Chapter 7: The Pyramid Scheme

It is clear that Capitalism is at cross-purposes to the happiness and well-being of the community and the people in it, both locally and globally. It is clear that it creates an escalating pandemic of human suffering and threatens the very continuation of life on earth. So why do billions of people continue to participate in keeping it going instead of taking action to end it and replace it with a win-win-win paradigm that does serve the happiness and well-being of the people?

One reason is because of cultural myths coupled with and exploited by carefully-crafted propaganda.

In Medieval Europe as well as ancient Egypt and Japan right up until the end of World War II, peasants and serfs were kept compliant with the feudal power structure largely through the misuse of religion. They were brought up from birth to believe that to contradict the feudal lords was to go against God in one form or another, thus earning them a horrific place in Hell.

Capitalist societies are also rife with cultural myths which are exploited by the ultra-wealthy neo-Feudal lords to guarantee widespread compliance. Religion is still used in this regard, but to a lesser degree than in medieval times. Another myth effective in gaining compliance with the Capitalist paradigm is the myth of meritocracy: the belief that those who have “made it” have done so through admirable qualities and that, if we wish to “make it,” we can do so by learning how the ultra-wealthy think and act, then emulate it. The corollary of this belief is that if you aren’t “making it,” then it’s because of some failure, flaw, or unworthiness on your part. This keeps people playing by Capitalist rules in the hope that they’ll “make it” if they just make themselves worthy to do so. It also keeps people divided and striving against each other, since everybody is aware that opportunities to “make it” are few and far between so for every person who does make it, there will be multitudes of others who will not. It is inherent in the structure of the Capitalist paradigm. You or I “making it” does not change the fundamental pyramidal hierarchical structure of such societies, any more than a slave gaining their freedom now and then would end slavery before the U.S. Civil War. Capitalism is, by its very core operating principles, a pyramid scheme indistinguishable from illegal pyramid schemes. As long as people believe the myths of meritocracy and “anybody can make it,” they remain compliant and continue to actively hold up the economic pyramid on their shoulders. This is a most dangerous course of action in which we voluntarily participate in nourishing the parasites feeding upon our time, our energy, our productivity, and our lives. Our only viable option is to take concerted forceful but non-violent action to end the Capitalist paradigm and replace it with a new paradigm that will reinforce and sustain the mutual well-being, empowerment and happiness of all members of the community. If we do not, we will almost certainly live to see the emergence of an oppressive dictatorial neo-Feudal society that could far outlast its Medieval predecessor and possibly bring about the end of human life altogether.