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What exactly does it mean when people blame “capitalism” for something? I see this a lot on Reddit and I have never really understood what people mean by it. I see it most often in the context of people blaming capitalism for some sort of exploitative behavior by corporations or individuals, or that capitalism is the reason for all sorts of mental health issues and other struggles with modern life. But I don’t see how “capitalism” specifically can really be blamed for any issues. Anything related to exploitative behavior can easily be attributed to human nature and the inherent problems that result from competition for finite resources. And most of the distinctly modern problems of atomization and things of that nature seem to be a result of technological changes. Basically I find “moloch” to be the best explanation for what’s causing most people’s complaints about modern society but I’m wondering if there is something I’m missing when people attribute problems to capitalism itself
To steelman their complaints, I think the signal they're trying to transmit is "There is no natural law that this had to be this way, it is our flawed human systems that are to blame". It occupies the same kind of space as "If god is all powerful and good then why do bad things happen to good people?". I understand that this is not fair. Capitalism, and I'm even not a fan of the word as I find it contains a false claim in its very formulation, never claimed to have anything like the omnipotence and benevolence of a god. But there is some substance to the criticism, the system of markets and state allowed monopolies(think remotely owned private property rather than microsoft) rely on our collective consent as a bargain for the greater good and yet the great good has these very noticeable gaps where occasionally rather than be uplifted thousands of poor black people get lead contaminated water or games publishers ruin or disable their own products to great disutility to the common man so that they won't compete with their future titles and it causes people to wonder whether this system really serves them and deserves their continued consent. A question to which I think the answer is a clear yes because I am informed on the alternatives and the history of the before times and the people making this criticism generally aren't. There is some kernel of truth there, this economy of ours is powerful but feral, it will just as thoughtlessly uplift billions and give us wealth unfathomable to our ancestors as it will reduce us to radioactive rubble.
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