Exploitation

Isn't capitalism a system of exploitation?
If "exploitation" means increasing the standard of living of the masses, tripling the life span of the average man, and bringing wealth and prosperity to all those who live under it, then capitalism is a system of "exploitation." If "exploitation" means making the masses slaves -- then I refer one to Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and Communist China.

What social system(s) does exploit its members?
In the proper sense of the term, the only social system that exploits its members are statist societies that view its members as tools to be exploited for "the race", "the fatherland", "the public good" and "the community."

What is Capitalism's stance towards exploitation?
Capitalism is the only system that bans all forms of coercion (i.e., slavery and dictatorship) for anyone or by anyone, since it regards each and every man as an end to himself, and not as a tool to be enslaved by others.

How does capitalism do this?
It accomplishes this by banning the initiation of force from all relationships. Under Capitalism no businessmen can lawfully force a worker to do something against his will (and vice-versa). Capitalism is not a system of exploitation, but is the system of laissez faire -- freedom.

Don't capitalists exploit the masses by stealing their surplus as the Marxists alleged?
If capitalists "exploited" the masses by stealing their "surplus", as the Marxists allege, where was this "surplus" before capitalists existed? If not for capitalism, many of the masses you cry about would not exist -- capitalism did not create poverty it inherited it.

What is the source of the capitalist's profits?
The profits of capitalists are not the surpluses extorted from labor, but are the result of the proper use of one's capital, as losses are the result of the improper use of capital.

Don't laborers have a right to a share of the capitalist's profits, in addition to their wages?
Why are the laborers who demand a share in the capitalist's profits, silent in demanding their "share" when he incurs losses? Why don't they cry out and demand that they get to receive a share in those losses? If labor is the sole cause of all profit, then is it not also the sole cause of all losses? A moments reflection will point out that laborers are only responsible for their job description -- they are not directly responsible for the losses of a business -- and that the cause of an enterprise's losses lies essentially with the owner, as do the profits.

That a businessmen pays a worker less wages than the worker feels he deserves is not exploitation, as the worker is free to leave his job and look elsewhere for a higher paying one, if he thinks that someone can give him a better job for a better wage. 

Let any worker in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, or Communist China try to attempt such a feat as leaving his job without permission of the state, and he will soon find what exploitation really means.


Suggested Reading: America's Persecuted Minority: Big Business and What is Capitalism? by Ayn Rand, in Chapter 1 of Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (CUI).