Coping with Capitalism | The Publication

A community focused on uncovering solutions to problems found in our capitalistic society

The goal of this publication

Coping with Capitalism is a community that provides clear & accessible paths to personal and collective care. By embracing and promoting a culture of mutual care, we aim to co-create a more inclusive & supportive world for all.

Why is this goal important?

In a system based on turning labor power into a commodity (profit/money), exploitation of labor power in an attempt to create profit will inevitably exist.

One core method of exploitation occurs when capitalists, or the non-productive elite, underpay the working class. This creates huge disparities in wealth, quality of life, and access to basic human necessities.

These disparities increase due to two primary factors. Investments in technology aimed at replacing the working class, and by expanding into other countries, specifically developing ones, to employ a labor force, and extract raw materials, at the lowest cost possible.

This race towards profit is an inherent characteristic of this system. We’ve had to enact anti-trust laws to counter this. To prevent the exploitation of labor, we regulate working conditions. To prevent groups of individuals from being excluded, we create social welfare programs. To prevent deception in the market, we’ve created advertising laws and consumer protection legislation. To prevent the destruction of the environment, we’ve created environmental protection regulations. Again, the nature of this system is to race towards profit, with no regard for ethics or morality.

Who does this affect?

The majority of us are in this oppressed working class which capitalists are aiming to replace, to secure more profits. This working class is becoming more and more aware of this impending replacement, which can create a lot of fear, insecurity, and amplified feelings of scarcity. There is already a prevalence of these feelings due to the competitive landscape and emphasis on self-worth/value deriving from one’s productivity within this system.

Beyond the various mental health issues that this system creates for the working class, (due to poor working conditions, low wages, isolation, anxiety, a lack of purpose and so much more) the system itself perpetuates racism, classicism, and sexism through hyper-exploitation (of the working class), colonialism (gaining full or partial political control over a country and exploiting it economically), imperialism (using military force to gain political or economic control of a country) and the present patriarchy (a social system where positions of power and privilege are typically held by un-empathetic white men who create biases within the system for their benefit). Most likely, you the reader fall under the category of the working class and are being exploited in ways that you may or may not be aware of.

When and where is this goal important?

Capitalism is ubiquitous. There isn’t a single aspect of life in a capitalistic system that isn’t in service or impacted by the system. Capitalism advocates for individuals to aspire to an individuated lifestyle, usually based around comfort or luxury, by relying on the services of others or companies. This ensures that the individual is dependent on the system. This dependency is supposed to allow the individual to support those who fulfill their needs in the best manner (according to that individual’s definition of best).

We are instead seeing that for necessities, those who own the most infrastructure to provide the service, are at times the only option, or one of few options, for the consumer. This can easily be found in the world of utilities, electric & gas. Depending on where you live in America, your options for this necessity, a modern world necessity, are very limited. This encourages companies and services to offer a subpar experience at a price that ensures profit because, where else can the consumer go? I ask you the reader to think of your own life, specifically, what services or companies do you rely on for basic necessities? Without these externalities, would you be able to meet your basic survival needs?

What can we do?

We get to build a community with each other by educating ourselves, sharing our experiences, and formulating solutions to problems found in our lived experiences. I want to emphasize, sharing your experience. This is the place to share whatever struggle or triumph you are experiencing within capitalism. This is a safe space. All ideologies are welcome. Whether you are for or against capitalism, this is the space to express why.

If this interests you, I encourage you to become a writer for this publication.

How to write for this publication

There will be no word limits or edits to your writing. I may provide callouts for potential enhancements, but please see them as suggestions. To supplement any callouts that I may have, I will also share your story with a GPT that assesses the quality and craftsmanship of your story and compares it to Medium’s quality guidelines. This is a wip tool that does not generate any content or store any data. It simply reads a story and provides a rating and some feedback.

You will not be required to make any changes to a story to publish here. All formats of writing are welcome here (poetry, short form, long form, etc).

This publication is a part of Medium’s Boost Nomination Pilot. Please read below for more details.

Medium’s Boost Nomination Pilot is our experimental program to work in collaboration with independent publication editors on Medium to nominate high-quality stories for Boost.

Nominators can nominate stories in their topical focus, regardless of whether the stories are in their publications.

These nominations are reviewed by Medium’s internal curation team to see if they line up with Medium’s Quality Guidelines.

If a nominated story is selected for Boost by our curators, it gets higher priority to be distributed in readers’ feeds.

Nominators may also get financial compensation up to $900 US per month.

Nominations from Boost Nomination Pilot participants account for only about half of the stories selected for Boost. The other half of Boosted stories are sourced directly by our internal curation team, which organically reviews hundreds of stories from all across Medium all day, every day. (You can read more here about what happens to your story after it’s published on Medium, and if you’re curious about how our curators assess stories, you can read their training manual.) — Source

I will happily work with any writer to craft high-quality stories for Boost. If this interest you, please make sure to leave a private note in your submission indicating so.

I also ask that you follow Medium’s rules. If you use any sort of A.I content, you need to disclose of it. For partial or complete stories, this disclosure should live at the top of the story. For photos, this should live under the generated photo.

Please leave your username below so I can add you. I look forward to connecting with you!

I‘ve created a private and secure space to stay in touch with writers and readers of the publication, please email me at [email protected] to join. Learn more about the space here.

Are you experiencing a daily struggle with the well, or not-so well-known issues found in capitalism? Are you experiencing success among the chaos? This is a chance to share your story. I’d love to discuss all topics, be it positive or negative with yourself. If you are interested in being interviewed, please fill out this form.

Resources on the current state of capitalism

A great overview on capitalism, and what a majority of this story is based around: http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/problem/capitalism

An overview on exploitation within capitalism: http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/problem/exploitation-capitalist-systems

An overview of non-productive capitalist elites: http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/problem/non-productive-capitalist-elites

A list of companies replacing humans with robots: https://www.lovemoney.com/galleries/61607/companies-already-replacing-humans-with-robots?page=21

A good read on capitalism’s impact on our mental health: https://www.madinamerica.com/2022/11/capitalism-whats-destroying-collective-mental-health/

A roadmap for Natural Capitalism https://hbr.org/2007/07/a-road-map-for-natural-capitalism

An article highlighting how capitalism is killing the planet https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/30/capitalism-is-killing-the-planet-its-time-to-stop-buying-into-our-own-destruction

An article discussing why the next stage of capitalism is coming https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210525-why-the-next-stage-of-capitalism-is-coming

A proposal on saving global capitalism from itself https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/03/save-global-capitalism-localism-deglobalization/