It is no secret that things aren’t going so well in the Western world, both from an economic and a social point of view. Of course, we could just stop and look at figures such as the GDP and data related to import and export, but this data wouldn’t give us an accurate picture.
In many countries the divide between rich and poor continues to increase and a growing part of wealth is distributed among just a small few. This has led to the erosion of the middle class, the elimination of social mobility and increased discontent in our population.
One of the principles that capitalism is based on is the free market. The idea is that if a market is left free to operate in natural conditions, without any government intervention, it will spontaneously reach optimum conditions. The actions of all the players in the market will reach a natural balance that will lead to optimum distribution of resources and profits.
However, this theory has not been confirmed by the reality that we currently see. What we are actually witnessing is very different. We have seen large companies and corporations take advantage of their dominant positions to influence politics and increase their advantage, thus increasing their power in the market and becoming literally untouchable.
But how did we get to this point? How is it possible that capitalist ideas and promised wealth for all, have had such unjust results? And above all, what can we do to change things?