Many people rail against “the evils of capitalism”, but I find their complaints to be against "crony capitalism", not "true capitalism". I would like
to challenge those ideas and PROVE that capitalism truly is moral and all outcomes
are positive provided you participate in the system (i.e. if you don’t work,
you don’t eat).
The biggest complaint I see is that capitalism breeds greed,
always ends in monopolies, and the wealthy prey on the poor. My premise has
always been that none of those things can happen without the helping hand of the
government.
I believe the following:
1) ALL monopolies have had a hand from government to become a monopoly, with only one exception.
2) Greed (as the sole motivation) cannot survive in a capitalistic economy.
3) Because the consumer always has the upper hand, the wealthy are at their mercy, not the other way around.
In other words, if we remove government intervention from the economy, unbridled
capitalism will fix the problems that arise within it.
So here is the premise we will be working with:
Government has only 2 functions.
1) provide national security, both internal and
external (i.e. police/military)
2) protect the rights of its citizens, meaning it
will prevent anyone from trampling on someone else’s rights as a citizen. "Rights" is defined as those things outlined in the Constitution.
All other functions of society operate within capitalism.
It is IMPORTANT to keep the above premise in mind for the discussion. We have been
trained to think that the government is there to provide EVERYTHING for us, so we may tend to keep assigning responsibilities to it. I
want to go back to the roots of limited government and see where we end up.
So tell me about your position on capitalism. Where do you have an issue with it. What is wrong with it. What is right about it? Why doesn't it work, etc.
Author's note - I am aware that I may regret this challenge based on the
time required to answer any questions or statements made, but I think it is
important that this sort of dialog occur. We need to block out what the media, politicians,
and special interest groups are feeding us and just discuss (with an open mind)
what capitalism truly is. I will welcome ALL comments and questions, provided
it is done in a respectful manner. I will delete all vulgar/slanderous/hateful comments. I hope for this to be a learning experience for all who participate, including myself. I do not have any formal education in economics. All my knowledge (and ideas) come from my pursuit of entrepreneurship and reading of many leading economists.
