Capitalist system is unfair and socially unjust

By Letter to the Editor on September 30, 2021.

Editor:
My stomach churned when I watched Richard Branson and three others, fly in his own spacecraft, for an exciting three days of weightlessness. All the poverty stricken, miserable human faces arose up in my consciousness and haunted me.
Is it moral for someone to waste billions of dollars for a mere, fleeting pleasure while there are billions of people who are hungry, homeless, wear tattered clothing, are without any healthcare? Their children have no hope for their future, because they have no access to education. What did these unfortunate humans do wrong to deserve such miserable lives?
We must ask these questions again and again because wealth keeps accumulating in fewer hands, while the poor get poorer.
It may be argued that the billionaires worked hard to earn their wealth, they can spend it where ever they like.
However how much harder have they truly worked to earn billions compared to a worker in the same company who works just as hard but makes only $30,000 a year?
The millionaire owner of the company will not raise the wages of the workers who actually with their very hands create the product or provide the service. But he will give millions in bonuses to himself and his cronies, without any qualms.
When Nortel company became bankrupt, all the workers pensions became zero in value. But famously, the top gun executives gave themselves millions of dollars in severance pay. Where was their conscience?
What is the definition of morality?
As Gandhi said,”there is enough in the world for everyone’s need, there is not enough for everyone’s greed.”
There is a major flaw in the socio-economic system of capitalism. It is highly unfair and socially unjust.
The problem does not lie in the “mode of production of wealth”; that is working well. But it is the distribution of wealth that is downright immoral.
Just as there is a minimum wage, there should be a ceiling on maximum wage. The minimum wage of the working class should be elevated, plus medical insurance, while millions of dollars and bonuses of the head honchos should be curtailed.
A better distribution of wealth would create a more equitable and socially just society.
Unfortunately there is no ceiling on greed. Hence those few who own wealth and power will never accept a limit on their salaries.
Some billionaires like Bill Gates do share their wealth with the downtrodden and deserve our admiration.
Ramma Sawhney
Lethbridge