By Walter E. Williams
Several recent polls, plus the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders,
demonstrate that young people prefer socialism to free market
capitalism. That, I believe, is a result of their ignorance and
indoctrination during their school years, from kindergarten through
college. For the most part, neither they nor many of their teachers and
professors know what free market capitalism is.
Free market capitalism, wherein there is peaceful voluntary exchange,
is morally superior to any other economic system. Why? Let’s start with
my initial premise. All of us own ourselves. I am my private property,
and you are yours. Murder, rape, theft and the initiation of violence
are immoral because they violate self-ownership. Similarly, the forcible
use of one person to serve the purposes of another person, for any
reason, is immoral because it violates self-ownership.
Tragically, two-thirds to three-quarters of the federal budget can be
described as Congress taking the rightful earnings of one American to
give to another American — using one American to serve another. Such
acts include farm subsidies, business bailouts, Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare and many other programs.
Free market capitalism is disfavored by many Americans — and
threatened — not because of its failure but, ironically, because of its
success. Free market capitalism in America has been so successful in
eliminating the traditional problems of mankind — such as disease,
pestilence, hunger and gross poverty — that all other human problems
appear both unbearable and inexcusable. The desire by many Americans to
eliminate these so-called unbearable and inexcusable problems has led to
the call for socialism. That call includes equality of income, sex and
race balance, affordable housing and medical care, orderly markets, and
many other socialistic ideas.
Let’s compare capitalism with socialism by answering the following
questions: In which areas of our lives do we find the greatest
satisfaction, and in which do we find the greatest dissatisfaction? It
turns out that we seldom find people upset with and in conflict with
computer and clothing stores, supermarkets, and hardware stores. We do
see people highly dissatisfied with and often in conflict with boards of
education, motor vehicles departments, police and city sanitation
services.
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