Far from reducing extreme poverty, the expansion of capitalism from the 16th century onward was associated with a dramatic deterioration in human welfare. This is according to a study carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) in collaboration with Macquarie University, Australia, which shows that this new economic system saw a decline in wages to below subsistence, a deterioration in human stature, and a marked upturn in premature mortality.
I knew it! I had a strong hunch that this was the case, but I also had the capitalist myth of “the best time ever for civilization” still in my mind. This clears things up a lot for me.