I’m not a socialist. So please erase that presumption from your mind before arguing against a point I don’t defend. I understand that capitalism is a big reason why the United States of America is the wealthiest nation on the planet. Full-blown socialism isn’t good for everybody—but neither is full-blown capitalism. Because of capitalism, the ebb and flow of the stock markets generally favors investing (in the long run, informed investors stand a better chance of making money instead of losing it). Corporate profits rise every year. This doesn’t favor anybody making less than $10 an hour; people living paycheck to paycheck who don’t have enough disposable income to invest in a 401(k) or buy stocks. Since 2009, the last year the federal government raised the minimum wage (to $7.25/hr), the unemployment rate has dropped from around 8% to under 4% today; the Dow Jones Industrial Average has more than doubled, from approximately 9,170 to 21,750 (this is being written December 26, 2018);