From our other sites
The story
A thread on 5ch’s freewheeling “Nandemo Jikkyo G” (general live-chat) board asked whether capitalism is simply too cruel, after the original poster watched Uber Eats and other delivery riders pedaling around town on their bikes. The poster floated “mild capitalism” as an alternative, but replies quickly pushed back, citing the realities of communist states and the inequality baked into American society. The discussion spread to historical points about how humans have traded and divided labor since the hunter-gatherer era, and speculation about whether AI will widen or narrow the wealth gap going forward. Opinions on delivery work itself ended up split right down the middle.
What people said
Not sure, but something like 'mild capitalism,' I guess
You just get hit with brutal quotas and exploited instead
There's also a misconception that capitalism doesn't have quotas either
True, taxis don't really trigger that feeling
Used to be
Now it's people's main job
It is cruel though — your rank in life gets decided by money alone, and people with money never spare a thought for how hard the people below them are working
saying, 'It's so convenient here, everything gets delivered to your door with just one smartphone'
but they conveniently forget
that it only works because of countless delivery workers
You might want to choose your words more carefully
Structurally, sure, I guess
Back then everything you did was dictated for you
And honestly, now is the golden age for the ruling class too — old-time royalty actually had to go to the battlefield, but today's elites start wars while keeping themselves safely out of harm's way
That's where capitalism ends up
Of course Trump got elected — it was inevitable
How is that any different?
Still better than the Soviet Union or Cambodia, which actually tried to be communist
At least nobody's doing that job because they actually want to, right?
And that's after pouring most of our lives into labor
300 million's plenty for me — how much do you want?
If you want more than that, why not start a company like Maezawa or Son did? (famous Japanese entrepreneurs)
Once your basic humanity gets called into question, it's over for you
Uh, I am blue-collar
It's kind to the weak, so prices stay low
Though those low prices only work because workers' wages (labor costs) are kept down lol
So basically Japan
maintains a low-cost society by having everyone work for low pay
which is exactly what lets old folks and people on welfare (namapo, slang for public assistance recipients) avoid ending up homeless
Nobody bossing me around, working whenever I feel like it for as long as I want — that's a genuine luxury
See, now you're even lying just to keep your self-esteem intact
More like communism in a delivery box
AI is a tool for rich people to use — workers are just going to lose their jobs
I can only see a future where the poor become an even bigger class
Were there people back then who got meat without hunting for it themselves?
Sure there were
Dividing up different jobs based on who's suited for what has been going on since the Yayoi period (roughly 300 BC–300 AD)
There's confirmed evidence that trading-company-like middlemen existed as far back as Mesopotamia
Something like, 'I'll tell you where the good hunting grounds are, so hand over a cut of what you catch in return'
Seems like it works fine as a way to earn money using your spare time
But what if it were your own parent doing Uber?
Dressed all shabby, riding some grimy bike
I use it sometimes, but it kind of makes me feel guilty
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The question of whether capitalism is “cruel” is a theme that keeps resurfacing on 5ch, but this time it was triggered by something close to home: food delivery work. What stood out in the thread was how sharply opinions split along the same axis — whether to view delivery work as “exploited, miserable labor” or as “flexible work that lets you set your own hours” — with people reading the very same job in completely opposite ways. Many defended capitalism by pointing to the failures of communist states (the Soviet Union, Cambodia, and so on), but this framing simplifies things down to “the only alternative to capitalism is a historical communist state,” and there was little discussion of reformist paths like the “mild capitalism” the original poster raised at the outset. Economically testable topics also came up, such as the ceiling on lifetime earnings and the relationship between prices and wages, but it’s worth noting that within the thread these were argued purely from personal impression rather than verified data.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Isn’t capitalism just too cruel? I can’t stand watching Uber riders on bikes.”
Leave a Reply