I think it is safe to say that the people advocating socialism over capitalism envision their personal standard of living increasing under socialism, while the people advocating capitalism over socialism know that their standard of living would decrease under socialism. This is a matter of rational self-interest.
American-style Capitalism is the best system for distributing wealth ever to exist in the history of human civilization. Yes, there are flaws and some oversight is necessary, but the bottom line is American capitalism provides the highest incentive (profit) thus maximizing personal creativeness and productivity.
If one of you right now were sitting on a fantastic idea or invention that you believe could benefit hundreds of thousands of people, what would motivate you to take the risk necessary to see that concept from mere idea to final marketable product? Would you be more motivated under a system that rewards you, the entrepreneur with the revolutionary idea and product, with the same fruits as your neighbor who doesn't contribute anything more to society other than manual labor? Or would you be more apt to devote your time and energy to making your idea a reality if you knew that you stood to gain great financial riches as a result? You'd be being less than honest if you said you would put just as much effort into bringing your good or service to market under both reward systems. Clearly, capitalism and the potential for financial gain, in the form of realized profits, motivates like nothing else in human history.
What would happen to society if we eliminated the greatest reward ever devised? What would the future hold if great minds were not motivated to share their great goods and services with the rest of society? Wouldn't we all suffer?
Personally, I love to hear stories of personal success. When I watch programs about small business owners becoming wealthy and financially independent off of their entrepreneurial efforts I get excited and want to congratulate them. I don't get pissed and expect them to share their wealth with me. They earned it and I didn't. Just them sharing their story with me is a gift alone, because it provides me with the motivation to come up with the next amazing widget.
I do agree that there are some disgusting disparities between the super rich and horrifically poor, but why throw the baby out with the bath water? Capitalism is an effective economic system whereas socialism has never led to prosperity for any nation in history. Some will argue that socialism has never been given a fair shake. Well, hasn't it been tested enough to know that it doesn't motivate or reward sufficiently to bring out the best in human nature?
Again, if you're advocating socialism I ask you to think about this. If there were a redistribution of wealth would you benefit personally? Of course you would. That's the real reason you want the wealth redistributed. Because it will go from someone elses pocket to your pocket.
Tweet This Topic
