What is capitalism?

Capitalism (from the Latin word capta, meaning “head”) is a social system based on individual rights that unleashes the power of the human mind.

The term capitalism is used here in the broader political sense, and not in the narrower economic sense, i.e., a free-market.

Capitalism is not just an economic system that can be grafted onto any political structure. Capitalism is a complex, integrated social system that depends on a specific economic, legal, political, and ethical foundation:

What is a capitalist?

A capitalist is an advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, regardless of how economically rich or poor they are.

Within the specialized domain of economics, a person who owns a business is recognized as a capitalist, regardless of whether one advocates capitalism politically or not. As an illustration, factory-owner Friedrich Engels is regarded economically as a capitalist, though politically — as co-author of The Communist Manifesto — Engels is a communist. Similarly, philosopher Ayn Rand is regarded economically as a novelist, though politically, Rand is a self-described “radical for capitalism.” Engels is a communist, and Rand a capitalist, not because of their accumulated wealth, but because of their ideas.

Though billionaires Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Ted Turner, and George Soros are economically compartmentalized as capitalists, they philosophically are not capitalists but advocates of “mixed economy” statism (capitalism combined with anti-capitalist elements) to various degrees. Soros being more anti-capitalist than Buffet. Engels being more anti-capitalist than both. Soros, like billionaire Ted Turner and politician Elizabeth Warren, is a “socialist at heart.”

Why do intellectuals hate capitalism?

Capitalism is attacked because of its philosophical foundation of reason and egoism.

No political-economic system in history has been so beneficial to the cause of humanity than capitalism, and no system is more unjustly attacked, viciously condemned, and dishonestly smeared.

Though the economy of capitalism has proven to be materially beneficial to human flourishing, intellectually — as a demonstration of the role of reason and self-interest in human life — it is regarded as evil.

The battle for the future of capitalism is not just a practical issue; it is a moral one.

As philosopher Ayn Rand has observed, capitalism is the ideal social system as it leaves the individual free to be moral — free to act rationally in the pursuit of their happiness — so long as one respects the equal freedom of others to do the same.

What is the cause of capitalism’s “failures”?

Government coercion is the cause of the alleged failures blamed on capitalism.

The fruits of capitalism — peace, progress, and prosperity — are a result of the intellectual roots that make up the tree. If one attempts to dig up the roots, chop at the trunk, and hack the branches — that is, change the structure of capitalism to include contradictory, anti-capitalist elements (i.e., rights-violating regulations that sacrifice individual rights for the “common good”) — one faces the danger of killing off the tree.

It is this undermining of capitalism that has resulted in a variety of mixed economies, or “hyphenated capitalisms.” All so-called hyphenated-capitalisms (‘state-capitalism,’ ‘anarcho-capitalism,’ ‘crony-capitalism,’ ‘democratic capitalism,’ ‘welfare capitalism,’ etc.) are not forms of capitalism but are mixtures of capitalist and non-capitalist elements. It is these coercive, rights-violating, non-capitalist, statist elements, acting like cancer, that are responsible for capitalism’s alleged “failures” from financial crashes, depressions, and mass unemployment to out of control medical costs, systemic racism, and wars.

Why does capitalism matter?

The battle for capitalism is a matter of life and death: your life and your death.

The battle for capitalism is not just an argument over wealth; it is a philosophical one over the individual’s inalienable right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of their happiness.

The battle for capitalism is one on which the fate of civilization hangs in the balance. It is not merely a discussion that can be left to intellectuals in ivory towers, talking heads in the press, and mobs in the streets.

The battle for capitalism is one in which no thinking individual — who chooses to live as a human being — may abstain. It is a battle that one must engage in not as an unchosen “duty,” but as a matter of individual “selfish” importance.

The purpose of The Capitalism Site is to clear up the misinformation about capitalism and to educate those individuals who seek to “save,” “improve,” and “reform” capitalism by grafting it onto an anti-reason, anti-individualist, and anti-freedom foundation.

If you wish to join the intellectual battle and learn more, then take the Capitalism Tour.

— Mark Da Cunha