The era of the Industrial Revolution and the harsh exploitation of workers has passed. Moreover, despite the wishes of communists, capitalism, with all its contradictions, not only did not collapse but became the opposite: it prevailed. Socialism, whether real or unreal, collapsed overnight like a paper tower, while capitalism triumphs.

Capitalism evolved over time. From individual capitalism we moved to shareholder capitalism and then to the capitalism of corporate social responsibility. The adaptability and efficiency of capitalism, because of technology, is unprecedented. But the constant development of technology is itself a capitalist achievement.

None of this means that capitalism became saintly. It means that constant adaptation and efficiency made it resilient and unmatched. Thus, the proletarian had enough bread. Bread, though not cake.

Of course, man does not live by bread alone. People also want spectacles. Capitalism provides those too. Anyone sitting on the sofa at home can, with one click on the television, enjoy cinema, music, concerts, works of art and more. All this is almost free or available through a minimal subscription.

Russia invaded Ukraine believing in the right of the stronger. This cynical conduct forced peoples and governments to react with unprecedented solidarity toward weaker Ukraine. That is a victory of right over force. Certainly, governments reacted primarily according to national, geopolitical and interest-based criteria. But the reaction would not have been effective if they had not supported values.

Many countries imposed sanctions on Russia in order to force it to stop the war. These sanctions will also hurt the peoples of those countries. Many capitalist companies also announced either their withdrawal from Russia or the suspension of their operations there. All these capitalist companies acted against their immediate interests. They acted on the basis of values such as justice, freedom and solidarity. They may have lost financially, but they gained at the level of values.

Incidentally, because there is high cost of living, there is no need for wailing and lamentation. We endure. A struggle for values without cost does not exist.

It therefore appears that capitalist companies have entered the post-material era. They have included values in their activity. More and more companies act on the basis of corporate social responsibility. More and more companies apply environmental, social and corporate governance criteria, known as ESG. Therefore, one can speak of a capitalism of values.

Of course, there are companies, small and large, that care only about profit and violate rules of law and ethics. People do the same. After all, people run companies.

All this means that capitalism adapts to the messages of the times. Capitalist companies act within society, earn from society and owe a return of part of their profits to society. Many companies do exactly that.

Naturally, there is unequal distribution of wealth, globally and within every country. Within each country, the government decides, through taxation and other means, on the fairer distribution of national income. The work of every company is the production of wealth. The work of government is the fairer distribution of wealth.

On this issue there is a difference between right and left. The right says: first we produce and then we distribute. The left says: first we distribute and then we produce. In other words, the right believes that freedom can bring more equality and prosperity. That is exactly what happened in all liberal democracies with a capitalist system. By contrast, the left believes that equality will bring more freedom and prosperity. But wherever this was applied, in the former socialist countries, equality brought greater inequality and poverty for the many and wealth for the party nomenklatura.

In conclusion, despite our grumbling, we are better off than in any other period of human history, in freedom, equality, solidarity and human feeling. Thus we continue to advance the humanism of the human person.

Happy Easter!

Pavlos Marantos

marantosp@gmail.com