A Defense of Capitalism

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Nicole Conway
Professor Weikert
PSC 1200
24 November 2013

The Capitalist Vaccine
During an era of exploding globalization, it is necessary to erect a logical defense for capitalism. Socialists and communists sought in vain to plaster the flimsy bandage of expanded government and redistribution of income to heal social problems. They stigmatized capitalism as flawed and corrupt- a system that sows inequality. However, those hypocrites are guilty of rewriting the greatest economic success story in world history as a failure. The true narrative of capitalism outlines the blossoming of human development, innovation and opportunity. It is a storyline that coexists with the realities of human nature to expose the dangerous fiction of utopianism. Free market capitalism is not a failed experiment for the global economy because it supplements human potential to kindle status mobility, maximize general welfare, and limit unchecked power.
Citizens should resurrect the image of capitalism as a hero that promotes social and economic mobility rather than attack it as a virus of stratification. The anti-capitalist mentality is vulnerable to the false promise of standardized class equality. It denies that free enterprise enriches the quality of life for all classes through the "idea of meritocratic fairness" (Brooks 59). Rewarding people for their skills and hard work is the only moral option in determining who will engage mobility. It would be wholly unethical to reward cohorts that consciously embrace "laziness, incompetence and free riding" in their dependence on government programs (59).
A system that fuels itself with individual merit, healthy competition and high expectations cannot possibly be a failed model. It is true that capitalism has raised the bar to make the world system more competitive, but capitalist societies reward hard work. The United States stratification system is an escalator where "Irish, German, Italian and Korean immigrants" have all moved upward (36). Capitalism powers the transition from humble beginnings to success. It is an engine that burns through class stagnation reflected in deterministic structures like castes in India. Socialism does not esteem generational mobility. Communism does not prize specialized skills and ingenuity. Capitalism is the only instrument that raises living standards by honoring exceptional work ethic and removing barriers to advancement.
Despite evidence that capitalism is the greatest benefactor of humanity, Barbara Ehrenreich concluded after a participatory social experiment that the model makes it "almost impossible for an entry-level worker to make it in the world today" (Ehrenreich 6). She is so ideologically biased that Adam Shepard accused her of "trying to fail" (Shepard 3). Ehrenreich forgets that all societies in human history have had some primitive or advanced type of class system. Social mobility is competitive in every state because true fairness stems from the rewards of personal merit, hard work and ingenuity. Therefore, perfect equality does not and should not exist, because it would stall the personal drive of innovation and improvement. Class structures are not a product of capitalism. The social ladder is a purely human invention that evolves through norms and expectations. Ehrenreich injects malleable minds with the pessimism that the 'American Dream' is a myth to distract the masses. She submits to a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure, but deflects her mistakes on the 'unfair' capitalist system. Adam Shepard challenged her experiment to "make it in America" (Shepard 2). He exposed her misdirected blame by making sacrifices to climb toward the middle class. Shepard demonstrated the basic phenomenon that mobility is by nature competitive and hard, but not impossible. His success reinforces capitalism as the key to increased financial security for all classes. It is a catalyst for the poor, middle class, and the rich to get richer.
People grumble that capitalism only benefits "the rich who get richer," but they refuse to applaud its impact on the poor who "live better than the wealthiest people fifty years ago" (Hansen 1). As people work their way up the escalator, the whole system moves with them. The mass shift improves living conditions for all classes in a way that cannot be evaluated solely in dollar terms. Capitalism nourishes states through a kaleidoscope of progress. Social scientists and policy makers have a duty to adopt a wide perspective of capitalism's impact on general welfare over time. Conditions today are not worse than they were a century ago. During the last couple decades, hundreds of millions of people have escaped poverty because "China, India and the Soviet Union are moving from socialism to free market capitalism" (Brooks 23). Capitalistic ethics flow into the roots of sick societies like China that were weakened by communism to nurture recovery. China's shift from communism to capitalism saw to their current double digit GDP growth. The virtues of free market capitalism breed opportunity through technological inventions, increased productivity and integrated global economies.
Capitalism's Darwinistic mentality turns the market into a jungle of exploitation and savage competition. Russian revolutionaries hypothesized that they could socialize selfish incentives out of human nature if they removed the value system that encouraged aggression. They thought they could build a win-win bureaucracy that would conquer the zero-sum game of capitalism. However, poverty was far worse in Russia after installing communism. Alternative models like socialism and communism are master policies that look good on paper but fail in application. Rather than solve social problems, they inflame scarcity, spread poverty and widen inequality. Some people still spin the truth about those system's fundamental defects to fit their ideology and to undermine capitalism. Interest groups spread rhetoric that capitalism is responsible for perpetuating corruption. They slander a system that flourishes from a meritocratic approach, the essence of fairness. It is people themselves that are responsible for turning the vicious wheel of social ills, not capitalism. Capitalism provides the faculties for justice, but people must choose how to wield it for fairness. USSR communists truly believed that "people [would] be different" once they removed the capitalist tumor that infected them with greed (Pasternak 58). It is true that capitalism lays the foundation for corruption to fester, but it is the individual who embraces sin. Capitalism is a victim of those who use it to segregate the rich and the poor rather than promote equality. However, faux victims like Barbara Ehrenreich label it as a weapon of injustice. Flawed capitalism mirrors flawed human nature. But the human race is not an epic failure, and neither is capitalism. Communists were wrong to predict that people would be "different" without capitalism. People are worse without capitalism to mediate basic human drives of competition and self-preservation. Capitalism frames itself around human nature to provide an outlet for healthy competition and cooperation. It serves the common good to maximize general welfare, not just the individual to aggravate inequality. Capitalism gives citizens the power to shape their lives, even in the wake of government expansion.
Just as the immune system allows cancer to destroy healthy cells, anti-capitalists allow the expansive branches of the government to weaken free enterprise. Capitalism is a buffer to rampant growth at the federal level. There is a positive correlation between "large government and unhappiness" (52). The larger the government is, the greater the unhappiness of its citizens who lose sovereignty. Government regulatory policies are weeds that commit a sort of economic imperialism in which diverse enterprise is suppressed or replaced. When governments swell without pragmatic limits, there are social, economic and moral costs that anti-capitalists overlook. The state is meant to stabilize the common good, not perform as a hand that reaches into communities to smother their entrepreneurial independence.
Capitalism promotes happiness through more business opportunities that forge jobs. Why would "job satisfaction increase life happiness" when work requires great effort (34)? Human beings are designed to direct themselves toward self-sufficiency. We are gifted with critical thinking, creativity and curiosity because it drives a sense of purpose and utility that is essential for fulfillment. When governments strip people of their need to mold their social and financial futures, they remove a fundamental instrument for happiness and self-worth. Because we were made to be independent, life processes work most efficiently through "spontaneous order" (Stossel 1). We see it in nature- the self-interest and freedom that guides processes toward their ultimate good. Capitalism is based on spontaneous order. It is self-correcting in a dynamic world system without excessive regulation. The economy may be a human creation, but just like nature, it can work beautifully and smoothly without extreme government intervention. Complex problems require more planning, but it needs to be from the bottom up through capitalist ventures, not the top down through federal programs. Communism's central planning could not predict the myriad of wants of its people, leading to constant and severe scarcity. Self-management systems like capitalism are more efficient than the government's misallocation of resources.
Free enterprise is not only moral in its faculties, but it vitalizes humans on a physical and psychological level. It is shameful to condemn capitalism as a source of inequality, injustice and unhappiness when it minimizes all of the above. Capitalism lends itself to the goal of breathing as much fairness and opportunity into the world system as possible. The realistic capitalist vision is kinder than the cruel fantasy of utopian equality. The free market itself has created prosperity, social coordination and saved the world from poverty. Humans have twisted the original model because everything we produce has a cost, but that does not mean that the system has failed completely. While free market capitalism is not perfect in promoting equality, it is a vaccine that protects humans against class determinism, public unhappiness and government oppression.

Works Cited
Brooks, Arthur C. The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise.
Pennsylvania: Basic Books, 2012. Print
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New York:
Metropolitan Books, 2001. Print.
Hansen, Victor Davis. "Every Man a King." Townhall Magazine. Townhall.com., 23 Dec. 2010.
Web. 18 Oct 2013.
Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. Russia: Feltrinelli Pantheon Books: 1957, Print.
Shepard, Adam. Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25 and the Search for the American Dream. New
York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008. Print.
Stossel, John. "Spontaneous Order: Why the "best and brightest" cannot plan the economy."
Reason.com., 10 Feb. 2011 Web. 18 Oct 2013.






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