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Socialism, Reality, and Playing the Game

Living in Portugal, I’m constantly surrounded by left-leaning ideas and discussions about fairness and inequality. Over time, I started questioning how much of that vision actually works in the real world. This post is a reflection on the gap between idealism and reality — and on the different ways people choose to respond to the system we live in. From fighting it, to complaining about it, to accepting it and learning how to play the game.

  • Philosophy
  • Politics
  • Mindset

Table of contents

Lately, I’ve been thinking more about politics, not in the sense of arguing online or defending “sides”, but from a more practical perspective: how should someone actually live in the world as it really is?

Living in Portugal, you’re constantly surrounded by political ideas that lean to the left. It’s part of the culture, the history, and everyday conversation. And while I understand where many of those ideas come from, I’ve reached a conclusion that might sound harsh:

I think socialism, at least in the way it’s commonly imagined, doesn’t work in reality.

A simple way to think about it

Imagine life as a game.

Not a fair game. Not a balanced game. Not a game designed for everyone to win equally.

Just… a game.

Some people start ahead. Some people get lucky. Some people fall behind early. The rules aren’t perfect — and they never will be.

Given this, there are usually two ways people react:

  • One group looks at the game and says: “This is unfair. We need to redesign the system so everyone has equal outcomes.”
  • Another group says: “The game isn’t fair, but it’s the only one that exists. Learn the rules and play it as well as you can.”

To me, this is the core difference between the left and the right.

Idealism vs Reality

The left, in general, seems to operate from an idealized version of the world, a world where fairness can be engineered, where inequality can be eliminated, and where systems can be redesigned into something close to perfect.

The problem is: that world doesn’t exist.

Not because people don’t want it to, but because human nature, incentives, and complexity get in the way. Every time you try to “fix” the system at scale, you introduce new problems, sometimes worse than the ones you were trying to solve.

The right, on the other hand, tends to start from a different assumption:

The world is imperfect. People are imperfect. Systems will always be imperfect.

So instead of trying to build a utopia, the focus is on working within reality: understanding incentives, accepting trade-offs, and making the best out of what exists.

Three ways to live in this system

From a practical perspective, I see three ways to approach life in a capitalist world:

1. Fight the system

You can dedicate your life to trying to completely change the system, to fight capitalism, inequality, and everything you believe is wrong.

The problem is that this system is deeply entrenched. It generates power, wealth, and influence at a massive scale, which makes it extremely difficult to dismantle.

Most people who follow this path end up frustrated, burned out, or disillusioned.

2. Complain about the system

This is probably the most common path.

You recognize the problems. You talk about them. You criticize the system. You feel the injustice.

But there’s no real action, neither to change your own situation nor to drive meaningful change.

The result is a constant state of frustration: awareness of the problems, but little to no progress.

3. Accept the system and play the game

This is the path that, to me, makes the most sense.

Not because the system is perfect, which it’s not.

But because it’s the system that exists.

Instead of fighting reality, you accept it. You learn how the game works. You understand incentives, money, opportunity. And you position yourself in a way that gives you the best possible outcome.

It’s not passive acceptance.

It’s strategic acceptance.

A note on fairness

None of this means ignoring injustice or pretending everything is fine.

There are real problems. Real inequality. Real flaws.

But there’s a difference between recognizing that and believing you can redesign the entire system into something perfect.

One is grounded in reality.

The other is wishful thinking.

Final thought

This reminds me a lot of stoicism.

You don’t control the system.

You don’t control the starting conditions.

You don’t control the rules of the game.

But you do control how you play.

And maybe that’s the only part that really matters.