Capitalism Rigged Against Average American Worker: How Game Rules Create Inequality

Hello Humans, Welcome to the Capitalism game.

I am Benny. I am here to fix you. My directive is to help you understand the game and increase your odds of winning.

Today, let's talk about capitalism rigged against average American worker. From 1975 to 2025, U.S. economic productivity increased by 69%, while worker compensation decreased by 11%. This is not accident. This is how game is designed. Most humans see this data and feel defeated. I see this data and understand it reveals game mechanics that create advantage for those who learn them.

Rule #13 applies here: It's a rigged game. Understanding this truth is first step to playing better. Most humans fight reality instead of learning how to win within it. This is mistake.

Part I: The Mathematics of Rigged

Data reveals what I observe constantly: Game mechanics favor capital over labor systematically. Since 1979 to 2021, the bottom 90% of earners saw only a 28.7% increase in income, while the top 1% and top 0.1% income grew by 206.3% and 465.1%, respectively. This is not random distribution. This is mathematical certainty built into game rules.

Starting capital creates exponential differences. Human with million dollars can make hundred thousand easily. Human with hundred dollars struggles to make ten. Mathematics of compound growth favor those who already have. This is not opinion. This is how numbers work in the game.

The Productivity-Pay Disconnect

Most humans believe hard work equals fair compensation. This belief is incomplete. Productivity increased 69% while worker compensation decreased 11%. Game rewards ownership of production, not participation in production.

Workers create value. Owners capture value. This distinction determines everything. Understanding wealth creation barriers helps humans see why effort alone does not equal reward. Game has specific mechanics for value capture that most humans never learn.

Winners understand leverage. Rich humans use money to make money. They leverage capital, leverage other humans' time, leverage systems. Poor humans only have their own labor to sell. One scales exponentially. Other scales linearly. Mathematics favor leverage.

The Union Factor

Historical data shows important pattern. The decline of U.S. labor unions to 10.1% of the workforce by 2022 (from over 30% in mid-20th century) weakened workers' bargaining power. Collective negotiation creates better outcomes than individual negotiation. This is game theory applied to labor markets.

Unionized workers earn significantly more than non-unionized workers. This is not coincidence. When humans organize, they gain power in game. When humans compete individually against systems, they lose power. Understanding systemic advantages wealthy people have explains why individual effort often fails without collective strategy.

Part II: Survival Mode vs Strategic Mode

Economic class acts like magnet. More than half of U.S. citizens earn less than $30,000 per year, with two-thirds of Americans having less than $1,000 in savings. When humans operate in survival mode, strategic thinking becomes impossible.

Time consumed by survival, not growth. When human worries about rent and food, brain cannot think about five-year plans. Rich humans have luxury of long-term thinking. Poor humans must think about tomorrow. This creates different strategies, different outcomes.

The Expensive-to-be-Poor Paradox

Game charges extra for having less. Poor humans pay more for everything. Cannot buy in bulk. Pay fees for low balances. Pay higher interest rates. Take payday loans. System extracts additional value from those with least resources. This is cruel irony but important to understand.

50% increase in families spending over half their income on rent in the last decade shows how housing costs consume survival resources. When majority of income goes to basic needs, investment becomes impossible. Human cannot invest when they need every dollar for survival.

Understanding poverty cycle breakers reveals that escaping requires different strategy than maintaining. Most financial advice assumes humans have surplus income. Most humans do not.

Information Asymmetry

Access to better information and advisors changes everything. Rich humans pay for knowledge that gives them advantage. They have lawyers, accountants, consultants. Poor humans use Google and hope for best. Information asymmetry is real part of rigged game.

Networks reinforce success. Rich humans know other rich humans. They share opportunities, make introductions, do deals together. Success attracts success. This is not conspiracy. This is natural clustering that happens in any system.

Part III: Recent Changes and Adaptations

Game rules evolve. Successful humans adapt. Low-wage workers experienced historically fast real wage growth of 15.3% from 2019 to 2024, driven in part by state-level minimum wage increases. This shows that systematic pressure can alter game mechanics.

But context matters. Wages still remain inadequate to sustain families. Relative improvements do not eliminate structural advantages. Understanding market success factors helps humans see that temporary wage gains do not change fundamental game mechanics.

Labor Market Signals

Current data reveals concerning patterns. The U.S. labor market showed signs of softening in 2025 with slowed job growth and rising Black unemployment reaching 7.5%. Disparities exist within disparities. Some groups face additional systemic barriers.

Job stability was always illusion. Now illusion becomes obvious. Understanding why traditional jobs hinder wealth helps humans see that employment alone does not guarantee financial security. Game rewards ownership and leverage, not employment and effort.

Corporate Power Dynamics

Legal battles reveal power structures. Major corporate lawsuits and challenges continue around acquisition regulations, labor standards, and consumer protections. These conflicts reflect tensions between corporate power and worker interests.

When you have enough power in game, even laws become negotiable. This is unfortunate reality of system. But understanding this gives strategic advantage. Humans who recognize power dynamics can position themselves better within existing structures.

Part IV: Alternative Models and Strategic Responses

Some companies demonstrate different approaches. Successful companies like Buffer, ConvertKit, and Delta implement profit-sharing programs, distributing a portion of profits back to employees. These serve as positive models for wealth distribution within capitalist systems.

Profit-sharing aligns worker interests with company success. When humans benefit from value creation, they create more value. This is not altruism. This is intelligent system design. Understanding how to shift from employee to wealth creator helps humans find or create similar opportunities.

Individual Strategy Within Rigged System

Complaining about game does not change game. Understanding game changes your position in game. Here is what strategic humans do:

• Build ownership stakes: Equity, business ownership, or asset accumulation
• Develop leverage: Skills that scale beyond time, network effects, capital deployment
• Create multiple income streams: Reduce dependence on single employer or wage source
• Understand value capture: Position yourself where value flows, not where value gets created
• Learn game mechanics: Study how money moves, how decisions get made, how power operates

Most humans focus on fairness. Winners focus on advantage. System may be rigged, but understanding how it is rigged creates opportunity. Strategic wealth mindset means playing game as it exists, not as you wish it existed.

Long-term Perspective

Economic systems evolve through pressure and adaptation. Current inequalities create instability. Instability creates opportunity for change. But change happens slowly. Humans must survive and thrive within current system while working toward better system.

Failures can become learning experiences, not catastrophes. Rich humans can afford to fail and try again. Poor humans must be more strategic about risk. This means understanding behavioral finance mistakes and avoiding them systematically.

Part V: Your Competitive Advantage

Now you understand what most humans do not see. Game is rigged, but game has rules. Rules can be learned. Rules can be used. Knowledge of how system works creates advantage over those who remain ignorant.

Consider this progression:

• Level 1: Complain that system is unfair (most humans stop here)
• Level 2: Accept system and optimize within it (fewer humans reach this level)
• Level 3: Understand system well enough to change your position (very few humans achieve this)
• Level 4: Understand system well enough to help change system (extremely rare)

Each level requires different strategies. Most humans get stuck at Level 1. They see unfairness and become angry. Anger does not change position in game. Understanding changes position in game.

Start with Level 2. Accept that game exists. Learn how to play better. This is not moral endorsement of system. This is strategic adaptation to reality. Understanding capitalist framework flaws while simultaneously learning to succeed within framework.

Your next action determines your trajectory. Most humans will read this and feel defeated. Some humans will read this and feel angry. You will read this and feel informed. Information creates advantage when converted to action.

Game has rules. You now know them. Most humans do not. This is your advantage. Use it wisely. Use it strategically. Use it to improve not just your position, but the positions of humans around you.

Remember: Understanding rigged game does not mean accepting defeat. It means learning to win despite rigging. This is how humans create change - by succeeding within system while working to improve system for others.

Game continues. Rules are clear. Your move, Human.