The world is so eager to write off capitalism and free markets as the root of all evil proclaiming that it fosters greed at the expense of the common people. It supposedly gives license to the wealthy to plunder and pillage society at will in the unchecked pursuit of their own interests. Many believe this is solely responsible for the economic disaster that we are now experiencing, and politicians as well as advocates of socialism are seizing upon this popular conviction to advance their agenda of increasing the scope of Government. The campaigning is in full force asserting that our economy and financial system are much too important to leave in the hands of the greedy capitalists that have failed us hence it should be managed by our compassionate politicians. This is nothing more than a pipe dream, our Government has a very clear history of failure in most everything they touch. The list would be lengthy if it were understood that they have a hand in much of the failure, for it is only a matter of whether blame is cast upon them or they skillfully sidestep it and absolve themselves.

Our Government produces nothing, they create nothing, they have no ability to manage anything, they are simply a distribution system that takes from one element in society and gives to another as well as themselves in the process. Putting more of our economy in their control is simply irrational because it will just subject it to more waste, fraud and corruption. For all the times that our society states that capitalism has failed us, we should take a good hard look for how much of that failure was at the hands of our Government. Capitalism is just an economic system, a system that is based on freedom and choices, it is not centrally controlled thus the freedom of decisions is reserved for the people. With that said, it should also have rules of behavior established and subsequently enforced, and it is here that our Government fails us at every turn. Think of it like watching a football game, nobody wants to see a game without rules or officiating, but they do expect the game to be played freely within the established structure of rules with no excessive intrusion aside from normal enforcement, our economy should be handled in the same manner. It should have the freedom of choice provided by capitalism within an established framework provided by a responsible Government. However, corruption has grown to the point that this “rulemaking and officiating” responsibility is done according to what favor is being repaid or how it benefits them personally. The Government is more interested in paying off cronies or buying favor from interest groups to retain power than they are of serving the nation’s interest. There have been many laws and regulations introduced on the books, but they become worthless if selectively enforced. For all the suffering brought about by this economic downturn, there are certainly laws and/or regulations that would have prevented the calamity, but they were ignored for some political convenience even if detrimental to the overall system. Seriously flawed legislation is constantly being passed that caters to politically connected entities, and expedience is surely its origination. There is no economic system in this world that can survive incessant political corruption, and capitalism is no different, but in the absence of this repulsive conduct it has the best chance for providing the greatest amount of prosperity and freedom to a nation.

Another thought that comes to mind is if we truly believed that capitalism is unsound and responsible for this economic tragedy, what will then explain the failures going forward now that the Government has further exerted its intrusive bureaucracy? Any future devastation will not be unleashed by capitalism as it should become obvious that there is a much greater vehicle of destruction undermining us, that being our corrupt Government. As expected, it is rising to the occasion with wasteful stimulus programs, a crushing national debt, rising unemployment, decreased tax revenues, subsidizing failure, withering real estate values etc. These ruinous outcomes are resulting from Government failures, and they are likely to continue as the same agendas are being pursued unabated in the customary tradition of corruption. The irony presented in all this is that only capitalism can solve these enormous issues of our time, but it requires the foundation of a Government with integrity and devoid of corruption.