Capitalism Vs Family

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Capitalism is the economic system that requires people to earn a profit through the sale or distribution of goods or services. Through this system, the family dynamic has transformed to meet the changing times. People’s values and behaviors are influenced by the principle of efficiency and profit. Due to capitalism, people in the twenty-first century care more about themselves, instead of family and civil society. As a result, the family bond and civic values are gradually disappearing. A strong family structure is essential to a civil society, but that paradigm is now shifting to a “work-comes-first” mentality. In “From the Frying Pan into the Fire,” Arlie Russell Hochschild argues that capitalism has created a continuing competition between …show more content…
Capitalism blocks the construction of civility, and limits people to spend valuable time with their family members. As a result, people spend less time to communicate with their love ones, and the loss of trust emerged. Flammang describes such a phenomena in her article, “democratic speech and behavior can be practiced at the table, and as we spend less time in common meals, we are losing an opportunity to learn and teach the art of conversation so essential for civil society and democratic practice” (Flammang, 112). By reducing table activities, some family members might not able to connect with each other. The valuable chance to get to know each other emotionally is limited by capitalism. People ignore the deeper meaning of a meal, which is to help people unite together and share different ideas. People who spend less time with family members only focus the shallow meaning of food, which is to maintain energy, and then have the power to go back to work. The civic values will not be reconstructed unless people could find time to share their thoughts and generosity with others again. Hochschild points out another social issue faces by every family in her article, which is the imbalance between family and work. She writes “families and local communities must daily face a competing urgency system and a rival conception of time. Company deadlines compete with school plays. Holidays sales at the mall vie with hanging out at home” (Hochschild, 189). This social phenomenon is very common; however, this phenomenon has destroyed the balance between family and work. Under the capitalism, everything is competing with family value. People gradually forget about the value of family, and thus, the balance between family and work is disrupted. For example, people start to purchase fast food to save time, because people, through the colored glasses of capitalism, consider cooking to
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