Philosophically Speaking: Annals of the International Philosophy Grou Philosophical-Annals-II-2017 | Page 12

Dambrot S M
groundwork for accepting a medical model as a way of stopping and reversing the destructive
path capitalism, as well as those who blindly accept its principles despite suffering as a result,
seem committed to pursuing.
The Consequences of Capitalism
Capitalism has clearly demonstrated its profoundly negative impacts on individuals, groups,
nations, the planet, and the space surrounding Earth. In terms of individuals, there is
profoundly unequal access to many critical foundation areas, including food, clean water,
electricity, healthcare, income, housing, transportation, education, security, governance,
voting, freedom from, and freedom to. Two real-world examples illustrate the immensity of
the problem:
EXTREME WEALTH DISPARITY

The 85 wealthiest individuals on Earth have assets roughly equivalent to 3.6 billion
others

In 2011 Deloitte & Touche reported that the wealthiest 400 American families had
assets of approximately $11 trillion, with the 2020 estimate being $19 trillion

Social Security, Food Assistance, Medicaid and other social safety nets are under
defunding attacks from legislators whose salaries are by the citizens who voted them
into office
INCOME AND MORTALITY
The following chart 10 shows a nearly linear relationship between income level and age-
related mortality: Those with lower incomes die at an earlier age.