Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals reap the fruits of their own labor, and where freedom and competition drive society forward. is a world where effort and innovation are rewarded, and where each individual has the opportunity to shape his or her own destiny based on the degree of their own initiative.
Capitalism makes it practically possible for individuals to reach the highest potential of their dreams.
Historical capitalism was strongly rooted in Christian ethics, incentivizing money earned to be reinvested for the betterment of society. You were ethically obligated to help make the world a better place for as many people as possible, to the best of your ability, and not succumb to greed and selfishness.
Historic Capitalism provided Freedom: Below is a comparison between capitalism and socialism, and an analysis on how societies develop according to the economic systems they apply. For example, in a communist or socialist system, the state controls almost everything, taxes are high, and individuals possess limited autonomy in the accumulation of their own wealth. The administration of public funds is entrusted to politicians and bureaucrats, often with few requirements of accountability of how they spend the funds.
In a capitalist society, the focus will be on keeping government functions as small as possible to provide the greatest possible incentive for freedom and innovation for the country’s citizens. The political philosophy of conservatism is predicated on the principle of decentralizing power and empowering the individual to achieve results through their own efforts, writes historian, bestselling author and founder of The Herland Report, Hanne Nabintu Herland.
Historic Capitalism and Christianity
Historic Capitalism provided Freedom: The capitalist system relies on ethical standards such as trustworthiness and personal accountability to function. The problem in recent years has been that as society has moved away from Western traditional ethical values. This has given rise to a novel form of capitalism that is detached from the Protestant Christian ethos.
The importance of ethics in this context cannot be overstated. In the absence of a shared ethical framework, societal interactions are prone to dishonesty, theft, and a myopic focus on individual self-interest.
It is noteworthy that today’s globalist capitalism, which has increasingly dominated the Western world since the mid-1980s, is a significant deviation from its historical counterpart. Read more about this here. It is heavily influenced by the Marxist revolt against traditional virtues and values such as the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not steal, not lie, not be greedy and selfish, not covet thy neighbor’s property, be envious of his possessions and so on.. This deviation is pivotal.
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Historic Capitalism provided Freedom: The rebellion against historic capitalism—which flourished in tandem with the Christian Protestant ethic and its imperative for trustworthiness, honesty and personal responsibility— has created a moral vacuum which has emboldened the denial of Christian morality.
If “Capitalism” becomes equivalent to the individual’s right to personal profit without moral obligations, the economic model develops into a self-destructive system where no one cares for one another. Trust evaporates.
The absence of ethical constraints has resulted in the legalization of social nihilism, characterized by selfishness and greed. Deceitfulness has become acceptable. An amoral society has been implemented in the vacuum left from abolishing Christianity in the public sphere. The sanctity of human life is diminished.
The Christian demand for credibility, honesty in trade, that people could trust each other, that money earned was reinvested and not just spent on luxuries, these were all central to the early capitalists in the 16th century. Much of this is dead today.
Marxist Socialism
Historic Capitalism provided Freedom: Marxist communism and socialism, on the other hand, are based on the principle that everyone should be paid as equally as possible, regardless of how hard the individual works, and the state should decide where the taxpayers’ money goes.
In socialist countries, there is a profound sense of fear and intimidation towards the state, as it wields considerable authority over the lives and incomes of its citizens. This authority is also seen by its capacity to stifle independent thought and expression through its control over the media and its ability to restrict free trade and economic activities.
Within a communist or socialist system, the state controls almost everything, taxes are high, and individuals possess limited autonomy in the accumulation of their own wealth. The administration of public funds is entrusted to politicians and bureaucrats, often with few requirements of accountability of how they spend the funds. After all, it is not their money, it does not belong to the bureaucrat in question.
Communism and socialism, derives from the teachings of Karl Marx, are based on the principle that everyone should be paid as equally as possible, regardless of how hard the individual works, and the state should decide what the taxpayers’ money should be spent on. It’s a system that seeks equality by taking from those who create more and giving to those who create less, which leads to stagnation and poverty. It is a race to the bottom where individual ambition and drive are suppressed.
The harder you work and the more you deliver, the more the state takes away what you have achieved. There is thus no incentive to work hard, as the state’s tax policy ensures that everyone gets roughly the same, whether they are hard-working, lazy or on benefits. Socialism often ends up encouraging worker complacency, as it does not matter much if you are efficient or not, as workers are paid the same wages whether they do a good job or not. it ends up encouraging laziness. If a person knows that they will receive payments for food, housing, and clothing, then there is no incentive to keep working.
In a capitalist society, the focus is on keeping government functions as small as possible in order to provide as much incentive as possible for freedom and innovation for the country’s citizens. The capitalist system emphasizes the principles of competition and hard work, and is dependent on the ethical standards of trustworthiness and personal accountability to properly function.
In an socialist system the supervision of resource distribution entails significant power and responsibility. The distribution system is highly vulnerable to manipulation of the general population by its Marxist leaders.
Historic Capitalism provided Freedom: Since socialist countries in history have been notorious in limiting free speech and critical thinking among its intellectual elites, the media loses its role as a critical voice. The press thereby becomes a source to influence public opinion, shaping the public narrative in an authoritarian manner.
To address corruption within the system becomes equally hard, as critique of the government is not encouraged.
Historically, the implementation of socialism has attempted to redistribute wealth with the aim of achieving a better balance between rich and poor. However, the redistributed wealth has frequently failed to reach those living in poverty and has failed to enhance living standards for the majority of the population.
The critique asserts that it merely reduces the living standards of those who possess means, aligning them more closely with the poverty line without concomitantly elevating the economic status of the impoverished. This dynamic often results in a zero-sum competition, where the economic standing of the majority is seen as a zero-sum game, with the resultant outcome being a perpetual cycle of economic disadvantage for the majority. Socialism thereby becomes a race to the bottom.
The primary criticism of socialism is that it does not improve the standard of living for the majority. It simply lowers the standard of living of those who have the means to bring them closer to a life of poverty without lifting the poor up.
Socialism is a system that seeks equality by taking from those who create more and giving to those who create less, but it leads to stagnation and poverty, and becomes “a race to the bottom” where individual ambitions and drives are suppressed. Those who work a lot are encouraged to relax more as they don’t get to benefit from what they earn anyway, due to the extreme tax pressure where the state takes their money.
The better you are at working hard, the more the state takes from you what you have achieved. There is thus no incentive to work hard, as the state’s tax policy ensures that everyone gets roughly the same, whether they are hard-working, lazy or on benefits.
Many have the impression that socialist countries create people who are more indifferent, less willing to work, more concerned with taking days off and relaxing than working hard to create a better society. They leave that job to the state, which is seen as the “mother of all,” and quietly wait for the state to solve problems. Personal responsibility slowly evaporates.
