How We're Put Together

An Epidemic of Despair There is an epidemic of despair in the United States. The visible part is the increase in what have been called “deaths of despair” -- deaths by drugs, alcohol, and suicide. Among people who have not gone to college and for whom a traditional middle-class life is more and more out of reach, such deaths are rising steadily. The increases are connected to “a measurable deterioration in economic and social wellbeing.” [1] In a West Virginia town where textile plants and woolen mills that once provided good jobs now stand empty, a journalist who used to live there was asked why so many people there are struggling with opioids, including heroin.. He responded , “In my opinion, the desperation in [this area], and places like it, is a  social  vacancy,” he said. “People don’t feel they have a purpose.” … “Many drug addicts, he explained, are “trying to escape the reality that this place doesn’t give them anything. That’s really hard to live with...

Capital Has Divorced the Working Class In the last few years, a number of polls have shown higher favorability ratings for socialism and lower ratings for capitalism, especially among the young. It’s worth asking how our experience of capitalism today might lead people to lose faith in this arrangement of our lives.   First, let’s clarify what capitalism is. What is capital ? It is that portion of our wealth that is not being used for immediate consumption, but which can be used to produce the goods and services we consume. In the system we call capitalism , capital is owned by private individuals and institutions – such as banks, corporations, insurance companies, and mutual funds. The owners of capital put that wealth where it can earn the greatest return, whether that be into building apartment buildings and office complexes, into the production of food and clothing and electronics, or into stocks and bonds. They are under no obligation to invest their capital into project...