Helping within Capitalism

Capitalism.  Good luck trying to help under this system.
http://www.shockya.com/news/2009/08/29/capitalism-a-love-story-movie-poster/

I just recently saw Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story.  Perhaps this will explain my connection to the theme of unity and compassion throughout Ram Dass’s book.  I like the anecdote that recalls a time when “people cared,” when if someone was evicted, the neighborhood would come together to help you keep your home.  “That’s neighborhood.” (17) This is not unlike a scene from Capitialism, where a neighborhood got together to sing, chant, protest the eviction of a community member.  (In my head, as I was watching this and reading the anecdote in How can I help?, I almost started humming a common protest song: “Power. Power. Power to the people. People power. POWER.”  

If you so desire to help people, make sure to "keep [their]
suffering at arm's length."  God forbid, their emotions
are contagious.

The idea is that we should strive towards “a greater sense of unity”—as a human race (50).  Reaching out to your neighbor is not necessarily an act of compassion or considered “help” but it creates unity.  In Moore’s criticism of Capitialism—which I most certainly share—I found that people protested the eviction not out of a desire to help, but rather a sense of brotherhood—“neighborhood.”  This, Ram Dass, I can agree with.  Perhaps Capitalism is the epitome of an economic system—and thus also, a social system—that breeds individualism and self-determination, but hardly compassion, brotherhood, and unity.  So, my question is quite simply, “how can [we] help?” in a society that devalues helping people or helping to change the structure of an oppressive society?  Even those who pursue a career in helping people are guided by rhetoric like “professional warmth.” (63)  To me, this wreaks of impersonal personal relationships.  Hypocrisy at its finest.  I propose we scratch that idea and simply learn to deal with our own suffering.  (Much easier said than done, clearly, but nonetheless, this is critical to our ability to be compassionate.) As Ram Dass suggests, the reason we invoke such survival instincts is to “keep suffering at arm’s length.” (61)  Perhaps this is what unifies us.  As human beings, we intuitively avoid suffering—but nevertheless, understand suffering.  This is what we have to give: understanding and unity.