Lets start out with a definition of capitalism from Oxford Languages:
Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
People think that capitalism is an evil dirty word, but why is that?
Some political factions have presented the idea that capitalism is wrong because if creates a division in economic status. My comment is so what. There has and always will be differences is what people earn. We had kings and other dictators who always earned more than their subjects. We have politicians who earn more than most Americans. We have businessmen who earn more than their employees. We will always have the rich, the middle class (maybe), and the poor and to think that if we go from a capitalistic society to some other economy based system where everyone makes the exactly the same is idealistic thinking that will never happen.
The US started out as a capitalistic society and it is what made our country thrive. We claim to be the best country in the world, but instead of following the path that has gotten us to where we are, we have decided that a new economy based system like Russia would be better. If you look at Russia and many other countries that took a different path, it has created only two economic classes, the very rich and the very poor.
Why Americans want to move away from capitalism is beyond me. Somehow, they think we will do it better than the others, but the completely ignore history. In fact, we do not want to learn from history, but instead we want to either rewrite it or erase it from existence.
There was term coined called the Great American Dream. From Investopedia, it is the following:
The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance.
This is absolutely true. Capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than any other economic form. However, capitalism has its own problems such as:
- It relies heavily upon goods and services to be constantly exchanged
- Creates a materialistic point of view
- It can create a boom or bust type event which leads to economic cycles
- There is some income inequality
- Prices are based on supply and demand
- Can lead to monopolies
People will focus only on those negatives, but lets explore the positives:
- There is more incentives for innovation and growth
- Taxes are lower
- There are more jobs
- Businesses become more efficient
- Free market
- Governments are typically smaller
I believe that our country still is the best country in the world, but if people do not get their heads out of their butts and realize what they are doing, it will become one of the worst. Capitalism is not the end all be all, but it is sure better than anything else that is out there. However, once we decide to go down another path, capitalism is gone forever which will be discussed another time.
Now with this being said, I am not talking about greed or the love of money as this leads to another set of problems.
1 Timothy 6:10 English Standard Version (ESV)
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
I am talking about freedom and choices when it comes to capitalism. Which goes along with Christianity and if you are saying huh, let me explain.
God gave us free will. He would rather we choose Him versus some other god, but we still can make that choice. God sent His son to die for my sins. So again I can choose to accept Christ or not. It is essentially a free market. It does not mean there are not consequences for my actions as in a capitalistic society because there are. You make a bad investment, you lose your money. You make bad business choices, you lose your business. The list could go on and on. You choose to rejects God’s son, then you suffer an eternity in the Lake of Fire.
Under any other type of market, there is the promise of you will be taken care of no matter what, but you have no choice in anything. You are controlled all the time so your will is not your own. There is no incentive to do anything because you are basically a slave.