A characteristic of man that separates him from the majority of the animal world is his organization of social and economic systems. Man, however, retains traits of his evolutionary ancestors in the form of self-preservation and greediness. While many political, economic, and social systems attempt to eliminate this modern form of natural selection, capitalism and similar economic structures preserve social inequality in many forms. Historically, this preservation of financial inequality has achieved a higher standard of living generally than systems initially formed and employed to achieve just that. There are specific economic factors of capitalism that enables it to make life more civilized and beneficial for its population. By definition, capitalism is an economic system controlled chiefly by individuals and private companies instead of by the government. Through this, it stresses private economic choices. People are free to decide how they will earn and spend their income. Companies may choose which goods and services to produce and how much to charge for them based on the wants, or demand of the people. This regulates the amount and kind of products produced to accommodate the population. Because of this emphasis on economic individual freedom to become the wealthiest of one's nation, many inequalities form in the distribution of wealth. As many citizens are able to acquire their needs to survive and eventually purchase luxuries, some citizens are not able to support their own existence and eventually die of cold, starvation, or other such causes. Although this is viewed by many as inhumane, capitalist societies achieve a higher standard of living than other socialist and communist societies. This also provides incentive for the unemployed to find jobs, as they are not supported by others in a capitalist society. Historically, communist societies achieved less disproportionate financial inequality, but the standard of living was lower than that of capitalist societies.
