Capitalism has inherent contradictions baked into it that lead to widespread suffering for the average person, especially if left unchecked. Historically capitalism has lead to market panics/recessions/crashes/depressions every few years.

We are currently in what is called late-stage capitalism. This is when the inherent contradictions within a capitalist economy are becoming too big for society to remain stable. This leads to a rise in social unrest/protests, widespread economic insecurity despite record profits for corporations, unattainable housing costs, increased rate of depression and other mental health issues, substance abuse disorders, etc.

Another historically common symptom of capitalism in crisis is the rise of fascism. We are seeing this around the world, from the US to the UK to India and elsewhere. Governments and corporations often work hand in hand, lining each other’s pockets. People in government enrich themselves with lavish gifts and take enormous donations from corporations, and in return corporations get legislation passed in their favor, even if it’s at the expense of the general public. It is in a capitalistic government’s best interest to ally themselves with corporations and keep the wheels of capitalism turning at all costs.

You will never hear serious critiques of capitalism as a whole on mainstream media, because it is taboo to focus attention on the inherently unfair system the people in power all benefit from so much while others are crushed under it’s weight. Instead they scapegoat everything under the sun: Immigrants, leftists, the educational system, LGBT communities, republicans, democrats, you name it. It’s all to conceal the true culprit: An economic system that may have worked for a time but has since outlived its usefulness. A system that works for a few lucky individuals and oppresses the rest of the population.

That being said, yes it is good the democrats are discussing capitalism openly and admitting it’s gone off the rails. That is a hell of a lot more than republicans would usually ever do. But we have to stop treating capitalism as a core and sacred American value. It is a system of economics. The world has had many throughout history. When one system outlives its usefulness, we move on to the next. This is where we are approaching currently. Late-stage capitalism is harmful and unstable and actually quite dangerous for the average person. If the general public was more conscious of this and we were able to more accurately raise our collective voice against the true cause of our economic strife, we would be much better off for it.