Friday, March 8, 2013

Capitalism and Democracy

Remember that Capitalism does not equal Democracy. Remember if you want to quote the founding fathers, that they created a Democracy, or a Republic if you need to be precise. They did not create a free market capitalist state. In fact they went to great lengths to rein in government and markets.

Many people talk as if free and unrestrained markets were the goal of our nation and of the architects of the constitution. They are not. The constitution was designed to allow as much freedom as possible without allowing people, or groups of people to infringe on the rights of others.

Increasing GDP is not the only goal. The goal is to increase GDP, and increase the standard of living of everyone in the USA because people follow the rules and play fairly.

There are no truly free markets in the US. If there were wealth would quickly become concentrated in the hands of a few individuals and huge corporations. The US would start to look like Libya under Gadaffi, or North Korea, or Burma. Free markets are not worth that outcome, and that is why we have anti-trust laws and government regulators.

Capitalism is a great thing and it is part of what has made our country great, but it is not the only thing. There is no need for it to be unrestrained for it to be good, in fact some restraints make it fairer and better.

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