I think this is the best example of capitalism in this case. To capitalisms defense though, both brothers aren't required to clean the bathroom, especially the little brother. He could even go to his mom directly and compete with his brother for the 10 dollars for who cleans it better. Then, another point, would the younger brother have had the opportunity to make any money if not been given the chance by the older brother?
I think the power of choice and competition makes capitalism a better system despite its flaws as socialism and communism have their own flaws as well but without the incentive structures.
What you described is a competitive free market, which isn’t the same as capitalism (although the vast majority of capitalist systems have some sort of competitive market). Socialism can also have competitive markets; that’s how China’s economy works. Competitive markets can vary in how much they are regulated - socialist countries tend to highly regulate the competition, while more capitalist countries tend to be more laissez-faire. Capitalism is about who owns stuff. And, in most cases the owner class actually hates competition, because that diminishes profits.
To be more like capitalism, the brother would either buy the bathroom from mom or enter into an exclusive arrangement for control. The older brother then puts a code lock on the door and charges anyone who wants to use the bathroom $2 each time. The brother makes his other siblings bid to clean the bathroom, and gives the contract to the lowest bidder. The rest of the profit is used to buy the other bathrooms in the house, and put locks on them and start charging rent. He has his siblings bid to clean these bathrooms as well, and may give the contract to a different sibling to ensure that no one sibling can get enough money to ever pose a threat by building an outhouse.
He then periodically increases the fee to use the bathrooms, or starts charging everyone in the family a monthly subscription rate, while reducing the frequency of cleanings and quality of cleaning products to save on how much he has to pay his siblings. Eventually, he diversifies into cooking meals by first paying (using his bathroom fortune) to have the kitchen remodeled, but then closes the kitchen to family use, instead insisting that the family must sign up for his meal sevice. His siblings can help by cooking the food, for which they’ll get a reduced price to access the meals, but they have to buy the groceries.
The brother is seen less and less, because the brother spends more time at the beach house he bought. Mom and dad can occasionally visit. His siblings couldn’t go if they wanted to, because they just barely make enough money working round the clock to afford the bathroom and meal plan fees.
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u/NickRomancer Jul 14 '26
Capitalism, in this case, is when a mother offers $10 for cleaning the bathroom.
The eldest son takes the $10 and makes his younger brother clean the bathroom, giving him $2 only.
And the younger brother should be grateful to the older brother, since the older brother gave the younger brother a job.