Is Capitalism Moral?

In previous chapters I [will] have shown how it is possible to dramatically improve the lot of the poor, shrink the power of big corporations and restore the environment while increasing freedom and reducing the size and power of the government. While these actions fulfill the stated goals of those who call for big government, I suspect that many of those people will still be uncomfortable with some of the ideas on this site because they are moves toward more freedom.

More freedom does mean plenty of capitalism and some people have objections to capitalism itself. These objections have been raised by serious thinkers over many years, and so do deserve serious consideration.

But before I delve into these objections, let me first point out that a freer society would not be purely capitalist! Some people will opt to live in communes, some factories will be worker cooperatives, some people will organize along religious lines and some of the economy will be internal to the home and farm.

A freer society might possibly reduce the relative importance of the for profit sector in the U.S. Zoning and anti discrimination laws make it harder to set up communes and religious communities. Zoning hurts the home based economy. Continuous economic stimulus packages work to keep people in the money economy. Welfare and entitlement programs reduce the importance of family and community.

But it is true that if people are free, they will do what they want to do, and much of that will be selfish. Much will be profit based.

Next: Greed is a Sunk Cost

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