I get it – I do. I get the disdain for that human condition that causes otherwise good people to act in dishonorable ways in order too accumulate wealth. In fact, as part and parcel to that dishonor is the fact that people and their feelings are ‘hurt’. It is most often described as ‘greed’ – though I would propose that the word ‘greed’ is often misused.
THAT is different. That type of behavior IS not desired and can be considered immoral. But just as that is true is the fact that capitalism is a powerful force for the general improvement of the lot of the average man.
Consider this chart, courtesy of Mark Perry over at Carpe Diem:
In the words of of Arthur Brooks:
It turns out that between 1970 and 2010 the worst poverty in the world – people who live on one dollar a day or less – that has decreased by 80 percent (see chart above). You never hear about that.
It’s the greatest achievement in human history, and you never hear about it.
80 percent of the world’s worst poverty has been eradicated in less than 40 years. That has never, ever happened before.
So what did that? What accounts for that? United Nations? US foreign aid? The International Monetary Fund? Central planning? No.
It was globalization, free trade, the boom in international entrepreneurship. In short, it was the free enterprise system, American style, which is our gift to the world.
I will state, assert and defend the statement that if you love the poor, if you are a good Samaritan, you must stand for the free enterprise system, and you must defend it, not just for ourselves but for people around the world. It is the best anti-poverty measure ever invented.
Think of that – how much money would the ‘do good nanny state liberal leftist’ have been willing to spend in order to accomplish this feat? There is no end to that amount.
So, I ask the good Pontiff – ‘If not capitalism, what then?”
His answer can only be – “The continuation of the abject poverty experienced by billions of Christians previously in the care of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years.”
