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+---
+title: "Eat The Rich"
+date: 2025-03-09T00:00:00Z
+draft: false
+---
+In the corporate world, one hears phrases like "overcome the odds", "get ahead", "stand out", and "beat the competition". I despise these slogans.
+
+I don't want to "get ahead" when it means others are left behind.
+
+I don't want to "stand out" when it means others are passed over.
+
+I don't want to "beat the competition" when it may mean the competition has no income.
+
+We're not talking about a friendly soccer match here. We're talking about people's livelihoods. What good does my success do if it means somebody else has no money for food, turns to crime for a living, or has to live in their parents' basement? I think it's in human nature to want to cooperate with others, but the labor market forces us to compete as adversaries.
+
+I know this might sound strange to some of you, but you shouldn't have to "hustle" just to survive. You shouldn't have to work two jobs while doing a [side gig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gig_economy "Gig Economy") and studying. You shouldn't have to work degrading [bullshit jobs](/2022/01/22/automation-bullshit-jobs-and-work/ "Automation, Bullshit Jobs, And Work") that serve no social purpose. You shouldn't have to tune your ATS-compliant AI-optimized résumé for every job application. You shouldn't have to endure endless rounds of interviews, aptitude tests, unpaid internships, and unpaid training. You shouldn't have to pay out the ass for industry certifications, bootcamps, and education just so you can have the chance to get a job. You shouldn't be coerced into [signing up](/2021/08/21/manufacturing-agreement/ "Manufacturing Agreement") for platforms that steal your data just to look for a job.
+
+You should just be able to get a job, go to work, and have enough to comfortably enjoy your free time when you come home. And those who are out of work or unable to work, such as the disabled, wounded veterans, the sick, children, and the elderly, they shouldn't have to stress out about what might happen to them. There ought to be a *robust* social safety net sufficient to prevent anybody from ending up sleeping out on the street.
+
+Many don't realize this, but society actually produces more than enough for *everybody* to thrive. The only reason everybody doesn't thrive is because economic resources are improperly distributed. If they *were* properly distributed, the economy would look very different.
+
+For one, there wouldn't be "labor markets". The term itself is misleading. Employers don't pay for labor. If they did, employees would be paid commensurate with the value their labor generates. Most are paid far less than that in reality. This discrepancy is known as [surplus value](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surplus_value "Surplus Value"). It's what enables employers to turn a profit and continue the cycle of [capital accumulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_accumulation "Capital Accumulation"). It's why [the rich get a larger and larger piece of the pie each year](/2022/03/05/website-visualizing-wealth-inequality-and-mass-incarceration/ "[Website] Visualizing Wealth Inequality And Mass Incarceration") while everybody else is left to fight over dwindling table scraps.
+
+What employers really purchase are *people*. They rent people for a specific amount of time, make them work, and pay them a small, constant rate regardless of the economic value their labor generates. This is just slavery by another name. This exploitation of the worker is only temporarily constrained by labor protection laws, until the forces of capital eventually erode those too. This unjust economic system infects all aspects of society:
+
+**It infects politics:** It's difficult to run a successful campaign for office without taking donations from the rich. Also, the wealthy sway elections by purchasing media and controlling the messaging and the flow of information.
+
+**It infects the legal system:** Big business lobbies politicians to pass laws that favor them at the expense of society.
+
+**It's corrosive to the social fabric:** As people have to spend more of their time working, there isn't as much time for building family, community, or relationships.
+
+I won't make an exhaustive list, but I listed a few other things in [a previous entry](/2022/06/18/extreme-capitalism-ruins-everything/ "Journal Entry: Extreme Capitalism Ruins Everything") if you're interested. To summarize succinctly: capitalism eventually destroys everything. It's an unsustainable economic system that sows the seeds of its own destruction. We are already witnessing the beginning of the end.
+
+Back in 2021, there was the [Gamestop short squeeze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameStop_short_squeeze), an unprecedented event pointing to increasing class tensions. Just recently we had the [UnitedHealthcare CEO being shot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Brian_Thompson "Killing of Brian Thompson") along with the widespread public sympathy towards the alleged shooter [Luigi Mangione](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Mangione "Luigi Mangione"), and the corporate media condemning the killing. There's also the consolidation of corporate power by the American oligarchs, which has been accelerated by Trump. I believe the consolidation of corporate power and the increasing class tensions is an inevitable outcome of capitalism and I predict it will continue to escalate until the economic system is either corrected in some way or collapses from its own contradictions.
+
+This system is fucked and it's fucking us. At this point, it's probably too late to fix it working from the inside. None of the major parties will bring the change that's desperately needed. They're all bought and paid for. It's time for people of all ages, political affiliations, races, religions, sexual orientations, and genders to unite, and demand an economy that works for everyone. And by "demand", I don't mean holding up signs, tepidly protesting on the sidewalk, or other ineffectual, easily-ignored activities.
+
+If you're asking me exactly what you should do about it, I don't know. I don't know if murking more billionaire CEOs is the way to kick start change, but to be honest it was refreshing to see that bring people together instead of more arguing over stupid culture war bullshit. By and large, these CEOs and oligarchs are all selfish, greedy pieces of shit that are never held accountable. They'll continue to take more and more while the rest of us make less and less. This has to change.
+
+Enough is enough.
+
+> "Unless someone you like cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." – Dr. Suess in The Lorax