this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2022
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People should be careful when looking at the conclusions of this experiment to make sure that it isn't used as an argument that suffering under our current system should be endorsed.
I'd argue that the experiment is quite damning for the capitalist system. Capitalism is built on unbridled greed and exploitative overreach that come from the human version of territorial response. Capitalism drives people to unscrupulously hoard resources and exploit others. No matter how much they acquire, it's never enough, and the more they acquire, the less happy and secure they actually feel.
While the problem is deeply instinctual in human species, it is not uncontrollable, and human beings are capable of overriding and controlling our base instincts. However, capitalism as a political/economic system is encouraging negative behavioural traits because it turns social interactions into a zero sum game.