The Power of Capitalism Over the Oppressed

When we think about what we want out of our lives, we imagine a future where we have everything we need and are perfectly content. The specifics of that dream vary from person to person, but at the basic level what we want is happiness. The problem is, there is a bloating, greedy middleman who stands in the way of our goals. At first he appears charming, looking dapper in his top hat and monocle. This middleman is capitalism, a pyramid scheme where oligarchs, the rich, and their children rise to the top, and the poor and oppressed, such as Nora from A Doll's House, sink to the bottom.

Ideally, in our American system, everybody succeeds and gets what they want. People work according to their skill and educational ability, are able to satisfy their needs, and then provide for their children so they can do better than them. But there are many problems with this idea that appear in its execution. 

First of all, if you can't get an education, either because you lack money or don't speak english, you will go nowhere. You can only afford the worst housing and basic food, scrounging for what little you can. If you lose your job, it's over. If you have to work to survive do you have a choice? If you don't have a choice, are you truly free? People at the top could be out of jobs for years before they even had to sell their summer home, let alone apply to every chain in town. The middle class is also mostly safe, often having savings to live off of for a few months before they find a new job. But economically disadvantaged people, such as women and minorities, will always be forced to work. Nora, after the conclusion of the play, will inevitably be working 80+ hour work weeks until she dies of stress or starvation. Our welfare system, although helpful in feeding the poor, does not help people who are just treading water.

I am fortunate in my own life to have food on the table, clothes on my back, and luxuries such as television and internet. But even if my family lived on the bare essentials, I would not be able to afford the base sticker price of colleges. Since my SAT scores are good, I qualify for some scholarships, but people who do not have as good an economic standing (which often correlates to SAT scores) have more trouble getting into college. The rich can send their kids wherever they like, sometimes even illicitly. Their kids get a job at daddy's company, and are secure for the rest of their lives.

In A Doll's House, we see hiw the aforementioned Nora uses money as a means for survival, due to the fact that her husband is sick. She takes out a loan which she cannot repay to the liking of her bank(er), and is reduced to little more than a slave because of her debt. Her case is special because she js freed by her debtor, but her newfound independence is marred by the fact that she must constantly work, pouring labor and money into a system that will reward her with a paltry existence, far from the oasis that capitalism promises as a reward for servitude. There's a reason we call our planned  happy future in America the American Dream; it's because you have to be asleep to believe it.