What Is This Book About?

The issue with Capitalism is more than economics. It is about the survival of humankind.

This first-ever book to evaluate the effects of Capitalism from economic, social, and evolutionary perspectives also offers a detailed presentation of an alternative approach to commerce that is founded on the principles of individual freedom and property rights, yet it ensures that all commercial endeavors protect, nurture, and enrich human life and the ecosystem that supports all life.

Capitalism, as a theoretical model of an imaginary world, appears to be logically sound. Empirical evidence reviewed in this book, however, makes clear that Capitalism, as a practical economic system, is a sham. Its dominance has undermined our understanding of ourselves as a species; commerce as our common means for enabling each other’s survival, growth, and fulfillment; and our notion of what constitutes appropriate conduct within a society and across societies internationally. It falsely pits individual emergence against social well-being when in fact each requires the other for its realization.

This book documents the bases for Capitalism’s destructiveness including its false understanding of human nature and incorrect assumptions about the commercial context. Capitalism assumes that all people act egoistically without regard for others, and they do not. It also assumes that no asymmetries of information or power exist between buyers and sellers, and they do. Its theorems, drawn from these errors, construct a system that enables the few to exploit the many. As to human nature, studies repeated hundreds of times have shown that humankind displays two different response dispositions toward others. One portion always acts egoistically as Capitalism posits. Another portion is natively cooperative and other-regarding. For this latter segment, following Capitalism’s guidance requires them to behave in ways that contravene their native inclinations. And, it is the native human dispositions of this second segment of humankind that evolutionary science credits with enhancing our species’ ability to survive and evolve. Further, repeated studies have demonstrated that, when egoists interact with cooperators, they always seek to exploit them.

The research reviewed in this book also clarifies the true nature of commerce; the breadth of human necessities, beyond material needs, that commerce must serve; Capitalism’s real utility as a “social control system”; and the potential consequences for evolved humankind of Capitalism’s universal promulgation. It also provides detailed guidance for implementing the Life Enabling approach to commerce that supports the emergence of the individual, the well-being of society as a whole, and the vitality of the ecosystem that supports all life.

About the Authors

Raphael L. Vitalo received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has authored 50 professional articles, technical reports, and chapters in the areas of psychology, education, business management and commerce, information systems, and artificial intelligence.
Dr. Vitalo worked in community mental health during the first segment of his 50-year career as a therapist, researcher, and clinical director of three mental health centers. Under his clinical leadership, each center dramatically improved in its delivery of care. For example, in the second of those centers, his staff improved the success of their treatment outcomes by 31% (from 70% to 92% of clients reported benefit from care), reduced dropouts from treatment by more than 50%, expanded the number of people served with the same level of staff by 20%, and produced a per-unit cost of care that was 56% below the national average. In the next phase of his career, Dr. Vitalo worked as a business consultant. He has designed, managed, and implemented more than 400 projects serving public and private sector organizations in the areas of strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, performance management, workforce productivity, business process reengineering, risk management, applications of the Quality and Lean Enterprise models, knowledge engineering, information systems design and development, and expert systems design and development. He is currently the president of Vital Enterprises.

Christopher J. Bujak is a managing partner of Continual Impact, a consulting group providing consulting and training in continuous improvement. Chris is a mechanical engineer by formal training with extensive postgraduate training and experience in the application of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies and tools. As global director of continuous improvement (CI) for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Chris was one of the principle developers of an integrated CI model that included Lean Enterprise, Six Sigma™, and other critical enabling elements. This global initiative yielded $13 million (2021 current U.S. dollars) in savings during its first year of implementation, $21.1 million in its second year, and over $68 million in its third year. His work with Continual Impact has reached some 200 organizations, with more than 4,000 people trained and engaged in continuous improvements efforts. His recent focus has been on public health organizations across the U.S.