Pappas touches on the many contradictions of capitalism that impinge destructively on the lives of ordinary people who must often sell their labor to a capitalist in order to have a chance at survival.
- The inherent alienation of workers who have no control over what and how products and services are produced.
- Inherent in the system is the incentive of owners to exploit workers to enhance profits: outsourcing, closing factories, polluting the environment while adversely affecting the health of workers, allowing stressful work conditions, etc.
- The inevitable concentration of wealth for owners and insecurity for workers.
- The frequent strategies used by owners to divide workers: racism, sexism, exploitative use of immigrants, etc.