Capitalism has a new competitor, and its name is “shame.” The left is determined to make capitalism morally reprehensible. Cloaked in provocative terms like “income inequality,” wealth redistribution has become the popular economic philosophy in America today, but it doesn’t hold a candle to capitalism. When your first-grade teacher asked the class, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I’m doubtful anyone raised his hand to say, “Ooh, ooh, a welfare recipient!” I’m also certain your classmates never pointed to posters of their teen idols to say “anyone but them!” In other words, socialism isn’t natural; no one grows up with aspirations of government dependency!
Socialists intentionally suppress creativity and innovation by discouraging individual, God-given talent and proclivities and encouraging dependency. In short, your failure is required for its success. Atheists Karl Marx and Frederick Engels believed that religion was the anti-depressant for the oppressed working class. Engels, in particular, believed that when society adopted socialism the economic chains of the working class would be eliminated, thereby eliminating the need for religion altogether. At the root of this economic philosophy is the demand that you forfeit your God beliefs and the dreams He’s birthed you with. Additionally, socialists would like you to believe that without coercion, individuals are incapable or unwilling to be generous to their neighbor with their own hard-earned money. It’s just not true! What is true, is that thievery via over-taxation has never incentivized productivity.
Capitalism doesn’t come with a warranty or “money back” guarantee. Yet, it encourages individuality, creativity, opportunity, risk taking, ambition, pride in craftsmanship and hard work, dignity in earning a paycheck, a sense of accomplishment, promotion in position and pay, and provision so you don’t go hungry. Capitalism isn’t a perfect system because people are imperfect. Nonetheless, the lazy, stagnant and ambitious are rewarded fairly and equitably. As much as the left professes their disdain for capitalism, they’ve yet to offer a better system. The reason is simple: It doesn’t exist! Therefore, I’ve developed four reasons the left should love capitalism but don’t. Here they are:
1. Capitalism allows you to become what and who God purposed you to be. God is the designer of our dreams. Government can’t produce your dreams, but they can take them away by discouraging an atmosphere of success. When God is banished from society, government acts as our moral authority and by extension an arbiter of our dreams. The only work that matters to the government is that which is needed to sustain it. Individuality and imagination threaten the status quo of socialism – if there is an intelligent designer, one must have a purpose. Capitalism answers man’s purpose by exposing our weaknesses and strengths in the marketplace.
2. Capitalism provides for your family. The Bible instructs us to leave an inheritance to our “children’s children.” The left’s “War on Poverty” is a perfect example of how socialism destroys the family by disincentivizing work. The black American family particularly has suffered greatly under the hand of government benevolence, going from a marriage rate of over 70 percent pre-War on Poverty to an out-of-wedlock birth rate of over 70 percent in just two generations. When the Bible says “if a man doesn’t work he shall not eat,” but our entitlements train our citizens that you don’t have to work to eat, we’re witnessing the beginning of the end of a one-time exceptional nation.
3. Capitalism enables you to buy cool stuff. Can we stop acting like self-righteous phonies?! We all go to work hoping to better our position in life. The coolest thing about making money is the joy of spending it and building wealth. When our priorities are in order, we should feel guiltless for rewarding ourselves. Immigrants all over the world flock to America to accomplish what we take for granted – the American Dream. God blessed Abraham and Joseph beyond belief as a result of their faithfulness to him. If He isn’t ashamed of blessing those who work hard with wealth and “stuff,” neither should we be.
4. Capitalism helps you bless others. Socialism is dependent upon capitalism and not vice-versa. Likewise, nonprofit organizations must depend on for-profit organizations and their employees to thrive. If I buy a car, the maker, salesman, mechanic, tire specialist and gas attendant will keep their jobs. When my pastor takes up a missions or benevolence offering the poor, the widow and orphan will be blessed. If a family member is living paycheck-to-paycheck and I’m not, I can offer means and maybe even the coaching needed to keep him or her out of the welfare line.
You are uniquely qualified to be you. In America “income inequality” is a state of mind. If we all take the time to invest in our own interest and gifts, perhaps there would be fewer “rich people haters” and more of us getting rich.
