Why Capitalism? Part One: The Line in the Sand

Rachel, I'm not talking specifically to you here, but you can sing along. Just follow the bouncing train of thought.

I recently read on a certain Transhumanist forum the following comment:

We just have to realize that capitalism is a fatally flawed system. It has failed and the United States is collapsing. There are still libertarians whining that capitalism was never really implemented so it hasn't failed. After the Soviet Union collapsed there were still old guards claiming that Communism was never really implemented so it hadn't failed. Both need to be buried.

The person who posted this grab-bag of bromides was a self-proclaimed Socialist, but one doesn't have to be the embodiment of modern Statism to have been duped into selling themselves into slavery.

There is so much wrong with this quote that I don't know where to begin, but I don't think that I will accomplish anything by picking it apart piece by piece. There are millions of people in the world that believe fallacies like this for any number of reasons. They fundamentally and unequivocally do not understand what they are talking about. Perhaps I don't either, but I am more well-read on the subjects of economics, philosophy, and history than most. I am open to doubting my knowledge, but I also know its truth value. Can you say the same?

I intend to, over the course of several blogs, build a philosophical case for this "necessary evil" that is capitalism. I will do my best to stay focused, but I can't imagine this will be an easy task. My writing will not be perfect and my logic will not be flawless.

If you catch me perpetuating falsehood, challenge me or correct me.

If you find that something I said makes absolutely no sense, ask me.

If you don't care to know how you're destroying your future, walk away.

If you attack me with anything but reason and evidence, you are both a violent thug and my enemy.

My goal is to give the reader of my humble blog the philosophical tools that will allow them to think. Hopefully you will be able to pick apart specious arguments like the above quote. At the very least, I hope you will think more carefully about what opinions you spout.

This was mostly an introduction, but I will end this post by describing a line in the sand. If you read my later blogs, you will hopefully understand the picture I am about to paint.

On the default side, you have the millenia of human history to give you familiar comfort, reference, and guidance. You have safety in numbers. You have an excuse for everything and everyone in their place. You have submission of your mind and body to the tyrannical whims of others. You look at other men with fear and deal with them through force. This is the catch-all side for every brand of Statism. You respect the fiat authority of gods and governments.

By crossing the line in the sand, you will have but a scant century that was barely a glimmer of what should have been, yet is still responsible for all of the blinding technological brilliance of the world you live in. You will be derided and scorned by many, and self-righteously demonized by those who rob you. You will be claiming responsibility for your own life and submitting your mind and body to the dictates of your own conscience. You will look other men in the eye and deal with them as equals. This is the side of capitalism. You repsect the final authority of reality.

Have you chosen a side?