Capitalism inherently makes it impossible for everybody to keep up with the Jones.
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Otherwise, being rich isn't a social privilege. What is being rich if it is not a privilege ? How can it be a privilege if the poor are just as materially satisfied as the rich ? Such is the full relativity of poverty and wealth.
Is this the full story? Forget about "relative poverty". Historically the rise of capitalism has coincided with a massive increase in *absolute poverty*. By absolute poverty I mean being deprived of the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter or the means of acquiring those. Africa never had cars and electricity, but people there were not starving to death in the millions until after capitalism arrived. Does Marxist theory explain this adequately? -raghu.
