As our world progresses into the 21st century, capitalism is increasingly the economic system with which our country defines itself. In my opinion the "free market capitalism" that America applies economically has become the springboard from which corporations and individuals can sail towards corruption and selfishness.
The side effects of capitalism are numerous, as Paul Hawken the author of "Natural Capitalism" wrote, "Somewhere along the way to free-market capitalism, the United States became the most wasteful society on the planet". The waste accruing because of our flippancy and lack of concern for the ramifications of our actions, includes traffic jams, landfills, Styrofoam waste, and less tangible things like greenhouse gases, and radioactive waste. We have also developed a society of wasted souls, with issues like homelessness, drug addiction, and the neglect of the sick and the old, running rampant. In a society where individual success is all, and he who dies with the most toys actually does win, it should not even be surprising that a majority of people are basically incapable of looking a few years into the future and recognizing that the choices they make today have the potential to cause issues down the road. Another component of our system which should be completely obvious is the lack of regard that people have for one another. Unfortunately since it is not financially beneficial to care about others or help them, many just choose to live selfishly. In a society where there is less empathis on the individual's success and more empathis on living responsibly, there are less occasions of social waste.
Capitalism provides a strong perch for corporations like Wal-mart to create nests of corruption for themselves. Capitalism should be applied purely as an economic system, if at all, but it should most definitely not be invoked as a defense for greed and exploitation, which it all too frequently is. A society where the wealthiest members own businesses that do not provide particularly necessary services, and the economic bottom tier of the population is comprised of the employees of the aforementioned company, is obviously a very unbalanced, unhealthy society. I am not advocating pure Socialism, but I do believe that there should be more of equilibrium between the poor and the rich, and that everyone is entitled to the fulfillment of their basic needs. We are a nation of people whose lives are driven by attaining their wants, while a majority of people on earth live every day with the simple goal of fulfilling their basic needs. While there are people residing in our nation who do not have their needs fulfilled on a daily basis, the rest of us should be willing to sacrifice a few unnecessary luxuries to provide our fellow Americans with food and shelter.
America has always stood as a land of opportunity and a place where dreams could be achieved. Unfortunately we have become a society of selfish, greedy people who will run themselves into the ground working to provide themselves with any trivial consumer good that their heart alights upon, but they have absolutely no concern for their fellow man. In a nation where most people are much more concerned with buying a new car than with providing their fellow Americans with food and healthcare. In a society that unbalanced, I believe changes need to be made, and since Capitalism is the pillar which supports many of our nation's vices, I believe it should be the first thing to be knocked down.