Capitalism, the ‘saviour of the free world,’ was touted as an economic paradigm that incentivised effort, encouraged barter and most crucially, brought power back into the deserving hands of the masses of regular, hard-working people. Sadly, many of these objectives have not been achieved. Moreover, capitalism has generated some popular narratives and engendered ways of living and thinking that bear significant reexamination.
Power has once again become concentrated in fewer hands than ever before. A handful of corporate megaliths use their economic clout to stifle competition, effectively discouraging diversity. Additionally, the non level playing field thus created even blunts the pace of their own research, turning innovators into mere mass producers. For example, a well-known chip manufacturer, once ad mired for dynamically improving computer processing speeds, lazily plateaued into monotonously releasing slightly better versions of the same chip every year once they gained a sizable monopoly. Some tech mega brands that dominate the market coast comfortably every quarter more on the class consciousness of their loyal users rather than genuine upgrades of their products over time. Even revolutionary technology like the large language models of AI was deeply influenced by market forces.
A small cartel controlled the research which was as expensive as it was exclusive. It took a small start-up from China to shake things up. By providing a version that was a fraction of the cost and freely available to everyone, they totally changed the narrative. Capitalism justifies its own ideas and actions, while blaming others: The key ingredient to a fruitful business idea, as many executives will say, is ‘solving a common problem.’ Capitalism some times can create a problem, partially solve it to feign progress, and generate a new problem along the way. We notice how big firms in developed nations outsource production to third world countries, availing cheap labour rates and thus increasing their profits. They are welcomed by the officialdom in these countries on the premise that jobs are being created locally.
However, these jobs are quite basic and often exploitative (underage workers, unsatisfactory working conditions etc.). Ironically, these profit hungry megaliths are not accused of taking away valuable jobs from their own country by outsourcing. Rather, the spotlight falls on foreign immigrants to their country ~ these are blamed for usurping local jobs. In fact, much of the employment taken up by these immigrants is that which local people shy away from doing. The lenses and metrics capitalism chooses to view overall economic progress ignores imp – ortant nuances.
One would think, rationally, that the indicator of a strong economy is the ability of the common man to sustain himself financially. When we look at India’s economic prosperity through the lens of GDP growth, it is easy to think that we are doing extremely well ~ due to the huge turnover of corporate powerhouses. However, this measuring tool masks the pitiable living circumstances for the myriad poor and thus is not very reliable. Capitalism has somehow normalised the discrepancy between senior managers of companies on business trips being put up at five-star hotels after journeying by business class and masons and bricklayers not getting even a decent dormitory to sleep in when they cross state boundaries to work. The narratives spawned by the big fish portray themselves in glowing terms while being a little derogatory about the smaller players.
Robust small size enterprises are pejoratively termed ‘mom and pop’ shops. On the other hand, big conglomerates confer on themselves epithets like ‘unicorns,’ when they could well be labelled ‘King Kong’ enterprises (that destroy others in their path) for example. Likewise, NGOs sourcing funds (to help others) are dismissively deemed to be ‘begging’ for funds yet regular business companies pitching for funds (for their personal growth and profits) are painted as brave warriors who tamed the ‘sharks.’ Capitalism weaves itself into processes and subverts healthy trends: Capitalism is slowly seeping into various professional ecosystems and modifying them in ways that could be unsuitable. Take the world of medicine for example.
Rather than concentrating mainly on professional excellence and service with a smile, corporate hospitals are increasingly focusing on going deluxe. The outcome of hospitals simulating destination res or – ts comes at the cost of raised tariffs, out of the reach of many. The content of medical literature is also changing, with the incorporation of heavy amounts of (to my mind) unnecessary economic data. When we were young medical students, the articles written focused chiefly on the disease entity itself. Now a days, there seems to be a req – uirement to write about the economic implications of diseases and interventions. Is this necessary?
Is the impact on the GDP an appropriate focus for students reading journals to learn the medical nuances of diseases? Similarly, nowadays, discussions in corporate hospital monthly meetings are as much about the revenues generated by various specialities such as cardiac, orthopaedic etc. as they are about hospital policies. Where once senior doctors on grand rounds held up patient charts for groups of students to scrutinize and learn from; we now have hospital administrative staff holding up excel sheets with graphs depicting departmental earnings and ‘educating’ doctors, nudging them to not ignore fiscal responsibilities to the hospital even while dealing with responsibilities to patients. Medical insurance companies in some countries have found a way to skim profit at every stage of a patient’s interaction, creating a new angle to medical care that denies access to many who severely need it simply because their life-threatening disease is not on a list of preap proved conditions. Doctors who take conservative approaches to diseases or choose gentler cures that take longer may well be blacklisted by insurance companies who prefer a quick solution or surgery.
When did society agree that black suits should hold more power over healthcare decisions than white lab coats? Capitalism insists that the financial net worth of an individual overrides everything else: Well-wishers and professional psychologists alike tell us of the overriding importance of investing time and effort in no – urishing our souls, minds, bodies and becoming self-aware. Then along comes capitalism and persuades you that your bank balance overrides everything else. Many companies have a ruthless professional ethos that dictates employees must first and foremost be robust cogs in the professional wheel ~ and family, life, health, and liberty are lower on the rung of importance, firmly below corporate targets.
Clearly, capitalism has managed to trick us into believing that a rich slave is somehow freer than a poor one. Gullible executives grossly neglect their personal life and family chasing higher packages and designations in the corporate world. This often does not end well; the executives discover they are professionally dispensable when the company happens to downsize and the people who they have neglected at home for years are not exactly waiting for them with open arms. Capitalism persuades you that you must keep putting the details of your life out there on social media, to build your personal brand. The bigger the ‘in fluencer’ you become, the more wealth you could attract.
Slowly and surely, rather than products, it is humans who have bec ome the advertisement. We have been persuaded to change our perspective from ‘I think, therefore I am’ (cogito ergo sum) ~ to ‘I influence therefore I am.’ Focus on money/profits contributes to severe lapses of judgement: Recent news carried stories of immigrants from third world countries deported back from the US. Amongst these were fellow Indians who sold valuable land, gave staggering sums of money to unscrupulous agents, got into debt, risked getting arrested or killed ~ all in the belief that it would improve their monetary prospects in the future in the US. Such is the illusion of success created by capitalism that it makes people leave the priceless comfort of home, family, and friends, and take a difficult gamble on making it big in a foreign land ~ likely after years of more sacrifice and struggle.
What is not clearly thought out, is that if the same vast sums of money were invested in the home country itself, the immigrant would have a likely chance of economic success here itself, in some form or another, while simultaneously being on more predictable and familiar territory along with the benefit of familial support. It is a similar desperation for profit that has often brought out the inhumane side of supervisors in charge of factory or agricultural workers. In Beed, Maharashtra, for example, you may have read of the harrowing tales of women workers forced by their contractors to undergo hysterectomies (often in unhygienic, unsafe conditions) just so that they do not have to take a day or two off from work during their periods. Rather than promote true merit as envisioned, capitalism has instead somehow spawned an environment where the act of generating profits (by hook or by crook) is itself deemed excellence. There seems to be no end goal with capitalism.
Considering the failings of capitalism, it is important to question some of its entrenched narratives. At an individual level, we can surely try and lead our lives on a much broader scale than that envisioned through the narrow pecuniary confines of Capitalism. As far as governments are concerned, they must put humans before banknotes. Much like the land ceilings which got rid of the Zamindari system, regulatory adjustments can put healthy limits on mega capitalism (e.g. no single entity can own more than 10 per cent market share) to encourage other players and strictly monitor monopolies and restrictive trade practices. Not getting unduly influenced by the profit-oriented outlook of capitalism is what will truly enrich mankind.
(The writer is a Delhi-based medical professional.)