A topic that I found very interesting this last week was the discussion of capitalism and illness. This was interesting to me because i found many connections between the 2 topics. First, one must address the large degree of consumerism in the United States. This consumerism does not only correlate with materialism, but can contribute to illness if you look at food portion sizing in the U.S. Portion sizes are far larger than other countries, which would explain high rates of obesity and diseases such as diabetes and  heart disease. Another way you can look at illness and capitalism is from a psychological standpoint. The U.S. and the capitalist system place a heavy emphasis on capital (thus, CAPITALism) and success, and when people are not able to achieve certain levels of each, it can be very disheartening and stressful, and can lead to depression and other psychological ailments. The capitalist system is great for generating money, but one could wonder if the capitalist system has put hard working Americans at a unique disadvantage.