That's a pretty cynical take but there are some truly old businesses in the world where generations of families have worked and enjoyed a good life. Work can uplift people and be a centre of the community. Or it can be like most are today where you work away for some faceless shareholders who fire you when they need a stock price boost.

> enjoyed a good life

Did they? As good as the capitalists company owners life?

Or have they just been told that „this is the good life“?

I think the problem today is that a lot of work is actually not needed anymore. It’s just there to make a small elite richer and keep people under control.

Sometimes being able to buy a house and raise a family is a good enough life.

The question is, what would they have been able to buy without the exploitation?

No system can fix a corrupt elite. Even Adam Smith acknowledged that capitalism is an abusive system when you have elites that do not have their people’s best interest in mind.

A high trust, cohesive populace is the minimum for any societal progress. And that starts with rulers who work to ensure they’re doing right by their people. America, instead, has rulers on both sides working to ensure the populace hates one another.