Capitalism Does Not Need a "Makeover"

I encountered a blog post “Global Warming: A Growing Woe” and felt compelled to respond, because the author is obviously well-intentioned, but might benefit as well as I from a vigorous argument regarding the social merits of free-market capitalism.  The well-intentioned, intellectually honest left should be engaged on economic matters, but perhaps arguments might be more effective if framed in the social terms they have come to value.  At least in this way, the well-intentioned leftist gets an accurate depiction of capitalism that she is free to accept or reject on principle.

The paragraph in question is as follows:

I am also of the opinion that the capitalist system as we know it is long overdue for a makeover. The fact that the living-wage gap (rich vs. poor) is getting larger by the moment, is enough of an indication that all is not well in the land of finances.

While my execution of the blog post is imperfect, perhaps it might give others ideas on how to engage the left.  I might have also pointed out The Fed’s malicious effects on capitalist economy, as they tend to the gross accumulation of wealth; this is because the introduction of new money into the economy benefits those with first access to such money, as the capital is worth more before “knowledge” of the money is made felt in the system.

But my general sense from the tone of the whole article is that the author feels that capitalism is an unkind system.  So this being said, there are other associated arguments on the beneficial social effects of capitalist systems, beyond the scope of a blog post reply, and even beyond that of an exhaustive essay.  Perhaps others might have some suggestions for me that I have missed and which conservatives can draw on in their arguments with the well-intentioned left.  (The duplicitous left we will put aside, for now.)

This topic could be the subject of a future blog post, after I have time to research it. (I want to leave aside the obvious Kantian “perpetual peace”-type, internationalist free trade arguments and concentrate on domestic effects.) So the blog reply I have re-posted below, for scrutiny, improvement, or general comment.

I commend you for acknowledging that environmentalists have no real-world solutions capable of fixing “climate change,” manmade or otherwise.

I take friendly issue with your assessment that the ‘capitalist system’ needs a makeover.  On the contrary, it is precisely because the market system has been made over through state domination and institutionalized corruption that there are so many flaws in the system.  

Just to clarify, I don’t believe free market capitalism is perfect, because I believe no system of human relations is perfect.  But the bedrock principle of capitalism, the mutual exchange of value for value, when observed, leads to civility in human affairs, honesty and fairness in economic dealings, and stability in the political system.

The reason free market capitalism leads to civility in human affairs is because, first of all, individuals are respected as individuals.  By this I mean, they are not seen as means to an end.  By extension, individuals need consent before they engage in labor or give up the fruits of their labor.  

While Kant might deride this state of human affairs as “social unsociability,” it is greatly more to be desired for the majority of people than a state of affairs where mobs are being whipped up into unreasonable fervors, which are usually steered by demagogues to achieve the ends of dictators.  While the social aesthetic of reasonability, self-control, and ‘calmness’ in human affairs might not satisfy passionate minds who yearn for transcendancy, over reality, perhaps over metaphysical death, the truth is that most men find value in intimate family relations, having a successful and prosperous career, and enjoying modest pleasures.

Secondly, capitalism is an honest form of economy.  While it is often argued by the left that work in the capitalist system is tantamount to exploitation of the working class, in fact, the wages for labor are dictated by the market value of someone’s labor.  The market thus directs and redirects individuals, in the absence of statist intervention, to pursue employment avenues most valued by other individuals, as demonstrated by the willingness of others to pay for their services.  In other words, people are incentivized, but not dictated, by the values of society, as opposed to under socialistic economies, nominally democratic or otherwise, where a cadre of elites determine the economy in accordance with their preferences.  

One might ask oneself a question: Under what state-dominated economy has the means of production been used to increase the general happiness of the people by innovating new conveniences on their behalf?  On the contrary, statist economies are parasitical on capitalist economies for technological innovations that tangibly improve people’s lives.  The modus operandi of statist economies is to preserve the status quo, so that elites are not challenged from below.

Capitalism is predicated on volunteerism, and not on any actual coercion, beyond the coercion of having to work in order to live.  Work itself is not coercion, but is as necessary to sustaining human life, as hunting is for any carnivore, or grazing is for any herbivore.  

Finally, capitalism, through its reverence for private property, all but dead in present-day America, and esteem for mutual exchange, forestalls tyranny to a ruling class.  It is the only known economic system compatible with social spontaneity and freedom of expression.  That is hasn’t been observed by the state is the reason for so much instability, and why the economy is such a rancorous issue between both parties.  Neither should have control of the economy.  We should have control of it, and that necessarily means private property and mutual exchange of value for value.