It is impossible to be a good person and survive in a capitalist system

As a disclaimer I do not agree with this resolution. Since this is an assignment please take anything said below as a false statement being made for the sake of a grade. This blog posting does not reflect my personal opinion or the truth as I see it in any way.

As shown in the reading The Good Person of Szechwan it is impossible to be both a good person and successful in a capitalist economy. We can see this in the case of Shen Teh. Even when the Gods give her a head start by investing in her with money, she struggles. In one of the opening scenes of the play it shows her using the money to buy up the tobacconist shop. Here she is unable to make ends meet without depending on the charity of someone else. Also she is unable to show people without money the charity that she would like to show them. One example in particular is her run in with the carpenter. Here there is some discrepancy over who exactly owns the shelves in her store. One might make the argument that it was Shen Teh’s responsibility to read the fine print when she made the purchase of her store, but that would be incorrect. If she irresponsibly did not read through her contract then she should not have to pay the consequences. After all, if the carpenter were a good person he would just extend out her payment due date. If he were an exceptionally good person then he would have just forgiven her debt all together. We look at this situation that Shen Teh gets herself into and it is easy to see why it is impossible to be a good person and succeed under a capitalistic economy. A capitalistic economy requires such things as accountability and reward for hard work and ability. How are people supposed to be expected to deliver such things and still be good people? After all, as good people we all know that rewards should be given based on need rather than merit.

Some might say that Shen Teh should work harder to be a good business person. If her business prospered, wouldn’t she then be able to lower her prices for the needy? Perhaps even hire some of these desperate people as paid employees? I think not! As all good people know, a good person does not hold out for some “greater good,” to be a good person means to be a good person here and now, not later. These points clearly show that Shen Teh is a good person and consequently she could not succeed under a capitalistic economy because of her good nature. Not because of her lack of business savvy or irresponsibility.