I will be discussing why I believe that Capitalism is the best form of a social system in a three-part post. These three posts will demonstrate why Capitalism collectively holds the best ethics, foundation, and economy.
In this post, I will illustrate why Capitalism is the most ethical and just form of social systems. In order to best illustrate the beauty of the ethics of Capitalism, I will first point out the ethical flaws of Democracy, and will then compare both social systems.
Under democracy, the function of the government periodically changes, as the majority holds state-power. Democracy has one major flaw in its system: Just because the majority believes something does not make it right. Once rights become influence-able by the majority, the potential for unethical acts to occur increases infinitely, as the amount of rights that the majority has the power to strip become endless.
As founding father Benjamin Franklin once said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” Franklin was not the only founding father to understand this concept. Thomas Jefferson said, "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%." and John Adams said, "That the desires of the majority of the people are often for injustice and inhumanity against the minority, is demonstrated by every page of the history of the world." Democracy opens the door for minorities to be stripped of their individual rights and to be made into involuntarily self-sacrificial slaves. Consider the following: If the majority of the people in a nation voted that African-Americans should not be able to have a complete set of rights, do you believe that they should have the power to make this so?
Some may say that the reason why such decisions should be left up to the majority is because there is no way that they could make such a preposterous decision – but this is not the case. Today, the majority in most states of the United States believes that homosexual couples should not have the right to marry; therefore, today, homosexual couples in these states do not have the freedom to marry. The case of homosexual marriage is just one case out of many where the rights of minorities are being unethically stripped because of the opinion of the majority. The rights of individuals, which do not infringe upon the rights of others, should not be influenced by the personal preference of the majority.
As stated above, under Democracy, the concept of inalienable rights is completely destroyed and the amount of individual rights that the majority has the power to strip becomes endless. Democracy is a subjective, unjust, and minorit-ist social system.
On the other hand, Capitalism is the fairest type of social system possible, where the boundaries of potential unethical acts to take place are extremely smaller then those of democracy. Under capitalism, the government’s only function is to protect a concrete set of objective individual rights; these allow all individuals to live as they please, as long as they don't infringe upon the rights of others (using force upon others or their property).
Acts such as homosexual marriage would be acceptable, regardless of the majority view, as they do not infringe upon anyone’s rights. Acts such as stealing would not be permissible (regardless of whether it is carried out by a human or by the government), as it would infringe upon an individual’s property rights. Capitalism recognizes that every individual deserves to have the freedom to use what he or she earns in whichever way he or she chooses. The boundary of “unethical” acts that can legally take place under Capitalism is the passive act of not giving, whereas with Democracy, the boundary is endless. Capitalism protects all individuals from becoming involuntarily self-sacrificial.
Capitalism makes sure that individual rights are inalienable and that the majority opinion cannot strip anyone of their freedoms. Capitalism ensures that all individuals are free to pursue their own self-interests (without infringing upon the rights of another) and are treated equally under the law: Capitalism’s ruling principle is justice.
P.S. To those who may find this important: Capitalism naturally rewards individuals based on the degree in which they benefit others.
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Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been.
-Winston Churchill
Too bad laissez faire Capitalism has yet to be tried.
Laissez faire Capitalism does not exist as a form of government. It is an economic system by which people can make money, not a method of rule over a people. As en economic system it does exist, and is in use today by many governments, to varying degrees. I understand your call for less government involvement in economics but the laissez faire capitalism system you call for is in essence anarchy.
Kyle, you're absolutely right. Calling for true Laissez-faire capitalism is tantamount to calling for utopia. Not in the sense that each person's interpretation of it is different, but in the sense that it's not possible in its purest form without absolute anarchy - thereby eliminating the entire rational in the first place. It's easy to say on paper it might be a beautiful theory. But that's just paper.
Kyle, this is what I mean by Capitalism: "Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.
The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force. In a capitalist society, no man or group may initiate the use of physical force against others. The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force; the government acts as the agent of man’s right of self-defense, and may use force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use; thus the government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of force under objective control."
I believe another name for this definition of Capitalism is called "Classical Liberalism".
You seem to be comparing Capitalism to Democracy, but there is really no basis for comparison since one is a government system and one is an economic system. However, for the sake of this argument let's pretend that they can be compared. You say "Capitalism is the fairest type of social system possible, where the boundaries of potential unethical acts to take place are extremely smaller then those of democracy."
Last time I checked we lived in a capitalist economy and it was fraught with unethical behavior. Greed is an inevitable byproduct of capitalism's never ending quest for the accumulation of material wealth. Sure it benefits the winners--the corporate CEOs with their 6,7, or 8 figure paychecks-- but at what expense? Everything must exist in equilibrium. America's vanishing middle class perfectly exemplifies this. Corporate success is gained at the expense of those who haven't been provided with the same opportunities for success. The fact that America's lower class is less educated and experiences poorer health is not a coincidence, nor is it a sign of personal indolence; rather it is an indication of a corrupt (and failing) socio-economic system. There's a line from Fight Club I really like that goes, "Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate to buy shit we don't need."
Capitalism fosters an environment where the accumulation of capital is put first and foremost. This is done so at the expense of moral and ethical behavior. Capitalism has sparked a consumer mania that is raping the planet of her resources. (See my post http://circumventures.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/a-green-paradox/ for more on this).
I disagree with you that a system of laissez faire Capitalism will create some sort of social utopia. I think it will do just the opposite. It will create social and ecological chaos.
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