Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Occupy Wall Street's Anti-capitalist Crusade

Jerry Philipson
Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are spreading from New York to many other cities in the United States and around the world. Demonstrators are protesting against anything and everything they view as wrong in the world of capitalism, free enterprise and free markets and corporations, banks and corporate greed are seen as the source of everyone's problems. Corporations, banks and corporate greed have been identified as the the enemy and everyone's problems would be solved and the world would be a much fairer, equitable and human place if only they were brought under control or eliminated altogether, or so the thinking goes.
How to accomplish that? More and more regulation, government control and entitlements of course. Never mind that capitalism, with all its warts, is the single most successful economic system in the history of the world and that billions of people have thrived and continue to thrive under it. Never mind that Europe is on the verge of economic collapse under the weight of government control, regulations and entitlements and may yet do so. Never mind that the American economy is staggering under government control, regulations and entitlements and may collapse thanks to them as well. Never mind that socialism and communism, the two economic systems which demonstrators are advocating for (whether they know it or not) are proven failures and can never meet the needs of the people. Demonstrators have decided thatcorporations, banks and corporate greed must be brought under control or eliminated altogether in order to make the world a better place and improve their individual situations and that big government is the answer to everything. In other words, get rid of capitalism and everything and everyone will be just fine.
Rubbish. Regulation, government control and entitlements are the problem and the last thing we need is more of them. We need far less of them if our economies and our nations are to survive. They won't if capitalism is fettered or destroyed and neither will we. What are the demonstrators demonstrating for? It isn't prosperity and freedom that's for sure. If they get their way and capitalism is fettered or destroyed everything and everyone will be much worse off, not better. Capitalism must be freed to do its magic, not hobbled. That will make everything and everyone better off and that is what demonstrators should be demonstrating for. Freeing capitalism.
Economics, history, sociology, psychology and reality tell us exactly the same. 

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