thread via John Hayward
Of all the systems mankind has devised to allocate scarce resources, capitalism is – by far – the best at increasing supply in response to demand.
The enforcers of every other ideology invest a great deal of effort into making people forget that simple, powerful truth.
Politics, ideology, economics – in the end, it boils down to figuring out who gets how much, because there will never be enough for everyone to have everything. Even if we had some magical technology that produced goods from thin air, our time would still be limited and valuable.
The cold, hard truth is that capitalism – private citizens owning capital and freely investing it to create profit – is the system most likely to increase the supply of scarce resources to meet demand. We have seen this demonstrated time and again since the Industrial Revolution.
The reasons are not difficult to understand, although as mentioned, collectivist ideologues put a lot of effort into obscuring those reasons. Millions of free people seeking profit are always going to be better at developing resources than central planners and tyrants.
Part of capitalism’s superiority lies in the value lost through compulsion. Other systems must *force* people to develop resources. No matter how much velvet they layer over that iron fist, it never works as well as free people voluntarily pursuing their ambitions.
Capitalism makes the entire population more conscious of value. They seek the best value for their money and investments. They DEMAND it. Millions of people seeking value every day are more likely to find it than cloistered central planners and power-hungry politicians.
What does a socialist do when demand outstrips supply? They either force greater production – inevitably screwing it up, because socialists understand nothing about production – or they forcibly suppress demand. They ration everything, making sure the elites get the good stuff.
High demand for scarce goods and services is an opportunity for capitalists, but a crisis for socialists and communists. Generations have mocked “chasing the almighty dollar” – and forgot it’s vastly preferable to running away from the almighty whip.
You know that leftists are keenly aware of capitalism’s absolute superiority because their favorite tactic is pretending they can conjure goods, services, and benefits out of thin air. They have no answer to “who pays for all this stuff?” so they attack anyone who asks.
A healthy capitalist system can sustain a very generous welfare program. It’s far better to let capitalism generate wealth, with all of its freedom and muscle, and use a REASONABLE portion of that wealth to accountably help the unfortunate, than to “socialize” misery.
But we’re now in the endgame of a decades-long attack on capitalism whose objective is to sever the poor and middle class from capital entirely. Generations have been re-educated to think benefits and entitlements are preferable to owning and profiting from capital.
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Soon it will be all but impossible for anyone but the wealthy, and the State, to own capital and invest it for profit. We’re approaching the point where only rich people can afford property or create business enterprises – which means only the rich can say “no” to the State.
Preferring socialism to capitalism is choosing magic over science. You’re surrendering control over your life and destiny to people who claim they can conjure “free” stuff out of thin air. The likely future will be the State saying “no” to YOU when you make demands it can’t meet.
Socialists understand so little about the creation of wealth that they think it IS magic. They think their sorcery will be more “fair” and “just” than the witchcraft capitalists keep using to accomplish what the Left said was impossible – producing instead of rationing. /end
