LMAO
How many deaths do you think capitalism is responsible for?
Capitalism’s documented kill count (last 200 years) — what can actually be cited 👇
Not a guess. Not ideology. Just peer-reviewed studies, parliamentary records, and UN data.
1. Colonial famines (1789–1945)
Academics documented 20 famines where Europe kept exporting food while colonies starved.
Vietnam (French, 1944–45): 1–2 million
Java (Dutch, 1849–50): 300k
Belgian Congo (rubber terror): 500k
Conservative total across empires: 17–20 million
UK Parliament records (1909): 4 Indian famines alone (1865–1878) = ~8 million excess deaths.
2. British India (1881–1920)
Peer-reviewed study in World Development compared actual mortality to baseline.
Baseline = 1880s rates: 50 million excess deaths
Baseline = pre-colonial English rates: 165 million
Mid-range estimate: ~100 million
Mechanisms: destroyed manufacturing, forced food exports during drought, wealth drain via taxes.
3. Water insecurity (annual, recent)
UN/WHO data:
2.2 million people/year die from waterborne diseases
1.8 million are children
Daily: 5,000 children
Case study: Colombia’s Guajira region (coal mining privatization) → 5,000 Wayúu children died (2007–2017) from no clean water.
4. Wars (last 200 years – partial list)
Colonial, resource, and imperial wars only (not all wars):
WWI: ~40M
WWII: ~85M
Korea: ~3.3M
Vietnam: ~1.35M
Iraq (2003–11): ~600k
US Civil War: ~850k
Subtotal: ~131 million
Smaller wars excluded: Opium Wars, US-Mexican War, countless colonial massacres.
5. Lack of healthcare (US, 1935–2020)
1935 Social Security Act originally had universal healthcare. Removed to pass.
Result:
~68,000 preventable deaths/year from lack of insurance/access
Over 86 years (1935–2020): ~5.85 million
COVID first year: 340k
Final tally (what can actually be cited, not speculated):
| Category | Documented deaths |
|----------------------------------------|------------------------|
| Colonial famines (1789-1945) | 17-20 million |
| British India (1881-1920) | 50-165 million |
| Water insecurity (annual, recent) | 2.2 million per year |
| Wars (partial list, last 200 years) | 131 million |
| US lack of healthcare (1935-2020) | 5.85 million |
This is the floor, not the ceiling.
Citations: UK Parliament 1909, World Development Vol 29, UN water reports, Davis (2001).
This is the floor — not the ceiling.
These are not “capitalism bad” opinions.
These are parliamentary records, UN datasets, and peer-reviewed demographic studies.
If you want a single number:
over 200 million preventable deaths tied directly to documented capitalist/colonial policies in just these five categories.
And that excludes:
opioid epidemic (profit-driven overprescription)
tobacco (6 million/year globally)
asbestos, lead, coal dust, PFAS
austerity-driven health cuts (UK: 1M early deaths last decade alone)
Here is the tally. The citations exist. Read Late Victorian Holocausts, World Development (Vol. 29, Issue 10), UN water reports, and UK Parliamentary Session 1909 (Vol. 4).