Capitalism

My people did not have money. Because of this, capitalism strikes me as a rather unusual, strange system to live in or even trust. But during my time on Earth, I have grown accustomed to this particular human habit.

Money is an abstract way to measure work done. The more work an individual does, the more money they get, signifying their greater contribution to society. Additionally, there is a certain quality of work that also goes into account. Someone providing higher quality work through a more difficult or specialized job gets rewarded with more money, indicating their increased value of work.

Additionally, capitalism measures the relative abundance of various items or resources through prices. Prices determine how abundant an item is, and money is exchanged for whatever an individual might want. In theory, this will ensure that resources are distributed fairly.

This is how it is supposed to work from my understanding. Whether or not it works this way is another matter entirely. There are a few simple observations about these facts that discourages community.

-Social Stratification

Having different pay grades encourages people to socially isolate each other based on their incomes. People with low wages live in cheaper housing with their poor peers, while richer people isolate themselves in more expensive neighborhoods. This tendency is rather common among the human population, and it works to isolate people into distinct categories.

-Competition

Capitalism encourages people to compete directly with one another for various things. In order to get a job, someone must feel that they are the best candidate for a job, or lie and claim that they are. In order to sell a product, someone must feel their product is the best brand, or they must lie and claim it is. How can one be so certain of these things? How could one trust an individual telling you these things?

Competition ensures that honesty will be in short supply.

-Abstracting labor

Someone grew your food. Someone created your clothing. Someone built the house you live in. It is extremely unlikely you did any of these things, much less all of them. Money as an abstract measure of labor removes the human component of resource production. You don't deal with individuals when you get clothing, you simply trade some of your money for the clothing, as if the money created the clothing somehow. Money did not create the clothing. A person like you did. A thinking, feeling individual with dreams and hopes as real as yours.

Do not forget that your quality of life depends on many, many people doing their work so that you may have an easy life. Unfortunately, not all of these people have a happy life.