Capitalism Gave Me an Autoimmune Disease
Capitalism gave me an autoimmune disease. The crime liberal capitalism, the weapon, chronic stress and institutionalized racism, and the culprits are the 1% of people in this country who control the entire wealth of the United States of America: and possibly even the planet.
Since the founding of this capitalist nation, the “Founding Fathers” considered capitalism a “set of economic arrangements consistent with liberal democracy”; which means capitalism and democracy are linked; wealth and power are linked. Exporting goods to gain income was how social structures became reliant on capitalism. Corporate/liberal/free capitalism is where a small number of people control and profit off of capital goods. This has led to the suffering and deprivation of the environment, and billions of people whose freedom, labor, and resources were endlessly pillaged. History has shown that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) have built the wealth of this country and continue to sustain this country, but only the richest and whitest people have gained monetary wealth.
The founding fathers were white. Since colonial rule, institutions across the United States have been and continue to be controlled by white people, leading to undeserved power. So much power, that their traditions, beliefs, practices, attitudes, ways of life, and popular culture have been normalized over time, and considered a standard practice in most modern societies. Further, all Americans (whites and BIPOC) have internalized various components of white culture in their everyday life and this is coined as “white supremacy culture”1. This is the energy source for systemic racism. Since white culture is the “normal”, people who are white live in an environment that protects them from race-based stress.
When the body is stressed, it sends out a signal to constrict blood flow, and push blood to its extremities, such as arms and legs, to prepare for “fight or flight”. When the body is continuously producing a stress hormone, it leads to chronic stress, and the body stops using its energy on the growth and maintenance of other biological systems, like the immune system. Chronic stress is caused by the body's inability to alleviate their stress signals from their environment and is the leading cause of autoimmune diseases. There are over 80 known autoimmune diseases. For example, some common ones are- Type 1 diabetes, Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, Psoriasis, Multiple Sclerosis, Inflammatory bowel disease, and many thyroid diseases. Chronic stress can cause intergenerational and transgenerational trauma to human fetuses, which can lead to negative downstream effects.
Chronic stress is affected by growing up in a food desert, making minimum wage, and still having to pay more taxes than the richest billionaires on the planet. Chronic stress is fueled by nurses complaining about their lack of pay and being overworked, while my medical bills further sink me into debt, and all my doctor can recommend is “go home, eat a better diet, and reduce your stress levels”. If the body is chronically stressed by the climates we live in, then our bodies are chronically stressed by our democracy and our social structures.
Today’s social climate is a direct result of the past, and in the United States wealth is highly concentrated in relatively few hands—the 1%. Mechanisms of how wealth is maintained in the U.S. system are biased against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); and this is how systemic racism continues to prevail, and this is how stress in the body continues to prevail. Money in politics is a huge way for corporations to accrue wealth and power. American billionaires paid less in taxes in 2018 than working-class citizens. In 2018, billionaires paid 23% of their income in federal, state, and local taxes, while the average American paid 28%. A parent company, like Facebook, owned by a billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, can directly be involved in the U.S. 2016 presidential election, which directly impacted our democracy; and he and his company continue to gain wealth, as millions of people lose their jobs and their loved ones from the COVID-19 pandemic. Billionaires reinforce the racial, socio-economic barriers, which are responsible for my chronic stress.
If capitalism and corporations are allowed to be involved in influencing democratic laws in elections, education systems, prison systems, real estate, military, healthcare, media outlets, food, and water accessibility, and more, then my autoimmune disease is the direct result of capitalism, democracy, wealth and power. So, where is my right to bear arms in self-defense against the richest people in the world who own these corporations and the wealth of the United States?
Democracy, wealth, and power are linked, I argue that liberal capitalism, embedded in this country since birth, has led to transgenerational/ intergenerational trauma, which has fueled chronic stress at the molecular level, which has given me an autoimmune disease, called Multiple Sclerosis (MS). There is no documentation that MS runs in my family, it is not encoded in my DNA, my own body is attacking itself because of its inability to alleviate external stress factors-- capitalism and white supremacy culture.
Seriously. I have two permanent homes, the earth, and my body, and both are being killed by capitalism and the 1% of white people who control the wealth. So, again, where is my right to bear arms in self-defense against the 1% who control the wealth?
I want justice. I want reparations for myself and every BIPOC in the United States of America—which includes U.S. territories, and immigrants at the border. The wealthiest people in this nation, the ones causing chronic stress, need to pay for repairing the racist infrastructure and labor they profit off of. The time for BIPOC voices to determine how to heal the planet, and heal from the irreparable trauma caused by capitalism and white supremacy culture is now.
Summary and Reparations-
Wealth needs to be stripped from the 1% of the richest people in the United States of America. Take it all away. I demand that corporations be removed from our democracy. #EatTheRich
Possible suggestions for implementation:
REPARATIONS to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (LatinX, Asian)
A clear separation between corporations being involved in government
Reform the 2 party system and make it less identity based
Track every tax dollar of sales and federal taxes for each individual and they should have a say on where it goes
Reduce white leadership in lawmaking and enforcement, education, taxes, real estate, military, and media
Universal Healthcare!!!! Faster implementation of COVID-19 Vaccines!
Mandatory ally education in your corporations
Incorporation of Black, Indigenous People of Color history’s in our educational system
Mandatory sustainable energy research and implementation