By Chris Basten

  Maybe it was the end of the Reagan era. Maybe it was the S&L Scandal. Maybe it was the death of Atari. Whatever it was, it hasn't gone away. Somewhere in America's history, capitalism was raped and accused of dressing too scantily-it deserved what it had coming to it, in other words. We have no sympathy for a system that apparently corrupts us all and makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. We have been preached to for quite some time about how evil and money-grubbing capitalist principles are. Hordes have accused capitalism of being broken and advise that we do away with it. Has "the majority" really given up on what America once prided itself on?

I'm afraid that the answer is 'yes' to some degree. I used to think that capitalism was what made evil corporations and monopolies so prevalent in America. I used to think that wanting things and desiring prosperity was the embodiment of sin and depravity in the world. Humans are greedy enough to begin with and capitalism was advertised to me in my teen years as the echelon of rampant corruption.

If you casually listen to a majority of media resources, capitalism is covertly presented as the reason why job opportunities and layoffs are so prevalent. Growing up as an adolescent in the 90s, I would have believed this to be true. After all, look at all of the evidence: Layoffs, terrorism, long unemployment lines, Enron, and a host of other problems could be attributed to what America was founded on because it looks like greed is the biggest culprit. Why else would terrorists bomb us? Why else would companies keep reducing their work forces? Capitalism is the scapegoat for several people and a lot of us have taken the bait. If it weren't for all of those greedy CEOs, SUV manufacturers, and credit card companies, we wouldn't be in this mess, right?

After a more careful study of what capitalism really is and what it looks like, I have found it to be a very strong and sensible form of economics. Capitalism isn't easy and never will be. It is risky. It says, virtually, that a truly free market is void of government intrusion within pricing and trading. It says that traders and consumers should be allowed to trade without State-sponsored monitoring and regulation. It says that corruption and robbery, though unfortunate, are part of an economy and shouldn't be forced out of existence simply because they cannot be. There will always be those who refuse to use equal weights and measures and capitalism says that when these individuals are discovered, consumers will decide whether or not to continue their relations with such vendors. No State intervention is needed because a free market takes care of itself when it is left to the people who partake in it.

Why is capitalism such a smelly sock to several great historians and economists then? Perhaps it is because of how they were brought up to see it. When capitalism is left alone to its own devices, research shows that it flourishes and makes many prosperous. This, however, is not the capitalism that has been promoted to us over several centuries. Because a few criminals gave a black eye to private enterprise, in the form of S&Ls and Enrons, all corporations have been forced to abide by principles they were already adhering to in the first place. A few rotten apples did not spoil the barrel, contrary to panicked, knee-jerk reactions from the State. If the government knew anything about economics (which it surely doesn't), it would scoff at those who use capitalism for dishonest gains because free enterprise thrives regardless of the bandits. Capitalism allows individuals to obtain legal representation if something nasty does happen or customers eventually stop taking their dollars to these purveyors altogether and put them out of business. No government guns are necessary. The free market wipes out those who don't play by the rules because not many want to do business with dishonest traders.

Capitalism, then, is not the problem. Government, armed with good intentions and plenty of federal agents, lobbyists, and attorneys, thinks that the solution is to increase its presence in the doings of the marketplace. A large number of politicians think that the government is responsible for bringing healthcare to all, funding education through force even when it is proven not to work, regulating the good guys who serve people ethically because a few didn't play nice, and bouncing tax rates back and forth to pay for all of these well-intentioned programs that are supposed to improve an "immoral" capitalist structure.

The more intrusive Government becomes, the more jobs that are lost and the more businesses that are shipped overseas. Our Charters of Freedom mention nothing about the government regulating everything. They merely state that those individuals who trade unfairly must be dealt with so that those who honor each other's choice to participate in the market ethically are not hindered. Instead, the government does the exact opposite. It punishes the majority to make up for the few who are immoral so that it never happens again. "Let this be a warning to the rest of you!"

This is the system that is letting America go to the wayside. Capitalism says that the individual can purchase, sell, or own whatever they want as long as they do so honestly and don't harm another person or their property. Capitalism does not say that the government gets to rescue us every time someone gets dollar signs in their eyes and chooses to sucker customers. Free enterprise is about "live and let live" and knowing that the market will take care of itself. It honors and allows for one to reap what they sow. Certain individuals make good choices and others do not. The system allows for these kinds of risks. Anything else is socialism, communism, or fascism where the government takes away our right to choose and own what is rightfully ours.

Honest traders should not have to suffer just because the government cannot control itself from regulating and bossing all our favorite businesses to do what it says so that they don't turn corrupt, too. Presidents and Presidential-hopefuls will never stop sounding the call to spend tax money to "fix" all of our industries and control them so forcefully that they have no other choice but to set up shop in another continent. Jobs are lost and our economy is hung over constantly from all of the government's laws, fees, inspections, codes, and regulations. If we truly want economic stability and the freedom to own our own businesses and homes, the government must butt out and realize that it cannot do what it so assertively insists it can to "save us all." America does not need saving from a system that is free to reap and sow wealth and consequences naturally on its own. America needs our politicians to go away, get real jobs that actually contribute goods or services to the marketplace, and give us our money back because their way of doing "business" is anything but beneficial to our way of doing it. This is capitalism.