
limitation, such as lack of income or lack of opportunity, can lead to private discontent and the
individual will seek to better himself in order to change its life. On the other hand, a market
limitation can lead to political discontent, shifting the individuals focus on bettering himself to
manifestation its concerns through manifestations and riots. This difference in mentality can be
than analysed for polar distinctions and the association of the mentality to the political and
economic system. Private discontent will take form in a capitalist society and political
discontent will take form in a Socialist country. If an individual feels a lack of control on its

9
Source: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2020/#read
10
Source: https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2019&displayColumn=0
11
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/268173/countries-with-the-largest-gross-domestic-product-gdp/

10
own future, he is not happy. Constant political and economic limitations are the reason that
explain the Chinese happiness Paradox. So how can a system that has its main focus on the
betterment of society demonstrate such contradictory results? A disturbing reason can be found
on John Keynes’s views on Socialism.

Keynes through its works revealed a socialist inclination. Its ethical theory refuses the
ideal of general rules, crucial to the foundation of Capitalism. As he once stated: “There are
still a good many perfect fools amongst our businessmen” (Keynes, 1910, page unknown, apud
Fuller, 2019, p.8/3)12. Keynes reveals lack of confidence in businessmen and in individuals in
general, appealing to the centralised state control (Fuller, 2019). This lack of confidence is even
more tangible in the disturbing version of a socialist system envisioned by Keynes.

Besides advocating for the full control by the state of the means of production and consumption
(Fuller, 2019), Keynes also advocated “government control over the human means of
production” (Fuller,2019, p.10/3). Considering the fact that Keynes was a eugenicist13 , this
reveals a dark facet of Socialism: Authoritarian and Totalitarian in every way possible. Perhaps
as a funny coincidence Virginia Woolf, creator of the Bloomsbury Communal Household,
addressed Keynes as “dear old Hitler” (Fuller,2019) and in 1933 “Mosley wrote to him
[Keynes] congratulating him on his ‘fascist’ economics” (Skidelsky, 1975, p.306, apud Fuller,
2019. p.6/3).

I do not present these quotes to attack Keynes and consequently Socialism. The sole
purpose of these annotations is to explain the “high human costs” (Bonlding, 1959, p.44) that
budget markets were associated with. This reveals the full range of authority that socialism can
pursue in order to achieve Utopia. I will now analyse in the next topic the said pursuit for
Socialist Utopia.

12
The author fails to indicate the source of Keynes’s quote, making it impossible for one to access the original
work.
13
Individual that believes in Eugenics, set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a
human population

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Socialism and Insanity

Revisiting the quote from Kenneth E. Bonlding in 1959: “It is little wonder that socialism has
stirred the hearts of men as capitalism has not, and that it has filled the minds of men with
its bright but deceitful dreams of the future”. This “deceitful dreams” created a platonic love
amongst the left side of the political spectrum. It is very common to see arguments from the left
that “Real Socialism” has never existed. Maciej Miszewski addresses this argument: “[…], it
14
must be stressed that a system which embodied all the above ideals has never been
constructed” (Miszewski, 2019, p.167). The author also addresses that the “real socialism”
implemented in Eastern European and Asian countries was a far cry from the Marxist vision.
Many of these institutions still had their foundations deeply connected to feudal heritages. This
came as no surprise to Karl Marx obviously, since he stated that the upcoming of a socialist
system could only happen after capitalism had exhausted all of its development potential
(Miszewski, 2019).

Other reason that academics use to justify the absence of the Real Socialism is the fact
that Socialist economies constantly adopted capitalist policies in order to maintain
competitiveness. A perfect example of this was the Cold War. But even the mimicking of the
Western economics didn´t produce the desired outcomes. A Capitalist system could implement
socialist philosophies but the vice versa could not. As the author brilliantly comments:

On the path to industrialisation, however, real socialism was condemned to a never-

ending catch-up game with its rivals, and since the economy was subordinated to that
race, it developed disharmoniously, in time becoming more and more a caricature of
itself (Miszewski, 2019, p.168).

The left uses this premise to protect itself from any possible critic, since one can not
criticise socialist countries considering that they do not represent “real socialism”. On the other
end it serves as the basis for a justified, never-ending, insanity ridden pursuit of the economic
utopia.

14
Related to the ideals exposed in the last paragraph of the previous point.

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“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”-
Anonymous 15.

Socialism: Obsolete Theory?

Can such promising economic theory by dismissed as obsolete then? The search for utopia
should not impede the critical analysis of socialism and the many contributions it can provide
to capitalist economies (Miszewski, 2019).

It is important to note that, despite the impossibility of creating a pure economic theory, both
can be combined in order to create a more harmonious society. Examples of this collaboration
are the implementation of policies such as equal opportunities and welfare state (Miszewski,
2019). This possibility introduces my final topic before I conclude this article: if there can be a
“osmosis of solutions” (Miszewski, 2019, p.169), can one design a possible utopia and identify
the determining factor to its creation?

The Utopia and the Ugly Truth

Throughout this article I presented the flaws inherit to each economic thesis. I now use this
final topic to address what I envision as the main and only factor that creates any supposed
“flaw” of each theory. By doing this and exposing the ugly truth one can better design a possible
economic and social Utopia under the philosophical lens.

After analysing every argument presented by both sides of the spectrum, I conclude that
every flaw originates from a single, immutable factor: the human condition.
I understand the possible fallacy of single cause present in my argument but after close analysis
it is difficult to prove it wrong. Corporate greed, wealth concentration, income disparity and
economic inequality, all associated with Capitalism, can be justified by the human condition.
The same condition affects Socialism and Communism. The greed and selfishness inherit in
any human being impossibilities the formation of a pure economic theory. The human condition
presents a multiplicity of variables that cannot be controlled or attended to by any theorem. Too

15
Despite popular belief, Einstein was not the author of this quote. The first reference dates back to a set of 12
rules created by Alcoholics Anonymous in Knoxville, Tennessee. Source:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/23/same/

13
many liberties can lead to the pursuit of one’s deepest and greediest desires and too many
regulations can only lead to revolution since man always strives for more. As Hans Morgenthau
explains: “Man is born to seek power, yet his actual condition makes him a slave of others. Man
is born to be a slave, but everywhere he wants to be a master”. 16The human nature does not
change and every action that defies that rule will not last. Countries will fall, economies will
crumble, and man’s will will stay strong.

Now that we understand the main reason for the failure of the implementation of the
pure economic theories, we can now more easily discuss the idea of Utopia through the
philosophical lens of Liberalism, Realism and Constructivism.

i. Liberalism
According to Liberalism’s virtues, a Utopia could be created because the
philosophy deposits its trust in the goodness of Man. Man would always pursuit
reason and could change the course of history.
ii. Realism
In the light of Realism, a Utopia would be unconceivable. The human nature,
the main factor to the success of any economic system, is immutable. Any
Utopia would crumble.
iii. Constructivism
Assuming the cooperation between states as the cooperation between people, a
Utopia would be possible under Constructivism. Society would work through
cooperation in order to guaranty equality and impede the upcoming of
discrimination that could rise due to Man’s nature.

Conclusion

The rise of neo-fascist regimes associated with capitalism as led once again to the discussion
about the moral justification for the continuing presence of capitalism in modern times. The
recent pandemic has shed a new light to the large flaws associated with Capitalism. Despite
providing economic liberty, freedom of choice and equal opportunities, the economic theory
can also bring the worst in the human condition. Corporate greed. selfishness, individualism

16
Quote taken from Powerpoint made by Professor Paulo Duarte

14
and lack of empathy that stuck out like a soar thumb during the pandemic, giving the left new
grounds to persecute Capitalism and more easily push their Socialist agenda.

The trial of Capitalist revealed the mutation that the vision of Adam Smith, the Father
of Capitalism, had suffered throughout the years. Despite some problems being explained by
the phenomena of coincidence, Contemporary Capitalism is an insult to the economic theory
developed in the 1700s, unable to find symbols to which the individual could associate with,
unlike Socialism and Communism. This lack of symbols made younger generations feel more
apprehensive towards Capitalism, expanding the reach of the Marxist demon. This younger
generation, supportive of politician such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are now more
focused in policies aimed to improve social problems and the one’s that attend to individuals’
needs. Consequently, Socialism presented himself as the saviour, the right way, but after
thorough analysis this saviour revealed himself incompetent and potentially hazardous, a mere
platonic love for the left.

Envisioned by Karl Marx, the system designed to free the population from the corporate
greed and to emancipate the people revealed itself as an evil doctrine. The Chinese Happiness
Paradox presented the hypocrisy of the thesis: the system designed to protect its population only
led to the misery of it. This continuous search for the Socialist Utopia only served to imprison
the left in a never-ending rabbit hole of insanity. The system would be implemented time after
time, crumbling societies with it, with a major human cost.

But Socialism is not obsolete. Many capitalist countries adopt socialist policies in order
to attend to social needs. This reveals that the problem does not lie within the philosophy of
each system, but instead lies on the ugly truth, the main factor to the demise of every form of
pure capitalism or socialism. The human nature stands as the creator of every problem and any
inequality.

In light of this, is a Utopia possible? The philosophical lens reveal that it is but the
possibility is slim, if not miniscule. The human nature is too uncertain, but as commented by
Rabbi Tarfom: “It is not thy duty to complete the work [of perfecting the world], but neither
are thou free to desist from it [ from doing all you can]” (Pirkei Avot, II-21, apud Epstein, 2000,
p.156)

15
References:

Azria, Seth M., Christiansen, Jonathan, Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2019

Bassiry, G.R., Jones, Marc, Adam Smith and the Ethics of Contemporary Capitalism, journal
of Business Ethics, 1993

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