The Economic System Does Not Work for Us

By Rogelio Camargo / Spring 2020

In “The Distance Between Us: A Memoir,” Reyna Grande, the author and whose journey one follows in the book, was sold a dream and many misconceptions about the United States, the country she would be migrating to “illegally.” In Mexico there are kids today playing in the streets wishing they could also migrate to the US, for they believe that it’s the place where dreams come true if you simply work hard enough. In these kid’s eyes, the US is Disneyland.  This is why countless people attempt to cross the border “illegally.” I recall my parents telling me that this is exactly why they “illegally” migrated to the United States. They simply wanted to give me and my sister a better life with more opportunities.

I have very industrious parents, and they have both been working since the age of thirteen. I saw my father develop a mindset of determination and self-perseverance because he strongly believed that such will could lead to success. I saw my father almost obtain this reality. In 2001, my father left my family and migrated to the US where he later found a job fixing shoes. I was told that he migrated to this country with only enough money to cover rent for a shared room, so he would walk from his apartment several miles away to his job until he later bought a bike and then finally a car. I saw my father learn everything about fixing shoes, so he later decided that he wanted to start his own shoe repair shop. I saw him do exactly that, and he became a small business owner. I would walk to my dad’s business and read the sign “Camargo’s Shoe Repair” every day after school since it was located close to my middle school and the condominium my family and I lived in. I saw pride in my father’s eyes of having his own business and having enough to support his family. I, however, also saw his business come down. I saw my father sell his business and take on small, low-paying jobs. I saw a business with my family's last name on the building disappear overnight when the business license switched hands. I saw him get wiped out and fall to a state of depression but was rescued by his faith and religion. I saw him be incredibly frustrated with the government for bailing out large investment, financial institutions and saw no justice or accountability in that. I saw him lose faith in the ideologies that this country promotes but not without blaming himself first for perhaps being ill-suited to run a business. I wish I could have told him that the current economic and political system is designed for the wealthy, a select few, and so that they can maintain their power.

I used to live in the Silicon Valley, the tech capital of the world and the ideal place if one wants to start a software company. Unfortunately, it was during my time there that I became a victim of the dominant ideologies that it promotes: neoliberalism and individualism. This is why Silicon Valley has prospered and became a massive economy. There is a lot of data suggesting that such ideologies have fueled and birthed this new era of innovation and ingenuity. It was believed that “[c]ontinuous increases in productivity should then deliver higher living standards to everyone” (Harvey). Unfortunately, this statement ignores the massive income inequality that such productivity has birthed. I listen to Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meetings, where Warren Buffett, the CEO of the company, would always say that this country will continue to see massive economic gains and that everyone as a result will live better than the previous generation lived. Of course, this optimistic view is correct and certain, but it fails to acknowledge that an increase in economic output disproportionately benefits the already rich. In other words, the poor might now be able to afford a microwave but they “can’t afford the basics to live, meaning they aren’t earning enough to cover combined costs of housing, food, childcare, healthcare” (Long). Then, we have to ask ourselves, are people actually living better or are we fooled into thinking we are because we can now afford a few appliances? I think it’s the latter. Meanwhile, the rich continue to get richer. Nevertheless, we continue to push for neoliberalism because it’s believed that “poverty can best be secured through free markets and free trade” (Harvey). This is ironic because neoliberalism is designed to create a few “winners” and a lot of “losers.” Neoliberalism encourages individualism and as a result creates atomization. For this reason, there is this idea that “while personal and individual freedom in the marketplace is guaranteed, each individual is held responsible and accountable for his or her own actions and well-being… individual success or failure are interpreted in terms of entrepreneurial virtues or personal failings” (Harvey). Silicon Valley would not be what it is today if certain ideologies weren’t at play.  

Neoliberalism has been successfully implemented, refined, and perfected in the US. No one should be surprised how such a ruthless ideology ended up in this country, for it had the foundational ideology already in place: individualism. In the United States, there is the concept of the liberal individual. It’s the idea that anyone can become successful if they are self-sufficient, competitive, determined, and industrious. This is sold as if any individual can be self-made if they simply follow this formula. Margaret Thatcher said that there is “no such thing as society, only individual men and women.” For this reason, neoliberalism encourages individuals to be for themselves, promising major gains to those who know how to allocate capital appropriately and understand how to grow it through strategic operations. People who will succeed are self-sufficient, are able to out compete their competitors, and stand apart from the crowd. In other words, those who have capital and resources to begin with are the ones who can even play the game. Unfortunately, this isn’t fair because the “wealthiest 1 percent of the world’s population now owns more than half of the world’s wealth” (Frank). Then, it’s difficult for everyone else, who isn’t part of the 1 percent, to benefit from a capital-oriented system. This ideology is destructive in so many ways for many class groups except the rich class.

The impact on society is major. This is harmful because it pushes people to deem themselves as insignificant and failures if they don’t succeed. Of course, the magnitude of the effect varies significantly with every class in the social hierarchy. The poor and the working-class is mostly impacted by this ideology, for they will blame themselves for their inability to get ahead in their lives. The middle-class will also feel the effect of such an ideology. Those who will benefit from such an ideology are those who already control the world’s capital. In this pandemic, you’re starting to see that it only works for a small few. It is estimated that half of US small businesses might end up closing permanently as a result of the pandemic. On the other hand, you have major corporations getting bailed out with almost no strings attached while small businesses are wrestling to get government funding. Consider the stock market. It’s estimated that “84 percent of all stocks owned by Americans belong to the wealthiest 10 percent of households” (Cohen). In the pandemic, who were the first to be bailed out? Primarily those who own stocks. Congress rapidly passed trillion-dollar stimulus packages to save the stock market. The public then received a one-payment stimulus payment but only after the wealthy were satisfied and taken care of. It’s the wealth, however, that will criticize the masses demands of needing more government help.

There is no unity amongst the classes that are negatively affected by neoliberalism. For this reason, the affected classes should be coming together and demanding change, but they have become too disunited and found comfort in atomization. As a result, everyone is seen as each other’s enemy although they are sharing the same burdens. This isn’t by accident since “the neoliberal state is necessarily hostile to all forms of social solidarity that put restraints on capital accumulation” (Harvey). We need to oppose any form of strife within the affected classes if we want real change. We all need to feel like we did during the pandemic. We need to feel like “we’re all in this together.” I found this phrase silly when celebrities were saying it during the stay-at-home orders, but the message is correct. We should all feel like we’re all losing if anyone in the affected classes is left behind.

Capitalism is an incredible economic system and it’s evident by what it has achieved for the US, but it’s clear that it serves the wealthy and therefore only a small minority. We need to expand the welfare state with the profits generated through capitalism. Of course, there are some social programs that have been implemented but even those are at risk of being defunded or terminated. We need to ensure that the welfare state is established and healthy. Unfortunately, the complete opposite has happened and we have seen the following: “the state withdraws from welfare provision and diminishes its role in arenas such as health care, public education, and social services, which were once so fundamental to embedded liberalism, it leaves larger and larger segments of the population exposed to impoverishment” (Harvey). In other words, privatization has taken root in many important areas. This has resulted in many no longer being able to afford things like healthcare. What would be considered essential in other countries is a luxury in the US. We should push for unionism and solidarity if we want this done.

If we want to see progress in the right direction, then we have to get money out of politics because the “ongoing exclusion of working-class Americans from our political institutions has enormous consequences for public policy” (Carnes). Neoliberalism is a series of policy measures that involves both the economic system and the political system. It’s important that we understand this fact. The effect of neoliberalism is decreased by limiting the wealthy’s ability to use the government for their bidding. The wealthy use their money to influence. The way campaigns are funded has to change because “one of the side effects of selecting leaders via competitive elections is that groups with fewer resources are at a huge disadvantage” (Carnes). This is just one example of why big money in politics is a problem. It’s ironic that a group of people who argue for little government and independence from it are the very ones that are working closely with government. By getting money out of politics, this will greatly decrease the power these wealthy individuals, a small minority, have over the common people, the majority. Since big money is in politics, there is a greater possibility that they will remain in power by passing the legislation that keeps them there. There are countless examples. Passing other meaningful legislation that will benefit the working-class will be much easier if this is done.

A social welfare state can’t be achieved if there are no ethnical principles set in place. It’s the perfect time to be talking about solidarity. The entire world saw yet again another video of a police officer kill a black man. People had enough and took to the streets to protest peacefully and, in some cases, violently. People marched to get the police officer arrested and to see the end of police brutality by reforming and defunding the police. People defied the stay-at-home orders and put aside their health concerns to protest. People of all races came together to seek change in a corrupted justice system. This is what needs to happen for all social programs we plan to pass. We all need to feel like we’re in this together.

Expanding the current already existing social welfare state is no easy feat. Bernie Sanders convinced the general public that we could expand social programs so that more people can actually benefit from the capitalist system. A welfare state is a collection of social programs that are in place to protect the most vulnerable. Healthcare needs to be a human right. This can be achieved by transforming our current private healthcare system into a single-payer system. This is where solidarity is needed. The number of people unemployed has exceed thirty million. One can only imagine how many of those lost their healthcare simply because they lost their job. People shouldn’t fear about not having access to healthcare. The question has always been about its funding. As Bernie Sanders says, it’s by taxing the wealthy. It’s interesting because Warren Buffett, one of the richest men alive, admits that people like him need to be taxed more. Healthcare is only one place we can tackle. There is free college that we can do as well. By expanding the welfare state, we can allow more people to benefit from capitalism and decrease the negative effects of neoliberalism.

For too long, the small wealthy classes have taken up all the wealth while everyone else got crumbs. This needs to change. We need to come together. We will change it. We will shift the power from the small wealthy class back to the middle and working class. We need to do this by getting money out of politics and trying our best to expand the welfare state.

Works Cited

Carnes, Nicholas. “Working-Class People Are Underrepresented in Politics. The Problem Isn't Voters.” Vox, Vox, 24 Oct. 2018.

Cohen, Patricia. “We All Have a Stake in the Stock Market, Right? Guess Again.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Feb. 2018,

Long, Heather. “Analysis | The Alarming Statistics That Show the U.S. Economy Isn't as Good as It Seems.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 May 2018,

Monbiot, George. “Neoliberalism – the Ideology at the Root of All Our Problems.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 15 Apr. 2016.

Robtfrank. “Richest 1% Now Owns Half the World's Wealth.” CNBC, CNBC, 14 Nov. 2017.

Verhaeghe, Paul. “Neoliberalism Has Brought out the Worst in Us | Paul Verhaeghe.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 29 Sept. 2014,