Saturday Learning Series - Ayn Rand on socialism's motivation

Ayn Rand knew socialism and had real reason to reject it.  She explains why people support socialism and reject capitalism through lies.  This is even more pertinent today than when she explained this.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 5)

A lot of arguments have already been shared about why capitalism is not only good, it is the greatest good and provides the greatest good to the greatest number of people.  But that does not do much to contrast against other systems.  Let's take a look.

Ayn Rand offered a comparison to communism.

But let's face it, the craving of the public today is for socialism not communism.  They are essentially the same thing but for the sake of discussion, let's look at a broader comparison as propounded by Ludwig von Mises, explained in this Patrik Schumacher lecture.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 4)

Unfortunately we have to go short again this weekend on our ongoing defense of capitalism. Yaron Brook offers a lengthy lecture on Ayn Rand's moral defense of capitalism.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 2)

Individual rights depend on a free society.  As we saw last week, capitalism is a moral system. It is also an enabler of individual rights. The American governmental system is supposed to be an enabler of freedom and individual rights.

Ayn Rand explains:

Rand continues:

Ayn Rand was an atheist. But that does not mean her objectivist views on liberty and morality are incompatible with Christian belief. Certainly if Friedman's assertions are correct that capitalism provides the most benefits to the most people, then self-interest also serves altruistic purposes the most effectively.  The Christian tenets of self-sacrifice can be viewed through a different lens; the sacrifice of your own time to create value, and therefore wealth for yourself, also serves a greater good.  

Furthermore, if individual liberty is important for capitalism, it is also important for Christianity.  From a Christian perspective, God gave humanity free will.  Part of the reason for that free will no doubt was to allow humanity to come to God, not by force but by choice.

When you abdicate choices (i.e. your free will) to the government, you are abdicating your decision making process.  I've argued in the past that in that case you are abdicating your altruism (charity) to a forced system and worse, you are forcing others to do the same. You are stealing away their free will along with abdicating your own.  The only alternative to free-market capitalism, is government control.

Government control also is anti-God because, as is discussed in the conversation that follows, you are replacing God with government:

Christianity further argues that you should follow the rules because it is the moral thing to do. It teaches that you should work hard as well (at least the Protestant work ethic used to do so).  These are foundational to capitalism working properly.  If people subvert the rules, capitalism is corrupted, and corrupt capitalism (e.g. hegemonic crony capitalism) is not capitalism.

To be continued.

Window Wednesday - Rand

Your weekly window on the world, in few photographic images.

Separation of Economics and State

An Early Warning from Ayn Rand on what welfare ultimately would do to the United States.  While I'm not a complete laissez faire libertarian it is truly difficult to argue that only a little bit of welfare is okay.  Where does 'a little bit' become too much?  Everyone's definition would be different.  From the point of view of a need to avoid creeping socialism, only ZERO welfare would ensure it doesn't creep.  That's the only truly safe point.  And as I mentioned earlier and Ayn Rand points out, charity is a natural human inclination if afforded the opportunity.