American Capitalism

America could have a far more destructive cultural devotion to money than it does at the present time.  Any culture could always be more immoral and destructive than it is simply by more deeply clinging to errors and injustices.  As far as the economic structure of the nation is concerned, though, there is little that is rationalistic about the worldviews and motivations behind the workplace, with the pursuit of money for the sake of money (which is in turn really for the sake of something money supposedly brings) being one of the primary factors that shape and define American culture.  Capitalism is not inherently oppressive, but American capitalism certainly is.  There are numerous ways that the country's wealthy or wealthier citizens can gratuitously, hypocritically, or cruelly manipulate those of a lower economic standing, all in order to gain more wealth they do not need.

Even things like medical treatments, necessary for survival or a high quality of life for many people, are twisted into excuses to separate people from gratuitous amounts of money.  People might be given pointless or irrelevant treatments because it brings in more revenue.  Cash prices for medical/dental visits without insurance might be cheaper than the "discounted" insurance prices--which are discounted from an even higher, more arbitrary total, meaning insurance is sometimes just a fraudulent way to manipulate people into feeling like they have saved money thanks to their insurance plans even though they have already spent more than they would apart from insurance.  As long as someone can pay an extreme fee, there is not likely to be any objection from those requiring the payments.  If this is how the medical sphere is, what of the workplace?

Some business leaders think paying employees an amount that is unlivable even when working 40 hours a week is "adequate pay," even though working for 40 hours a week and still not having the money to live without basic financial worries is clearly insufficient.  Some managers might even intentionally schedule their workers with hours meant to go under the minimum required for benefits like insurance.  What happens to those who cannot even enter the conventional workplace of America due to disabilities or other unfortunate personal circumstances?  Death or homelessness could easily follow.  Homeless people have even been arrested for the supposed crime of "vagrancy," or simply not having a home or income.  Anyone who thinks that the evidence does not fully imply that many Americans (though this could be true of people elsewhere, of course) are not fixated on the mere social construct of money far more than a rationalistic society would be is not paying thorough attention or is making comfort-driven assumptions.

Money is not the issue.  As the Bible would put it, it is the love of money above a love of reason, truth, morality, and others from which a deadly kind of economic selfishness springs.  Money and even the possessions that could be used as a measurement of wealth outside of a modern currency system do not make people believe anything irrational, act hypocritically, oppress others, or misunderstand themselves in order to feel more at home in the philosophical and personal minefield of American capitalism in its current form.  Petty assumptions (as opposed to rationalistic knowledge of truths), greed, and philosophical apathy are the driving forces behind America's general applications of capitalism.  In turn, more assumptions, greed, and apathy are birthed when the philosophically weak-minded cannot bear the figurative and sometimes literal brutality of being trapped in poverty or being judged for meaningless factors like how relatively little they might care about money.

Many aspects of American society are very plainly preserved by those who are willing to trample on others for the sake of financial prosperity or to stay alive in a culture that, broadly speaking, is enslaved to greed, materialistic consumerism, and classism.  For some people who struggle with living out such asinine, destructive ideas, desperation--the desire to continue living and to not have to worry about basic needs--pushes them to live as if money is more than an arbitrary social construct that is not necessary for life outside of a specific kind of culture.  For others, sheer stupidity in assuming that their desires should take priority over the needs of others is the culprit (what makes them automatically deserve greater monetary flourishing than others?), even if irrationality is ultimately to blame in all cases.