Though Americans often praise capitalism for creating economic growth, the truth is, it has many flaws that affect citizens.

One of the most important issues is inequality. Most of the total wealth goes to a small percentage of Americans, while, according to a CNN News report, every one in four American households are living paycheck to paycheck. 

This becomes a serious problem when taking into account how some of the working class cannot even afford basic necessities. Wealth being hoarded in large amounts by the top 2% means that average Americans have to work more just to make ends meet.

The problem is not how much people work or the effort they put into their job. It is that companies are exploiting them. Regular workers do the tasks that keep the companies running for small salaries, while CEOs make millions more.

Due to capitalism, jobs that are essential, like teaching or caregiving, are being underpaid despite being necessary for a functioning society. Because of this, the people holding society up are not making enough compared to big corporations who care more about their income than contributing to society. This is making fewer people consider essential jobs as possible career paths, meaning there will likely be a decline in employment for crucial jobs. 

While billionaires are thriving, there are people who aren’t able to afford basic healthcare. Healthcare prices combined with the cost of living makes it extremely difficult to retire. The story of this 78-year-old man, who could barely walk up steps, went viral because he had to work up to 12 hours a day delivering food to cover his wife’s medical bills.

A better economic system would be socialism, which suggests government ownership of resources and industries. This would be more beneficial than capitalism because it would ensure that human needs are the first priority. 

Socialism focuses on distributing the wealth as opposed to capitalism. Socialism ensures that Americans would have easy access to things like healthcare.