Few Americans have a basic working knowledge of economics. They’ve grown up in a capitalist system, and so they take it for granted. But taking their economic system for granted leaves the door open for demagoguery. Most leftist economic arguments go something like this: The world is unfair. Wouldn’t it be nice if the world were more fair? Give power to government and the world will become more fair.
It isn’t true. Capitalism isn’t merely an efficient way to distribute goods. It is a values statement: that your life and your labor and your property are your own, and that no one has the right to deprive you of those things without due process of law. It just so happens that this values system has also delivered the most prosperous era in the history of humanity, by several orders of magnitude.
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