In response to the ridiculous anti-capitalist rhetoric  I keep reading by Thomas Frank at the WSJ and to show you exactly what every argument I’ve heard in favor of “anti-capitalism” consists of, I’ll be using TOILETS to make my case!

At the bottom of this page, you will find the links to two reports.  The first one comes from the World Health Organization & UNICEF.  The second comes from The Economist.  One thing that should stand out in these two reports, after you have a chance to study them, is the direct correlation between countries under FREEDOM/CAPITALISM & the high quality of life enjoyed by the citizens at even the most basic levels (I.E. plumbing and toilets).

You should also notice the absolute direct correlation between countries under the rule of Statism (socialism, communism, etc.) and the lack of basic quality of life amenities that even our poorest of the poor here in America have come to take for granted.

Yesterday I watched and listened to two “Grad students” from the University of Pittsburgh attempt to explain the problems with Capitalism, I thought perhaps they’ll at least think they are making a logical argument… wrong!  There is no way that what they said could have even made sense to themselves!  Next, they led into “how bad” the poor and middle class kids in Pittsburgh have it and proceeded to blame it all on Capitalism.  Let me respond with one sentence:  Go look at the poor living in countries with “planned economies”!

Right now, in this century, almost 1 in every 5 people in the world don’t even have access to so much as an outhouse, let alone toilets. (Ref. #1)

According to the World Health Organization, when it comes restrooms, almost 20% of the world’s population outside of the United States, resorts to “fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water or other open spaces, or disposal of human feces with solid waste” (Ref. #1).  Open defecation, the same way people relieved themselves in the Stone-Age, is still prevalent in the 21^st century among the people in countries with long histories of government “planned economies”/lack of Capitalism.  In fact, the same report says “2.5 Billion people remain without improved sanitation facilities, 38% of the World’s population” (Ref. #1)

Tell me again, how bad do the poor and middle class have it here as a direct result of what was once a Capitalist system.  I say “what was once a Capitalist system”, because the market is no longer free.  I’m not talking about basic regulation to stop criminals – no Capitalist is a proponent of this.  I’m talking about policies that have been enacted specifically designed to “influence” or “plan” the market economy.  Such policies as the CRA (the Community Reinvestment Act – as just one example) under the common guise of “good intentions”, in the case of the CRA to promote “Affordable Housing”. 

The continuous “economic planning”  by people who honestly believe that they can outsmart a free market economy, where millions upon millions of transactions are taking place every day determined by the decisions of millions of individuals, has slowly but surely driven the free market into the ground.  This was not a capitalist failure, again today’s economy is the result of government intervention crippling capitalism and dismantling it piece by piece, in the name of “compassion” and/or the desire for “control”.

Countries that have waited, or were unable, until recently to embrace capitalism and those who have never bothered to adopt it are the reason that today approximately 880 Million people are drinking water from ponds, canals, tanker trucks, or other unimproved & unprotected sources. (Ref. #1) 

What is the point?  Why is Capitalism the only system for free people?

Here’s the world without Capitalism:  Almost 40% of all people lack the luxury of something as simple as a toilet! (Ref. #1)

Anyone who settles with  justifying an “anti-capitalist” ideology with nothing more than unsupported, gibberish, bumper sticker sound bites, is being lazy and naïve (just like the two students in the interview).  If you’re going to believe something, don’t you think you should at least take a few minutes & think it through?  Especially before going on National News to explain it, I bet the University of Pittsburgh would have probably appreciated  it seeing as how they decided to tell the Nation which school is responsible for educating them.

The bottom line:  A “government planned economy” will be, and has proven to be the case time and time again in every instance it has been tried in all of recorded history, the road to Serfdom. 

• The ONLY system compatible with FREEDOM is CAPITALISM. 
• The ONLY reason we’re able to communicate online, right here right now, is CAPITALISM. 
• The only reason you enjoy the highest QUALITY OF LIFE in the world, that many apparently don’t even understand, is because of CAPITALISM.

Our economy is where it is today, because “geniuses” in Washington think they can outsmart the Free Market when they pass legislation & regulation to create a specific effect on the market, but the Free Market isn’t a vacuum environment for their experimental “planning”, their intervention does much more than their good intentioned policy was supposed to do, creating new problems, which they then try to “fix”, and in turn guess what… creates even more unintended consequences in the market.  That’s why we are here today, Capitalism was crippled by Washington’s desire “to fix” everything.

You want to talk about the poor in America?  The only system where “the poor” can effectively change their life through determination and hard work to become “un-poor” is a Capitalist one. 

Are you naïve enough to believe that a system without Capitalism will be classless? 

Are you naïve enough to believe that “the poor” in America, or anywhere else, will see improvement in a system where they have no chance at success, where their futures are dictated to them, where life’s necessities are rationed and used to coerce the masses by the elite ruling classes?

Without Capitalism there can be no Freedom.

Our current economic downturn is the perfect illustration to show what happens when government thinks it can control and outsmart the market, and this is the truth.  One only needs to look at the situation OBJECTIVELY, something apparently not taught anywhere, anymore.

Was there greed?  Yes.  Was there corruption?  Yes.  However, consider my final question:  Are you naïve enough to believe that the people you’re willing to allow to “plan” the economy, and impose the fallacious idea of “Utopia without Capitalism” on all of us, will be void of corruption?  Greed?

For those who haven’t figured this out yet:  There are evil people who will do bad things.  And yes, there are good people who do bad things.  While it is commendable & good for all of society for Man to always want to do & to always try his hardest to make the right and/or moral choice, we are imperfect and as a result this perfection is not possible.  Because of man’s imperfection equal everything for everybody is impossible.  People who misunderstand the concept of freedom and aren’t careful about what they think they are wishing for, would probably be the most surprised if someday soon we find ourselves in the vulnerable position where we can be coerced by government rationing… [because hey “equality of everything” right?  Somebody has to “monitor the sharing”…] at that moment there will not be another opportunity for “Change” in our lifetimes and we will have extinguished the freedom that has enabled us to accomplish more in 230 years than the rest of the world could do in 5,000.

Freedom cannot survive in a system without Capitalism.  Read that sentence again and think about it.  Freedom cannot survive without capitalism.  This is an undeniable truth.

This is Jason Bradley, thank you for reading.

 © 2009 ExcellenceInAmerica.com

Ref#1 World Health Organization & UNICEF: “MGD Assessment Report 2008″

Ref#2 The Economist: “Democracy Index”

Thomas Frank Articles at WSJ:  (WSJ: “Liberals and Civility” and “The Left Should Reclaim Freedom”)

Recommended Article:  This was a good read at The Economist