Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 11)

This series featured a while back in Saturday Learning Series, but this recent John Stossel video has to be included if not for the title alone, then for the content.

For previous episodes, follow this link.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 10)

In this incredible, easy to understand lecture, Prof. Antony Davies explains that if you really want to understand how the world works today, you need to rethink almost everything you’ve been told about inequality.

This should be shared with everyone you know who does not understand basic capitalism and why it is a good thing. It's brilliant.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 9)

Capitalism is humane, deal with it.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 8b)

Continuing with the idea that socialism is evil, let's look at why it fails.

Ben Shapiro explains why socialism fails every time.



He also explains why it fails at being fair and moral:



Follow Ben's logic and you cannot help but conclude that socialism is serfdom.

Reason TV also explains that socialism fails where it is tried:



And yes, it is evil.


And Steven Crowder explains why democratic socialism is still socialism, in case you were tricked by their renaming it (like they did with global warming):


And oh ya, it still doesn't work:

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 8a)

Another sidebar here from the main thrust of defending capitalism; the argument today is that socialism not just flawed, it is evil.

Dave Rubin tones it down and explains in reasonable terms why socialism is just not cool (I've shared this one before).

Steven Crowder starts from the position that socialism is indeed evil:



Yaron Brooks explains why it is evil:



But socialism leads to poverty and violence, as it has in Venezuela:



Socialism leads to an unhealthy type of selfishness:

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 7)

How do you know capitalism is the right way to go?  Look at the list of those who seek to discredit or destroy it.  To know someone (or something), know it's enemies.

Osama Bin Laden:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:

If you never believed that power doesn't corrupt, her pronouncements about being the boss should convince you that power does corrupt, and since socialism centralizes power and power corrupts, advocating socialism is akin to advocating corruption. But I digress.

All of communism:

communists, continued:



Envy:



Atheism (since it's aligned with communism):

It's an odd mix, I know.  But there are a lot more enemies of capitalism: there's a long list that consists of dictators, entitled sensibility people, and a whole host of useful idiots.  With all of that aligned against capitalism, it must be right, right?

Well, a list of detractors (negative negatives) does not prove the positivity of capitalism, even though it doesn't hurt.  In fact, many of the biggest positives about capitalism are what capitalism is not.  It's not authoritarian. It's not sloth-inducing.  It's not inhumane.  In a way it's a list of negative rights as former president Obama said, which is to say it enumerates what the government is not allowed to do rather than things the government must do.  But that's not the whole story - capitalism enables the opposite of those things; freedom, drive to succeed (along with the opportunity to do so where not impeded by government regulation) and through the invisible hand, selfishness as a tool to serve the greater good.  In the latter example in particular, it is absolute brilliance.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 6b - the Hitler sidebar)

Continuing our sidebar on Nazism being socialism and expounding on the fallout that remains to this day of the lie that Nazism is a right wing ideology.  As a sidebar to the sidebar, it dovetails precisely with Democrats trying to (and succeeding) convince African Americans of the lie that the Republicans are the party of slavery and racism.  The left lies and it lies often enough to make the lie seem like it is the truth.  The purpose of this series is to share the truth, and the truth is that Nazis were socialists.

Why Nazism Was Socialism and Why Socialism is Totalitarian

Jordan Peterson explains the pathology and dangers of national socialism (Nazism):

Nazism is socialism, and socialism is evil. But don't you dare confront them or you will be met with righteous indignation despite the truth:

Clearly the truth hurts their feelings and the EU parliament is supposed to be a safe space for socialists. Isn't it?  Kamall should not have apologized, he was right.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 6a - the Hitler sidebar)

A brief sidebar in our defense of capitalism, to point out to the socialist Utopians who need to be educated, that Hitler was a socialist and that fascism is rooted in socialism.

Here are some explainers to share with your socialist-craving friends:

1.  Steven Crowder:

2. PJ Media:


3. Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr:


4. Tom Woods:

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 3)

A short episode defending capitalism unlike last week, however the video itself is quite substantial. Capitalism is not about greed. In defending capitalism, Jeffery Tucker argues that capitalism is about love.

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.

Saturday Learning Series - Defending Capitalism (Part 1)

So many people in America today seem to be clamoring for socialism.  So many have propagated the idea that capitalism is evil.  That notion stems from a complete lack of understanding of capitalism.  Plenty of people have stepped up to defend capitalism and done a terrific job, so I am not going to tread on new ground here.  Instead what I am doing is providing a repetition of what has already been said by many great thinkers, because this message is getting lost.  It needs to be ingested, understood and repeated to those who clearly do not understand the vast array of benefits that they have benefited from by living in such a system.

One of the greatest thinkers was Milton Friedman.  Here are some of his relevant discussions .  As a preamble, the interviewer Phil Donahue puts capitalism in the context of greed.  Friedman did not take exception to the term, but I do.  There is a difference between acting in your own self-interest (which might be termed selfishness) and outright greed.  Greed implies covetousness, hoarding and potentially a willingness to break laws to become wealthier and/or more powerful.

Greed

 noun

   intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.

   "mercenaries who had allowed greed to overtake their principles"

 synonyms: avarice, greediness, acquisitiveness, covetousness, rapacity, graspingness, cupidity, avidity, possessiveness, materialism

Selfishness  noun

   the quality or condition of being selfish.

   "an act of pure selfishness"

 synonyms: egocentrism, egotism, egomania, introversion, self-seeking, self-serving, self-obsession, self-absorption, self-regard, self-interest, self-love

 antonyms: unselfishness, altruism, generosity

Those two words are clearly not the same. 

Milton Friedman explains the benefits of self-interest, as (opposed to greed) for society.

Walter Williams explains why this is actually more moral than other systems: