At Leverage to Lead, we’ve written about how sufficiency challenges the scarcity mindset of capitalism. Contemplating sufficiency asks us to pause, to question: How much is actually enough? Enough money. Enough productivity. Enough striving.
Today, we’re extending that conversation to explore how capitalism has shaped not just our sense of “enough,” but our sense of morality.
Capitalism is a global economic and political system in which trade and industry are controlled by governments and private owners for profit.
Morality refers to a set of beliefs, principles, norms and standards that dictate what is considered good or bad, right or wrong.
The Morality at the Heart of Capitalism
We believe every person is worthy of care, support, and having their needs met simply because they are human. Yet, the systems we live and work within often obscure this truth. One of the clearest examples is how capitalism thrives on moral supremacy—categorizing people as good or bad, worthy or unworthy—based not on their humanity, but on their perceived economic value.
Capitalism doesn’t just drive economic behavior; it shapes beliefs about who is valuable. It tells us that wealth signals virtue, that productivity signals worth, and that those struggling to meet their needs are failing both economically and morally.
This logic shows up everywhere: the “good worker” who sacrifices health and boundaries for the job; the “good woman” whose unpaid caretaking is expected and taken for granted; the leaders praised for endless growth while ignoring the human cost. These aren’t neutral judgments. They are moral labels rooted in a system that extracts labor, care, and creativity—while punishing those who resist or cannot comply.
The Human Cost of Moral Supremacy
This cycle dehumanizes all of us. For those excluded or marginalized, the harm is obvious: being deemed unworthy of opportunity, support, or dignity. But even for those rewarded by the system, the threat of punishment is ever-present. The higher up you are, the more pressure to perform, conform, and separate from your own humanity, such that you are viewed as good and successful.
This moral supremacy is a trap. It keeps us striving for approval, fearful of failure, and disconnected from one another. It narrows our choices, until survival looks like compliance with values that aren’t our own.
Human-Centered Practices as Resistance
This is why our Human-Centered Practices matter. They give us tools to notice how morality has been defined for us by systems, and the agency and inner agility to choose differently. They allow us to:
- Build relationships grounded in care and dignity, not extraction.
- Create boundaries and systems that prioritize humanity alongside productivity.
- Define success in alignment with our values, not capitalism’s growth imperative.
- Practice accountability and shared responsibility without shame.
At their core, Human-Centered Practices are about reclaiming our capacity to decide what “good” looks like—not in terms of supremacy or worthiness, but in terms of integrity, alignment, and connection.
Reclaiming Our Truth
Capitalism thrives when we forget that our worth is inherent. It thrives when we confuse wealth or output with morality, when we accept that only some people deserve care and others do not.
But we reject that notion.
Every one of us is worthy of care, support, and having our needs met—because we are human.
When we see the systems shaping our beliefs, we can name the ways they distort this truth. And when we build systems of our own—rooted in values of humanity, equity, and care—we reclaim it. We create containers where people can thrive, not because they’ve earned it in the marketplace, but because thriving is their right.
This is the work we’re committed to at Leverage to Lead: helping leaders, teams, and organizations build systems that support our shared humanity.