Capitalism survived. We’re tired (my unsolicited words)

The Oxfam Inequality Report 2024 came out recently, and for the first time in almost 25 years, global inequality has actually worsened instead of stabilising. Right now, the richest 1% owns roughly 45–48% of the world’s wealth, while the bottom 50% owns barely 2–3%.

Honestly, none of this feels shocking anymore.

Look around. Economies are slowing, jobs are becoming more insecure, unemployment and underemployment are rising, and people are slipping back into poverty. The climate crisis keeps getting worse, climate refugees are increasing, and somehow we still have people debating whether climate change is even real. Wars are displacing people at an unimaginable scale, more than 110 million people worldwide.

And yet, in 2023, billionaires added around $3 trillion to their wealth.

If that doesn’t perfectly capture the moment we’re living in, I don’t know what does.

This isn’t just about one country or one region. No matter where you live, it’s hard not to notice the widening gap between people who work for a living and people who own capital. It doesn’t matter whether you’re blue-collar, white-collar, or even upper-middle-class and “doing fine” — the pressure is still there. Rising costs, stagnant wages, shrinking security.

Sometimes the numbers are so absurd they stop feeling real. One person having over $100 billion, more than the entire GDP of several low-income countries combined. That level of inequality is just… wild.

And yet, capitalism continues to be the economic system. Even countries that call themselves socialist — like China or Vietnam — rely heavily on markets, private enterprise, and global trade.

Which brings me to the question I keep coming back to:

If capitalism is so unequal at its core, why is it still running the world?

Marx thought capitalism would eventually collapse under its own contradictions and be replaced by socialism or communism. And historically, that logic kind of made sense. When things got bad enough, people pushed back. Slaves resisted slave societies. Serfs resisted feudalism. Workers fought brutal early capitalism. Every economic system, when stretched too far, eventually gave way to something else.

So why hasn’t that happened yet?

I think part of the answer is that Marx never saw modern capitalism. He couldn’t have imagined how adaptable it would become. Capitalism didn’t stay raw and ruthless — it evolved. States stepped in. Trade unions formed. Labour laws were passed. Welfare systems developed. Public education, healthcare, pensions, minimum wages — all of this softened capitalism’s edges.

Even in places we think of as hyper-capitalist, like the US or South Korea, the state plays a massive role. Capitalism survived by borrowing just enough from socialism to keep people from burning it down.

That adaptability extended its lifespan…. a lot.

Then there was the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which pretty much killed the idea of centrally planned socialism as a viable alternative in the eyes of the world. After that, even socialist countries leaned into markets. The message was clear: there is no alternative.

By the late 20th century, capitalism was winning everywhere. East Asian economies like South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan took off. Countries like Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia opened up their markets. Growth became the ultimate goal.

So yes, for the last few decades, capitalism has clearly been on the rise.

And to be fair I’m not saying capitalism is pure evil. I’ve studied economics. I know markets can be efficient. Capitalism does create choice, competition, and innovation. It has lifted millions out of poverty. I’m not denying that.

What really bothers me, though, is where capital meets politics.

Capitalists and big corporations aren’t just influencing policy anymore — they’re making policy. Business owners aren’t just stakeholders; they’re lawmakers, funders, agenda-setters. Policy increasingly revolves around private profit maximisation, based on this almost delusional belief that if GDP grows fast enough, development will automatically follow.

But that’s not how development works.

Growth without redistribution just creates more inequality. Inclusive development needs healthcare, education, social security, labour protections, and actual opportunities — not just higher stock market numbers.

This is where I keep thinking about one of Marx’s most important ideas: class consciousness.

I genuinely feel it’s slowly coming back. People are starting to realise how messed up the situation is. The younger generation works just as hard — if not harder — than their parents, but still can’t afford housing, healthcare, or education without massive debt. A “decent life” feels increasingly out of reach.

That’s probably why the whole “eat the rich” narrative resonates so much now. People are angry, tired, and fed up. Economic conversations everywhere feel more polarised, more raw, more real.

That said, I’m not writing this to call for a revolution. Not everyone is struggling, and plenty of people are doing okay and chasing their dreams. Most of us don’t have the time, energy, or security to protest full-time anyway. People have jobs (thanks to capitalism) and let’s be honest, rich people aren’t exactly scared of poor people anymore now they just disappear into gated communities or private islands.

What I am saying is this: the current model of capitalism isn’t sustainable.

If capitalism wants to survive, it needs to evolve — again. That means more state intervention, stronger social policies, serious regulation of monopolies, universal healthcare and education, fairer taxation, and real efforts to reduce inequality. Not just within countries, but globally too like between the Global North and the Global South.

Some countries already show that this is possible. Strong welfare states, labour protections, universal healthcare, even experiments with universal basic income……systems that put people before corporations.

Whether capitalism reforms itself, transforms into something new, or eventually collapses under its own weight — I honestly don’t know.

I guess I’m optimistically pessimistic.

Anyway, those were my two cents on rising inequality and late-stage capitalism.

Okay then talk to you in next blog :)