Wanting to be Rich Isn't the Same Thing As Wanting to Abolish Capitalism

I get that you’re mad and think I'm stupid, but I'm actually willing to explain!

Photo by Moises Gonzalez on Unsplash

Last week, I wrote about how many moms’ beef with life in general (especially the lack of free time and lack of childcare help) isn’t about feminism “forcing them to work” nor is it about capitalism “forcing them to work” but about the fact that life would simply be easier if they were independently wealthy, or at least rich enough to afford lots of leisure time, nannies and maids. The fact that social media surrounds them with moms who either overtly or covertly live this lifestyle doesn’t help.

I should have seen this coming, but several people’s first response was, “This HAS to be satire. She’s SO CLOSE to getting it. What a total MORON. Obviously, wanting to be rich is the fault of capitalism! If we had no more capitalism, this wouldn’t be a problem!” Someone else said I was “victim-blaming” and that modern-day Americans aren’t upset that they’re not rich, but rather, they are upset that capitalism has left the vast majority of Americans “dirt poor.” (Source needed!)

I got this response so many times (99% of them were not respectful comments intended to spark dialogue) that it felt worthy of its own article. While I disagree with this argument, it’s not because I was “too stupid” to identify that it was an argument that could be made in the first place. I just disagree with it. Leftists aren’t the only ones who do this, but if you have a worldview shared by a minority of people, it’s probably a good idea not to get extremely offended when—shocker—you come across someone who doesn’t share your worldview. But luckily, I’m willing to explain.

First of all, I can’t amalgamate every mom’s complaints about life and say they’re all complaining about the same thing. Some of them, honestly, just have issues with their husbands. But my article was about the stuff I hear the most often from middle to upper middle class Westerners (especially Americans) namely:

• Between work and/or childcare, we don’t have enough free time, and we are drowning in obligations. There is no “village” to help us and childcare is too expensive.

• We hate working in general, and we hate that feminism/capitalism is “forcing” us to work

From the complaints I’ve seen, it’s not about being mad that they don’t own the means of production, or being mad that anyone is richer than anyone else, but being mad that they have limited leisure time, are busy all the time, or “have to work” at all. None of these things would be ameliorated under a communist government. Capitalism isn’t code for “needing to work” or “having to prioritize work.”