By this point in history, it isn't a particularly shocking thing to identify that capitalism is a system of mass exploitation.

But let's dig a little further into how it works. Capitalism functions by artificially denying people their basic needs, and then threatening them with permanent deprivation. This creates a (very reasonable) state of fear.

This fear, in turn, activates a physiological "fight or flight" threat/stress response. The energy produced by this - chemically driven in large part by adrenaline and cortisol - is then harnessed. Victims are placed into environments where their constant state of fear is used to further the interests of the wealthy and powerful.

In order to prevent people from opting out of this system, capitalism works closely alongside anti-cultures (especially white supremacy) to create a societal state of constant fear and stress as well.

Keeping everyone traumatized is essential to avoiding a mass revolt against the status quo.

You may have heard the idea that "wars stimulate the economy." It's literally true, and this is why. Capitalism must create violent, traumatizing stress on mass scale in order to continue to exist.

This is also why pursuing healing from trauma is a profoundly radical and revolutionary act - the more we learn to escape from this exhausting, draining, controlling situation, the more we can fearlessly imagine better ways to be.