Is a fair and equitable society possible under capitalism?

This is a heavy question that I’ve been pondering a lot in my free time, it seems like answers are wildly mixed, depending on the individual, and I’d like to know what you all think. <br><br>The goal of capitalism is to make a profit. Without a profit motive, firms and businesses cannot operate. A profit motive only exists when goods and services are being sold for more than it costs to produce them. What this means is the cost of making something is inherently lower than what it should cost. <br><br>Let’s use a simple example. Let’s say you decide to make cookies. To make 12 cookies, it costs you $1 in ingredients. You make 12 cookies, but decide to sell each cookie for $1. This means that every cookie you make is a 100% profit. <br><br>But isn’t that inherently unfair? If it costs you $1 to make 12 cookies, then each cookie costs $0.0833 to make. In the example above, you are selling each cookie for 12 times its actual cost. In a fair and equitable society, shouldn’t the cookies cost $0.0833? <br><br>Now I know you could say “oh, but the fair market value is what should be fair and equitable. That’s how supply and demand work.” But isn’t that just a circular reasoning? If the cost of the cookie is $1, then why would fair market value be $12? It’s only $12 because people are making a profit off of it. <br><br>Perhaps the cost of labor and fair market value are fair and equitable because labor and fair market value are not a monetary value for you, but rather the opportunity cost. But opportunity cost is not equal for all people. If I had the option to make $100/hour, and you had the option to make $15/hour, wouldn’t you be making more of an opportunity cost to buy the cookie than I am? <br><br>I realize I only showed a micro-economic example, but macro-economic it becomes the same thing. If a fair and equitable society is a society in which everyone has equal opportunities, doesn’t the existence of profit prevent that from being true? <br><br>Of course, I realize the converse of this is true. Is a fair and equitable society possible under communism? <br><br>I’m not trying to be inflammatory, I’m genuinely trying to learn. What do you all think?<br><br>Edit: This got a lot more popular than I expected it to. To all my fellow economics students, your passion and love of economics is what drives me to learn more. Thank you for all the comments, critiques, and knowledge you have provided me. This was a very valuable assignment, and I’m glad I got to share it with all of you.