Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
1.2Mviews
50 ‘Humans Of Capitalism’ Pics That Might Make You Laugh And Cry At The Same Time
Interview
When it’s taken too far, capitalism becomes a mockery of itself, encouraging greed instead of rewarding effort and innovation. If you take a moment to really look at the state of the world right now, you might come to the conclusion that we’re living in a bizarre dystopia of sorts where consumerism is king, employees are burned out, and corporations (arguably) run rampant despite all the distrust that’s growing.
The ‘Humans of Capitalism’ Instagram page collects and shows off examples of what capitalism is actually like in our day-to-day lives, from the hilarious to the haunting. Scroll down to dive into the dark (not to mention weird) side of living in a capitalist society. And if you enjoy the content, be sure to join the ranks of the 286k Instagram users who follow the page or consider supporting them by purchasing their NFT art.
I reached out to Angel, the founder and moderator of the 'Humans of Capitalism' page to learn more about the account's history, about their views on capitalism and corporatism, and the possible alternatives to the system we have in place now. "I was inspired by a lot of things, like the absurdism of the current capitalistic system and its flaws, the injustice that 99% of the people experience every day while they are at work, shopping, and home," they told Bored Panda in an interview via email.
They said that people are bombarded with non-stop information to "build up their consumerist spirit so they can keep capitalism alive." Unfortunately, for Angel, the future doesn't hold much optimism. They think that with the improving technologies, the situation for the everyday man and woman gets even worse. "A not so famous movie from the late '80s, 'They Live' (1988), explains this concept perfectly. I believe everyone should watch it if they want to combat the urge of consumerism and mind control," they suggested. Scroll down for Angel's full interview with Bored Panda.
In the mood for some more quality reading about the pros and cons of capitalism? You should check out Bored Panda’s articles here, here, and here once you’re done with this one.
More info: Instagram | Support HoC
This post may include affiliate links.
RELATED:
Angel, the founder of 'Humans of Capitalism,' believes that capitalism evolves into corporatism after some time "because human greed cannot be measured." In fact, they are of the opinion that the system currently in place is one of corporatism, not capitalism.
"We often see many small businesses collapsing because they are not able to fight with the current trend or to combat with the giant competitors. So they have two options, close the business or sell it," they explained to Bored Panda how smaller businesses have their work cut out for them because they constantly have to compete against better-established, more powerful companies that have more clout.
"We have many companies that have been bought by enormous giants that I do not want to mention and they won't stop there, they are trying to get their hands on any business category. Is there a solution for it? I believe that there can be some solutions, but capitalists will work and find a way to bypass those solutions and continue with the destruction of the system while being totally ignorant about it," they said that capitalism aims to protect itself as a system, so changing it isn't as straightforward as some people think.
#4
karla Meixnerová 2 years ago
But what will happen with people in North Korea, if the police find this kind of USB at their home? I expect nothing really nice.
According to Angel, the founder of 'Humans of Capitalism,' each and every system, from capitalism to socialism, has a chance of becoming corrupt if bad behavior isn't punished. "If we go back in time where socialism or communism were at their prime, we can see that the top of the head of the system was corrupted and that resulted with the fall of the system," they said that people should look at communism realistically and historically, not romantically.
As for what the future might bring, Angel thinks that we might be moving toward a "utopia" of "automated communism where machines will produce, deliver, and take care of food supply, clothing, health." However, the issue would still be who controls the distribution system and how exactly it operates. What's more, this inevitably means that some people will be left without a job.
"The idea of getting free food, water, health, clothing, is nice and, in reality, if we take a closer look at the current system we can see that more people are let off and replaced by machines. For example, we can see that McDonald's workers are fired and they have been replaced with machines that work on touch or by sound and they take orders, forward orders to the employees, etc."
#7
Megan Flanagan 2 years ago
I honestly wish Panda would either skip politics or cover both sides or just cover everything else in the world
Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
Trump Trash still hasn't figured out that they are the absolute minority.
Load More Replies...
Chich 2 years ago
I have only sent one tweet. I signed up to send "Looser" to the great orange blob.
Hugh Willie Mungous 2 years ago
They needed the bandwidth . . . . . for the Taliban account . . . . . . . .
K Witmer 2 years ago
You mean the conservative fake Christians in the US they have the same mission statement as the taliban.
Load More Replies...
maper sam 2 years ago
and Bidet is a slang word for when you crap yourself.
Load More Replies...
Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
Nope it was the day an insurrectionist was shut down.
Load More Replies...
Temperance Raziel 2 years ago
To be fair, Biden can barely put three words together to make a sentence.
K Witmer 2 years ago
What does that have to do w trump? Biden wouldn't be President if it wasn't for the terrorists that elected trump in the first place. Whataboutism is so irrelevant no one worships biden. He's a boring old politician. Who the he'll worships a politician anyway it's so frigging insane.
Load More Replies... Shane S 2 years ago
I sometimes forget and take for granted how important it was that they took his social media keys away. Dangerous, dangerous man.
Bacony Cakes 2 years ago
You know where you stand with an evil man like Hitler. You don't know where you stand with a stupid man like Trump. That's why he's so dangerous.
Load More Replies...
Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
Yes we are. No insurrections, no dead cops, no grift, I'm good.
Load More Replies...
Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
Celebrate stupid Trump Trash that need a dictionary.
Load More Replies...
YesterdaysEyeliner 2 years ago
Maybe one day people will realize that both parties are from the same demonic bird and don't give a s**t about any of us. Stop letting these nasty, rich creatures divide us. Thats all it is, "Distract. Divide. Repeat."
K Witmer 2 years ago
Tell it to the ones that are actively trying to overthrow our democracy. Tell it to the racist homophobic misogynistic trump cult. Normal people don't worship grimy politicians the ones that do are the ones that are destroying the country. The pretend religious idiots that think rich people deserve all their wealth bc they're hardworking and special and they actually think these people care about their poor sad lives. It's absolutely a cult. They spread lies and conspiracies Tell them. Bc us normal people know better. That's the majority of the US and yet the minority screams the loudest and have been set up in our judicial system and have become our lawmakers all bc they cheat and take bribes. That's why they think there was election fraud bc they do it every chance they get. Tell them. Deprogram them. They are a danger to us all.
Load More Replies...
Hedgielover98 2 years ago
It's kind of petty how you all obsess over Trump and drool for his downfall
K Witmer 2 years ago
He deserves it after what he's done. If you don't understand that you're weak minded. No one should ever forget he staged a coup w violent white supremacist terrorists. It'd be convenient for you if we all did huh?
Load More Replies...
Tolga ÜSTÜN 2 years ago
There you go... A good reason to celebrate other than a sad thing like getting old one more year!
CbusResident 2 years ago
This clearly shows we should replace Capitalism w/ Socialism!!......How though?
NaggerSwoosh69 2 years ago
Yeah, how's Joe and the economy doing? How's all that Covid Joe was going to wipe out, mmh?
Mary Burton 2 years ago
Cutting down on COVID might be helped by mask wearing, vaxxing and following public health rules. Ya know, stuff Republicans don't like.
Load More Replies... Jace 2 years ago
Yeah. And Kim Jong Un, Taliban, Khameini and others can keep their accounts without any problem.
K Witmer 2 years ago
And look at that they've never violated the terms of agreement but trump did numerous times and he was warned and he still incited violence and a coup on our democracy but you're proud that your fellow cult members spread their feces all over the walls of the capital. That's freedom to you. Vile brainwashed traitor to democracy. Bc of trump were now a backsliding democracy. First time ever we've been in danger of losing our rights as we know it and your messiah is the only one that wanted to rip up the constitution and declare himself President for life like his bf putin and Kim. Remember how he saluted a dictator and kissed Putin's ass.
Load More Replies... Why Knot 2 years ago
Democrats in the United States should be fighting to have Donald Trump's account reinstated. A tweeting Trump would make their job easier easier.
K Witmer 2 years ago
That only makes the idiots racists homophobes and misogynists crawl out from their dung piles. They get emboldened by trumps lies and rhetoric. That's why we had white supremacist terrorists try to overthrow our democracy they spread their own feces on the walls of our capital. People defend that as their freedom. That's how stupid and disgusting trumpers Republican and conservatives are. They liked that those gross ass terrorists did that. It made them proud.
Load More Replies...
Melissa Campbell Badger 2 years ago
Apparently he is not allowed the same free speech as others.
K Witmer 2 years ago
Here's a quote from trump "is it bad im more attracted to my daughter than I am my wife" Washington post writer cohen. He says whatever he wants. Free speech means you cannnot be prosecuted by the govt. it has nothing to do w a private business banning him bc he didn't follow their terms of agreement. You can't incite violence online plain and simple. How do you still after 250 frigging years of having a constitution still not understand what freedom of speech means?? How are people like you this dumb?? Did you take civics in school? It's a basic class even for the dumbest of the dumb. Cant believe this still has to be explained over and over and over.
Load More Replies... mckenna kelly 2 years ago
under trump we had low gas prices. under trump we didnt have inflation. under trump we didnt have high prices for goods and services. thank god for biden. i love it
P Armstrong 2 years ago
We just had lies, crime, scandal, favoritism and how many millions spent at his own properties? None of that cost you a penny, right? His kids secret service details were free.
Load More Replies...
Bacony Cakes 2 years ago (edited)
The blood of the unborn is a good taste, thank you very much. It's sweet. Like babies. Mmmmm. Unborn babies. Just like that painting of Saturn devouring his son. Unborn babies are my favourite type of baby to eat. You know what else runs on the blood of unborn babies? Cars. It's a shame, i could be eating all that blood. I could eat an entire orphanage.
Load More Replies...
K Witmer 2 years ago
Opposing views is not inciting violence, staging a coup, and lying about a stolen election while pretending Covid was a hoax while American citizens died at unprecedented rates. He got the vaccine rolled out then told you not to take it and took all three himself while having the best medical care in the world. He hates you he thinks you're embarrassing. All the capital rioters he hates. He didn't step into help any of you but he'll take your money. 7 times bankrupt and he's still grifting from you weak minded imbeciles. He's a danger to our very democracy. He does not deserve a platform where he violated terms of agreement of a private business. You cant tell terrorists to takeover the capital when you're the president wo consequences. He's free to say whatever he wants which he does everyday but not on the internet that's a privilege
Load More Replies...
Mewton’s Third Paw 2 years ago
He still is alive though. He doesn’t have to be president to be laughed at. If that’s the case then we can’t laugh at you either.
Load More Replies...
K Witmer 2 years ago
Twitter is a business not government. I thought your ilk loved capitalism and denying people things they need or want. He's still free to say whatever he wants he's not being prosecuted by the government for what he says. That's what the first amendment is. It does not mean you're free from consequences. How do you people not understand what the first amendment is still? Oh that's right most of you can't comprehend or understand reality. I forgot. Here's proof freedom of speech is alive and well. The Washington post quoted your messiah "is it bad I'm more attracted to my daughter than I am my wife" said by trump. The accompanying picture was 13 yr old ivanka straddling daddy on his bed. No one censored that when it was repeated and trump was not prosecuted for pedophilic rape either. How do you not understand facts and instead make up lies to push your dictator on our democracy.
Load More Replies...
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 2 years ago
Says the over-dramatic idiot with over 2,200+ downvotes on a listicle website that commonly posts photos of fuzzy animals. Bye Snowflake!
Load More Replies...
Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
Well Trump has to live somewhere since he never pays his bills.
Load More Replies... Mewton’s Third Paw 2 years ago
Jealous of having their account suspended?
Load More Replies...
Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
Nah it's just about Trump getting banned for trying to incite a Civil War.
Load More Replies...
Pearl 2 years ago (edited)
What he tweeted is not acceptable. This isn't about free speech. He violated Twitter Rules and got a ban. That's all.
Load More Replies...
Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
Personally I am so glad that no one's trying to overthrow our government and more cops aren't getting killed. Sorry about you.
Load More Replies...
In Angel's view, as technology improves, more and more people will lose their jobs. However, they think that there will always be people who disagree with this point of view. According to them, these people argue that capitalism creates new jobs and someone will have to create the machines that replace workers, install them, maintain them, and do a myriad of other jobs related to automatization.
Unfortunately, the founder of 'Humans of Capitalism' thinks that, eventually, we'll end up with machines creating more machines, without the need of (barely) any human input. This would be done for the sake of maximizing profits by reducing employee costs.
"I believe that 50 years from now machines will provide food, clothing, healthcare services, and much more, by themselves, with little to no employees monitoring them. But there is an issue with that. You will leave millions of people jobless and cause huge riots as the famous quote from Jean-Jacques Rousseau goes: 'When the people shall have no more to eat, they will eat the rich.'"
#11
Ray Martin 2 years ago
Instead we get indoctrination, consternation, ruination, contamination, and eventually extermination.
Life isn’t always a black or white, a good versus evil affair. And the same can be said about capitalism, like about most things. However, problems start to appear when capitalism is taken to the extreme. Earlier, finance writer and financial independence expert Rick Orford went in-depth with me about the positives and negatives of capitalism, why social democracy works, and what role greed plays in financial crises and inequality.
In the expert’s view, when a large enough part of the population is willing to take risks, that’s when extreme capitalism and excessive greed thrive.
#15
“Greed is widely accepted to be the reason for the two largest financial crises in the last century; namely 1929 and 2008. It also creates the income inequality that’s largely seen in the United States. Indeed, while everyone, in theory, has an equal opportunity to flourish, the scales seem to tip to those with the most money," the financial expert explained to Bored Panda.
According to Rick, capitalism isn’t dangerous to society, but an excess of it can be. “[Capitalism] allows folks like you and me to succeed by creating or investing in businesses. Indeed, one looking to borrow money from the banks today won’t have to pay much for the loan. As such, it encourages growth. However, extreme capitalism creates a scenario where greed overtakes reason, and it risks the financial system," he explained to me.
The expert noted that at the other end of the scale, opposite extreme capitalism, we’ll find social democracy, aka modern socialism. The way that this system works is by taxing citizens much more than capitalistic countries. In return, the citizens of those countries have access to vital services.
"Citizens are given services such as free and (easily) accessible healthcare, child care, social welfare, etc. Conversely, highly capitalistic societies charge for these services, making it incredibly challenging for the poor," Rick said.
#20
In the expert’s opinion, capitalism can—theoretically—give absolutely anyone the ability to flourish. What’s more, he noted that we shouldn’t have the illusion that well-known businesspeople are always making a profit. They undertake big risks and suffer heavy losses as well. It’s not always a marathon of wins for them.
However, Rick warned that major companies and social media have the power to influence elections and change how people think. “Today, the news is largely distributed by some of the largest American corporations: Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Think Brexit or the 2016 American Presidential election,” he said.
#22
Hakan Yilmaz 2 years ago
I found a similar post back in the days in 9gag where somebody did the same thing with a newborn. It was titled with lifehacks. This is so sad.
#23
According to the financial expert, capitalism can help ordinary people flourish, open up businesses, and sell their products. But when we compare their potential with that of industry giants, we realize that competition in the marketplace isn’t as straightforward as it seems.
“Those [products] with the best quality, price, customer service, or combination (of at least two) often do well. Increasingly, however, those who are willing to spend more at the beginning are seeing both extreme gains and losses. Famously, Amazon and Tesla, for example, have spent hundreds of millions of investors’ dollars before ever making a cent," he said.
Meanwhile, an expert working in the banking industry who asked Bored Panda to remain anonymous because of how sensitive his work is, said that capitalism disproportionately rewards individual incentives and punishes the lack of it.
#30
"As someone acquires more capital, it—on average—becomes exponentially easier to acquire even more of it, which adds to extreme wealth inequality. It really bothers me when trillions in pension funds are wiped out only for a couple of bankers to get slapped on the wrist. Making sure that the costs of financial crises are borne by financial institutions that manufactured them (even if unintentionally), as opposed to transferring the burden to other members of society, would increase accountability,” he said.
According to the expert, capitalism cannot exist as “pure capitalism” and has to focus on “effective social programs” if we care about our fellow citizens.
#32
#34
Hannah Edwards 2 years ago
Come on, they might be winding down after a hard day playing. We don’t know the full story.
#42
Hi, I'm Mars! 2 years ago
Imagine if watermelon had a durable skin/rind that would negate the need for plastic waste...oh wait.
#43
coraline jones 2 years ago (edited)
Comments could be turned off for a number of reasons, such as the video being suitable for kids, monetisation, and controversial/upsetting content. Sometimes, YouTube automatically turns off comments as well.
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Mike Crow 2 years ago
A lot of people don’t know what capitalism is including todays billionaires
Load More Replies...
Casey McAlister 2 years ago (edited)
Seems like somebody started a thematic post, but gave up halfway through and decided to just throw any more or less amusing picture in one post. At least half of them are neither capitalist nor dystopian.
Matthew Zornig 2 years ago
Is Bored Panda hitting the eggnog hard today? This should have just been called Non Sequitur
Eb 2 years ago
This article an example of its own thesis: taking content ('product') from where it's produced, adding a small amount of comment ('added value') and repackaging it for new market ('distribution'). And other content platforms will do the same with this.
s. vitkovitsky 2 years ago
I agree except for the 'added value' comment. BP uses content it doesn't pay for, and advertises on its site, meaning it profits from the content (including our comments!). Then the editors get into the starka (Lithuanian tranya), write some rambling drivel to pad out the free content, and voila! Capitalism at its finest!
Load More Replies...
Frannie Kaplan 2 years ago
Boredpanda used to expose great art now it's just "Americans bad westerners bad" "evil money evil capitalism." Snore.
ThatOneWriter 2 years ago
Only like 12 of these actually connect capitalism to dystopian-like issues. There are plenty of connections between the two but Influencers (which have basically always existed, just in different forms) and silly products like the chicken arms are absolutely not evidence of the connection. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
AnnaBanana 2 years ago
Definitely! I had to stop reading the comments after a while, because it made me feel like punching someone!
Load More Replies... Prestigous Cactus 2 years ago
This is what happens when you let Instagram pages and subreddits do your writing for you.
Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Note to world: Read up on your -isms, and apply them properly. Thank you. This was just, IMHO, dumba**-ism.
Abbella DiNoto 2 years ago
Some of those were actually good ideas, the tiny ear pins for face mask and the face mask that had a clear plastic cover so you could see a person’s mouth is useful for deaf people who must read lips. And service workers so customers can see smile & emotions
Lilly Swaim 2 years ago
Agreeing with the rest of the comments here, this isn't about capitalism, bad post with funny images doesn't deserve the likes
Bettina Jansen 2 years ago
Some of these seem to be lacking context, which makes it easy to interpret any way we want.
MorgothBauglir 2 years ago
I could argue against every single example bp has, but it would take to long. I believe we need to learn from a master and be reminded again why Capitalism is one of the greatest systems ever discovered, and that since its implementation, we've seen the greatest leaps in human prosperity. What America is experiencing today is not capitalism. It is government cronyism. Here is Milton Friedman, nobel-winning economist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kx__dnAWqQ
Ryan Deschanel 2 years ago (edited)
That has nothing to do with capitalism, and also, capitalism is the least worse system.
Marnie 2 years ago
Agreed. All of the countries with high standard of living, high happiness index, and lack of human rights abuses are capitalist societies. (In the US, capitalism has run amock, but it need not be so.)
Load More Replies... 
Mike Crow 2 years ago
A lot of people don’t know what capitalism is including todays billionaires
Load More Replies... Casey McAlister 2 years ago (edited)
Seems like somebody started a thematic post, but gave up halfway through and decided to just throw any more or less amusing picture in one post. At least half of them are neither capitalist nor dystopian.
Matthew Zornig 2 years ago
Is Bored Panda hitting the eggnog hard today? This should have just been called Non Sequitur
Eb 2 years ago
This article an example of its own thesis: taking content ('product') from where it's produced, adding a small amount of comment ('added value') and repackaging it for new market ('distribution'). And other content platforms will do the same with this.
s. vitkovitsky 2 years ago
I agree except for the 'added value' comment. BP uses content it doesn't pay for, and advertises on its site, meaning it profits from the content (including our comments!). Then the editors get into the starka (Lithuanian tranya), write some rambling drivel to pad out the free content, and voila! Capitalism at its finest!
Load More Replies... Frannie Kaplan 2 years ago
Boredpanda used to expose great art now it's just "Americans bad westerners bad" "evil money evil capitalism." Snore.
ThatOneWriter 2 years ago
Only like 12 of these actually connect capitalism to dystopian-like issues. There are plenty of connections between the two but Influencers (which have basically always existed, just in different forms) and silly products like the chicken arms are absolutely not evidence of the connection. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
AnnaBanana 2 years ago
Definitely! I had to stop reading the comments after a while, because it made me feel like punching someone!
Load More Replies... Prestigous Cactus 2 years ago
This is what happens when you let Instagram pages and subreddits do your writing for you.
Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Note to world: Read up on your -isms, and apply them properly. Thank you. This was just, IMHO, dumba**-ism.
Abbella DiNoto 2 years ago
Some of those were actually good ideas, the tiny ear pins for face mask and the face mask that had a clear plastic cover so you could see a person’s mouth is useful for deaf people who must read lips. And service workers so customers can see smile & emotions
Lilly Swaim 2 years ago
Agreeing with the rest of the comments here, this isn't about capitalism, bad post with funny images doesn't deserve the likes
Bettina Jansen 2 years ago
Some of these seem to be lacking context, which makes it easy to interpret any way we want.
MorgothBauglir 2 years ago
I could argue against every single example bp has, but it would take to long. I believe we need to learn from a master and be reminded again why Capitalism is one of the greatest systems ever discovered, and that since its implementation, we've seen the greatest leaps in human prosperity. What America is experiencing today is not capitalism. It is government cronyism. Here is Milton Friedman, nobel-winning economist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kx__dnAWqQ
Ryan Deschanel 2 years ago (edited)
That has nothing to do with capitalism, and also, capitalism is the least worse system.
Marnie 2 years ago
Agreed. All of the countries with high standard of living, high happiness index, and lack of human rights abuses are capitalist societies. (In the US, capitalism has run amock, but it need not be so.)
Load More Replies... 
Related on Bored Panda
