Johnson Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination

Thesis: Capitalism and economic systems are major reasons for the problems that our society has to face with differences, especially concerning race.

Argument/Support:
“Economic systems are the source of wealth, they are also the basis for every social institution, since social institutions cannot survive without an economic basis,” (42). Race is socially constructed, from these social institutions. Therefore, economic systems created and continue the idea of race. It is all a “matter of economics,” (42). Capitalism is based on profit or making more money regardless of whether it is obtained with good morals or not. There is no way to tell from “good” money and “bad” money (42). In a system of capitalism the upper class basically controls the lower class because they own the places of employment where the lower class has to work. The upper class has allowed greed to cover morals as seen in the past with extremely cheap labor in order to maximize personal profit. “The dynamics of capitalism produce high and increasing levels of inequality,” (43). The richest people hold more and more of the wealth, and gaps are only increasing between income, wealth, and power. The lower class of people have to suffer because of capitalism and compete against one another in order to survive. Our society is a “zero-sum society” because “one person’s gain is always someone else’s loss,” (45). Just a couple centuries ago the white men of the “New America” advanced economically in society only through the enslavement of blacks. Similarly, Chinese and Japanese immigrants went through harsh labor conditions to try to make ends meet in America. “Whites used a combination of conquest, genocide, and insincere treaties to get what they wanted and justified their actions by an idea of whiteness defining a privileged social category,” (46). Capitalism thus creates differences in class and privileges the upper class. Also, capitalism has allowed whites, males, and heterosexuals to be privileged as well. To change the trouble in our capitalist system of privilege we must do something about all types of privilege because they are all related and cannot be separated as described by the “matrix of domination,” (52).

Personal Response/Question:
How did the phrase “Manifest Destiny” and the actions that resulted from it justify and support capitalism? The phrase “Manifest Destiny” was used to show that the U.S. was destined to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean. This turned into the expansion of the whites, and all other people of different skin colors were just “used” by the white people for their own benefit. “Destiny” in a sense justified capitalism and supported it by making any actions okay as long as they involved westward expansion.
I feel that certain negative effects of capitalism may far outweigh the positive effects. Capitalism increases inequality and puts too much power in the hands of the upper class. Difference in class and class privilege is related to all forms of privilege, therefore making the trouble harder to overcome. Capitalism can produce good profit and a seemingly good economy, but should it give more privilege to the already privileged groups?