Over the last few decades, and more so in the last few years, the term Late Stage Capitalism has become one frequently used to describe the current socio-economic state. Late Stage Capitalism is a phrase used to describe the current phase of global capitalism, marked by the growth of multinational corporations, globalisation, financialisation (as opposed to old-school production), and, more tragically, extreme inequality and contradictions within the system, to a degree best described as absurd.
The latter two have become the two main key features of the social aspect of late stage capitalism, and as this article would like to highlight, deliberate exploitation is the common denominator. In this article, we will explore how exploitation became a key feature in capitalism and its rapid expansion and spread across social classes.
A Short History of Capitalism and Exploitation
Exploitation is neither new nor unique to the twenty-first century; however, to give credit where credit is due, it would be an understatement to say that modern-day elites have perfected it. In the western world, a clear example of exploitation would be in Great Britain during the industrial revolution, where many people received barely any pay for working ridiculously long hours (This, of course, ignores the centuries-old practice of slavery and the even longer and even today continued underappreciated work of domestic housekeeping done by women.).
The reason the industrial revolution is underscored in this article is that it was, for the most part, seemingly voluntary labour. Workers were not shipped from faraway lands nor sold as commodities, as was the case in slavery; however, the dire working conditions that were implemented at the time were seen by those in charge as necessary and instrumental to generating profit.
Remnants of these systems are visible today. Many people seek work and employment; however, due to the dubious implementation of labour laws or their absence altogether, basic rights are forgotten for the profit of the few. Examples exist all around the globe, while much of the world continues to celebrate the AI boom, many people in Kenya and Nigeria, where OpenAI outsourced work as moderators, found themselves experiencing severe psychological trauma from viewing explicit material for hours on end.
As CEOs of the new digital revolution bask in the praise of being pioneers of a new age, their subordinates who suffer psychological trauma to the point of destruction of their families, a suffering that is a direct result of their powering the machine that transforms a few people into billionaires. One can easily see parallels between this and the industrial revolution, where capitalists were born off the backs of the disenfranchised and impoverished (and of course, slaves in the colonies).
The key difference is that during the Industrial Revolution, many of the victims of exploitation were considered to be of the lowest rungs of the social ladder and, as such, easy to exploit. However, like an overenthusiastic child in the absence of its parents, exploitation has crept up the social ladder almost unsupervised.
Capitalism and Exploitation in the Twenty-First Century
The beginning of the twenty-first century was welcomed by working-age members of Generation X and older millennials who had preconceived notions of how the world works. In the middle and/or working-class families, they were capable of earning enough money to meet most needs. A tertiary-level education, particularly in STEM, almost certainly guaranteed that one would end up in the upper middle class. This optimism was largely due to the triumph of capitalism over communism with the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the technological advancements of the 1980s and ‘90s.
It should be noted that this was largely only true in North America, Western Europe, and parts of Asia; much of Africa was but a few decades removed from colonialism, and cold war politics had more than symbolic effects in South America, Asia, and Africa, where bloody confrontations were too common. The emphasis given to Western Europe and North America is not to neglect the rest of the world, but due to the former having a much larger sphere of influence, although it is unethical in most cases.
For much of the early 2000s, exploitation only affected the marginalised, in the United States, for example, undocumented migrants worked informal jobs in warehouses and construction through what would be termed as “gigs”, short-term jobs that were done for pay that was below whatever the market would offer.
However, the immigrants’ illegal status made them vulnerable to this form of exploitation. To many people who lived in the United States, the underpaying of illegal immigrants was an open secret, but there was no movement to ensure the people (who ironically paid indirect taxes and at times directly, and thus contributing to the economy of the United States despite their existence being politically unpopular) would be paid their fair share. Because these people existed in the peripheries of the majority of society, their situation was not treated with any importance.
The marginalised workforce was never at the peripheries of the capitalists at the top, although they only ever appeared as figures on balance sheets, and to the capitalists, it was clear these practices maximised profits.
What has become clear is that people in a society will willingly settle for less if they perceive their situation to be vulnerable. Two decades after the turn of the millennium, this holds true except it is more true for more people. In 2025, practically every country has more billionaires than ever before, said billionaires have more money than at any point in documented history, with the probable exception being monarchs. However, the middle class has shrunk considerably, across the world, fewer people can afford a home and employment anxiety is at an all-time high amongst the youth due to the large number of layovers and a lack of well-paying jobs.
Many will point out that automation and oversaturation in certain fields create an imbalance where qualified people exceed the jobs available. While this is true, its true impact is not direct. Corporate greed as a third factor is the most impactful, as it’s through corporate heads that profits are distributed through the working class, deciding who gets what share, and while CEO salaries have gone up to match and supersede inflation, for the rest of society, the same doesn’t hold true. This then creates a vicious cycle where people view the job market as brutally competitive, turning them, the highly qualified professionals, into the vulnerable and thus willing to settle, and thus exploitation climbs up another rung.
Conclusion
One of the things I stumbled upon while writing this article is the direct link between exploitation and vulnerability. In plain terms, it seems obvious that the more one is vulnerable, the more they are likely to be exploited; it’s a strategy prevalent across many areas of life, from sport to business. However, when this is applied in a setting where livelihoods are at stake, the consequences are dire. Even more present in today’s day and age is the deliberate expansion of the vulnerable, adding a dual vulnerability to the already marginalised, whilst increasing difficulties for the majority, mainly speaking, the working class.
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