Clarifying the Argument

Again with one of those weird "apropos of nothing" brain flashes:

Whenever we talk to Liberals about why free market capitalism is better than socialism, the first objection they raise is that under capitalism some people get rich and some people stay poor.

And we find ourselves facing the ugliness of that truth. Because, it is true.

And we also find ourselves too often, trying to come up with a way to diminish the charge, or explain it away, or blame the poor. And that does not serve us or our argument well.

What we too often fail to notice is that the socialist has just compared free market capitalism to perfection...not to socialism.

It's true, of course, that in a free market capitalist society some people will remain poor. What we fail to make clear is that under socialism, the great majority are poor.

While we are distracted by our struggle to defend free market capitalism against perfection, the socialist deflects examination of the gross failures of socialism.

Don't let them get away with it.

The argument is simple, really.

1) Free market capitalism is not perfect—and we don't claim that it is. No system devised by man will ever be perfect.

2) Free market capitalism brings prosperity to a greater number of people than any form of Socialism/Communism/Fascism.

3) You may not compare free market capitalism to perfection, only to other real-world economic systems. The facts speak for themselves...the "poor" are less poor under free market capitalism than any other system. And opportunity to rise from poverty is greater than in any other system.

4) Free Market Capitalism is necessary for individual and political liberty. Unless the means of production are privately owned and privately controlled, the government will have power over every citizen's life and livelihood, which is the definition of a totalitarian state.

The Gunslinger