Why America Doesn't have a "Free Market Capitalist" Economic System

I say quite often that America does not have a Free Market Capitalist economic system and sometimes the befuddled looks I get from those that hear this provokes them to question what I mean by it. The answer is simple and can be broken down into two parts, the two definitions of what is being asked.

"What is a Free Market?" and "What is Capitalism?"

The answers to these two questions together with an understanding of the current mode of economic activity gives a clear indication that the statement, "America does not have a Free Market economic system" is true.

So what is a free market economic system?
Free Market principles point to an economic system where business are unfettered by regulation, licensing, special fees and taxation, a system where all manner of salable goods are on the market without prohibition or exclusion. It is a system where the buying habits of those consumers would drive the manufacturers and distributors to produce or stock items that were valued by customers and discontinue or remove goods that have lost favor or marketability and sales numbers. This provides that customers are able to actually drive the economy by their buying habits and wants, without the interference of an outside entity.

This would of course be in contrast to the current system of high regulation, increasing taxation, special licencing, educational requirements and so on the American system is plagued by. Economists who advocate this idea of unfettered markets, also see that allowing prices and wages to form naturally and the availability and manufacture of goods to lie in the interest of those who have the capability to produce and the want to produce in trade for profit is a nearly unfailing concept in the ways of maximum efficiency of producers as well as maximum favorable market conditions for consumers.

With this some may say that the deregulation of businesses will (could/would) lead to businesses being able to skirt environmental concerns, livable wages, price gouging, and so on. In response to this one can argue on the case of environmental concerns that the information that a retailer or manufacturer was damaging the environment, the consumers voice could be heard by lowering or altogether abandoning or boycotting the product, manufacturer and retailers and distributors. When profits and sales decrease a signal is sent that certain practices are not favorable or condoned. This is the aspect of "market self regulation".

On the issue of wages. Wages should be set by employer and employee. If in the scenario an employer is offering too little pay the potential employee can ask for more or refuse. By no means should the wage of any person be determined by anyone other than the laborer and the job provider. In the system we have now wages are set by government decree, in an attempt to make a fair wage government actually provides yet another hurdle for a prospective employee to jump in order to gain employment. If the set wage is too high for the business, they will refuse to hire. Minimum wage laws also hinder the ability of these businesses to adjust wages based on experience of each employee, there is always a floor that they cannot overcome. Again a control on the level of wages offered by businesses is not a Free Market principle. It is a system of control.

Pricing controls work similar to wage controls, being that wages are prices and vice-versa, it stands that any interference in the marketable value being set by someone other than the seller negates the definition of free market practice.

So what is Capitalism?

Capitalism is defined many ways depending on the social structure lense those defining it look through. To make this easier we can go with two differing opinions, one from Wikipedia (which I use because of it's high use of editing from other editors) and then a definition from the website WorldSocialism.org (including this one because it highlights the idea that the word has different meanings depending on who you ask and how they define it).
According to Wikipedia Capitalism is "is an economic system in which trade, industry, and the means of production are largely or entirely privately owned and operated for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets and wage labor.  In a capitalist economy, the parties to a transaction typically determine the prices at which assets, goods, and services are exchanged."  This is the definition, or close to it, that most non socialists agree upon.

With this definition in mind we can see that there are a large number of businesses and services that are not privately owned, ran, or funded but are so called public services and are controlled by government, whether county, state, or federal, and are funded through taxation instead of consumerism. This leads me, to say that we may define America as a mixed economy, but definitely not a pure Capitalist economy.

According to the website WorldSocialism.org though Capitalism is something to be feared and abhorred based on their claim of worker exploitation. The definition they detail is,"Capitalism is the social system which now exists in all countries of the world. Under this system, the means for producing and distributing goods (the land, factories, technology, transport system etc) are owned by a small minority of people. We refer to this group of people as the capitalist class. The majority of people must sell their ability to work in return for a wage or salary (who we refer to as the working class.)"

They go on to say,"The working class are paid to produce goods and services which are then sold for a profit. The profit is gained by the capitalist class because they can make more money by selling what we have produced than we cost to buy on the labor market. In this sense, the working class are exploited by the capitalist class. The capitalists live off the profits they obtain from exploiting the working class whilst reinvesting some of their profits for the further accumulation of wealth."

And with this in mind we can ask the socialist this question, "isn't the worker also a capitalist, as they value their time and effort less than the wage they are paid? If they did not value the wage more than the time or effort they would not work, as in a socialist society, goods are given freely based upon need and taken based upon production, or better said by their economic muse Karl Marx, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". This proclaims that no matter how productive you are, your effort is only for the benefit for the others who wish not to work or do not perform as you do. What incentive does that leave to work hard, or even harder? What incentive does that leave to work at all? What incentive does that leave to create, to innovate, or to improve upon goods? If there is no benefit for someone to excel at a good or service it will be done at a minimum speed and quality.


With that being said we can look at the American economy as a partial capitalist economy and a partial socialist economy. There are many areas that the State has complete control over production or service. Roads, Schools, Protection Services, Old Age Insurance are a few of the largest and easiest to see. In that the capitalist is still beholden to government entities in order to start or continue in their business. We can also see THAT is in no way a "free market" system.

Breaking Bad toys Being Pulled by Toys R Us.

A story popped up last week where a Florida mother was concerned about a product she had seen on the shelves of Toys R Us while shopping with her children. The subjectively offensive products were figurines of characters in AMC's hit TV show Breaking Bad. From the Newspaper U-T San Diego's website,"Susan Schrivjer of Fort Myers was not happy when she found the meth-making mastermind Walter White doll alongside the partner-in-crime Jesse Pinkman doll on toy store shelves not far from Barbies and Disney characters."  

Now while this may seem like a pretty easy case for people to hash against Toys R Us, what it shows to me is that a consumer driven market economy is in effect working as it should.
Let me explain, when businesses get word that their customers are upset about a product or service or even a remark made by an employee or CEO they let that company know by differing means, that company, when made aware of these feelings or demands can choose whether or not to cave to pressure or stand by their decision. Toys R Us decided to cave to the demands of the petition signers. This is the markets way of self regulation and also of effective competition breeding. When one store will take down a product or get rid of a service, a competitor can move in to offer them.

I think this whole story has been blown way out of proportion and a real look at the market effectiveness we can see that it can be a good indication that consumer driven markets are working as they should.

Now I'm off to buy some Breaking Bad collectible figurines... Not really... I don't like the show.

On Wage Slavery

I think "Wage Slavery" is a false term.

Wages are what employees gain from their service and labor to their employer. It is an act of voluntary exchange on the part of both parties. If wages were not gained by this service then slavery would exist, in the presence of wages though it is merely employment by mutual terms.

Slavery, historically, is the position of a person who through compulsion is held against their will and forced (by threat of violence)to work for the gain of the "slaveholder or slave master".

Using the word wages in conjunction with the word slavery does two things. One it lowers the definition of wages to the negative connotation of being forced to work for the benefit of another without ANY reimbursement. Secondly it tends to negate the real horrors of real slavery that has happened and is still happening around the world.  

The term "wage slavery" defined deals with those wages that are so low that a person who is employed relies on them just for basic survival. Of course wages should be used in the pursuit of survival and any wants left to be pursued, if that is the want of the wage earner. One cannot force a person to use their own property in any other way that they do not wish. 

Hereto we must interject on the reverse side of this issue. Mandatory wage and Minimum wage laws handed down from government bureaus and departments. These laws force businesses and businesses owners to provide wages beyond that of market value or personal labor value. These laws almost always lead to higher prices in market goods as the mandatory minimum wages are offset in the businessman's pursuit to maintain certain levels of profit. 

Wage Slavery is a false point being made by those that wish to direct the affairs of businesses that do not affect them in the personal way.

What is the answer to Detroit?

I was watching a show Forgotten Planet and one particular episode caught my attention. It was an episode on Detroit, its heyday and its demise. For a long time Detroit was seen as the industrial mecca in the US, turning out automobiles, steel works, mining operations and one of the country's best school systems. But all of this was to come to an end in the wake of economic policies and disastrous government programs. Detroit now sits in ruin. So what would it take to return this city to the forefront of production and the ability for its citizens to prosper? Is the answer to just get government out of the way?

In an article written in 2013 Patrick Barron makes his case for a "Free Detroit".  His idea is to rid the city of all regulations and all taxation. Barron asks, "What if Detroit became a free city in which government provided for public safety, honest courts, protection of property rights, and little else? Might not unabated free enterprise take hold as it always has in America?" adding next, "All that Detroit really needs is economic freedom and secure property rights. Give Detroit its freedom from all manner of government, including the federal government. Declare Detroit a free city. (You can rest assured, Detroit, that America will come to your rescue if those bloodthirsty Canadians attack!) In other words, no one would pay any federal taxes whatsoever or be subject to any federal regulations whatsoever. Wouldn’t it be nice not to pay federal taxes, not even Social Security and Medicare taxes? Do the same with Michigan taxes. No taxes BUT also no federal or state aid either."

How can they have it both ways? You cannot allow zero taxation and have a funded government, even miniscule government compared to the current model.

The rest of the article reads pretty much how one can envision any free marketer article going. Cooperative experiences between citizens without the need for bureaucratic red tape, restrictions licenses, regulations and of course the end to the state sponsored welfare state.

All of these things are in line with the thinking of most Laissez Faire proponents, and of course with most who are familiar with the great Henry Hazlitt and Ludwig von Mises.

What Detroit has become is, in large part, due to the enormity of its city government, the State Government and helped along by the Federal Government. Programs that were meant to help the poor or working poor were in fact reducing them down to a life of dependency, and of course when the government finally runs out of other people money to give away, catastrophe ensues. The lesson to be learned from its fall is that there is such a thing as too much government.

But what is the answer to get it going again?

As Mr. Barron states it may lie in doing the complete opposite of the cause.

In response to Barron's writings on Detroit Chief Investment Officer of Universa Investments LP Mark Spitznagle writes, "Detroit can correct its past public-sector ineptitude and abuses by unleashing the private sector’s vast potential, rooted in the metropolitan region’s vibrant entrepreneurial and manufacturing culture, skilled workforce, and a robust technology base nurtured by world-class institutions like the University of Michigan. The city’s position on an important border crossing and access to an enormous fresh-water supply from the Great Lakes, not to mention the business community’s unrelenting support, enhance its prospects further."

Echoing the late Murray Rothbard, such a collapse “is the ‘recovery’ process, and far from being an evil scourge, is the necessary and beneficial return, says Spitznagle.

I think Detroit can be the greatest study of if and how free market and Austrian economic principles and policies can work. Whether it succeeds or fails will be the greatest milestone in the sake of accepted economic means to ends.

On Taxes

Taxes are not something most people joyfully or gleefully pay. They are not something that most people claim to benefit from. But people defend taxation for various reasons; they are voluntary or compulsory. Taxes are what some describe as the cost of living in a certain area or to enjoy certain services that this money is supposedly collected for. And then some say all taxation is theft.  Apologists will denounce anyone who dares to "cheat" the system and keep some of their own money. They are a guilty pleasure and an unseen control mechanism to a lot of people.

Tax Time is here and not too many smiles will be found, unless you work for the Government that is...

Individuals and companies, from the last day of January to the 15th of April every year, sit down to try and figure out how much of their money has been taken by the Federal Government and if they can expect some of it back or if they will be forced to "give" some more. The Federal Income Tax has been enforced since 1913 and ever since that time people living in this country have been required to pay part of their wages to support government programs and fund Federal Institutions. Trillions of dollars are taken from the paychecks of citizens before they ever see it.

Why are you defending theft?

There is a saying "Taxation is Theft". Some believe this is an error and that the statement is false in all degrees. But is it? Is taxation theft? The legal definition of theft is the generic term for all crimes in which a person intentionally and fraudulently takes personal property of another without permission or consent and with the intent to convert it to the taker's use (including potential sale). With that said, one can question if the pay of a man for his labor is his property of that of the government for which he lives under. Questions can arise if the man has voluntarily submitted himself and his wages to the seizure of his property or if under the definition of theft has been the victim of a crime. Since those persons outside of government employment are in the private sector and those persons have not submitted the wages of their labor voluntarily, but by threat of violence or imprisonment the definition of theft can be applied to the act of taxation of income.

"If, then, taxation is compulsory, and is therefore indistinguishable from theft, it follows that the State, which subsists on taxation, is a vast criminal organization far more formidable and successful than any “private” Mafia in history". -Murray Rothbard-

Those that are in Employment of the government, in whatever capacity and at whatever level, (federal, state or local) are the beneficiaries of these extorted monies as their paycheck.

It has been said that these government workers "pay their own wages because they are taxed also". This is a fallacy. As a person is taxed at a percentage of their income, a person cannot pay into their entire paycheck. If they paid the entirety of their own wages it would be known as volunteering or slavery.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., American Jurist and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932 is quoted as saying, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." This is a popular thought of those who I would say taxation is a guilty pleasure or who feels that their wants should be funded by public means extorted from individuals instead of private and voluntary contributions. The very nature of this statement brings to mind a incredibly different question altogether for me. "Do we have a civilized society?"  That is a question left for another time.

A society based on the theft of wealth cannot be a moral and civil society. The very action of theft is against civility. But in this thought, we can ask ourselves these questions.

Does the act of paying into a general fund benefit the individual outright as much as it would if he would have funded whatever it is by voluntary means?

Can the value of these institutions to the general public be in contest to the value by the individual?

If a man be forced to fund policies and departments that they find immoral, unneeded, or in conflict with their religious or philosophical beliefs.

Murray Rothbard writes in his work "The Ethics of Liberty" that the size of government can be directly affected by the coercive nature of taxation. If the State were to suddenly abolish all taxation and thereby fund their departments and programs through completely voluntary means the size and scope of government would dramatically shrink.

This should be and is touted as the goal of the Neo-Conservatives and Republican Party,but is in complete contrast to their actions and policies. The same can apply to Democrats and Neo-Liberals, as their policies and actions tend to be based more on helping people, excessive taxation steals the money from people they are attempting to help.  It robs businesses of capital and forces higher prices, unemployment and subsequent poverty.

Where does all of this money go?

The mainstream belief is that these monies go to pay for services and programs inside and outside the United States. That would be nice, IF IT WERE TRUE. What is not taught to most Americans is that all the money that is taken in the form of the Federal Income Tax is used to pay off a loan for the previous fiscal year’s budgets. Who is this loan from?  The Federal Reserve loans the US government money at an interest rate. They then sell this debt (or securities) to foreign and domestic banks and individuals. The US Government pays these notes of security to the holders upon payment to the Federal Reserve of its loan. Of course the Federal Reserve does not pay the interest earned to the holders of the securities and instead makes a profit from the transactions. Interesting that a private bank that holds an enforced monopoly on the issuance of money is turning large profits off of the debt of a nation.

You might be wondering why the US debt has skyrocketed in the past and why it is so astronomical now; that is the nature of the Federal Reserve System. Since all money the government, and by mandate of the rest of the country, uses is owed back to the Fed with added interest; and the only way to pay it back is to take out a loan the next year, it is inevitable that this debt is unpayable. For a better explanation, I would recommend the book The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.

Is it cheating to keep your own money?

There are Tax Apologists out there that will become irate when an individual or company is found out to have offshore or international banking accounts in order to skirt paying taxes. The idea that someone who finds a way to keep his or her own property from seizure is seen as a criminal or seen as the bad guy has never really made sense. It is the same as someone who sets an alarm on their car or home: they are protecting their property and assets. The keeping of their own wages or property is the essential goal of Tax abolitionists which is to free everyone of the burden of theft of wages. It’s baffling to think that anyone is against this, but I think the emotional and illogical thought people have is, " If I have to pay then so does everyone else." i.e. the fair tax. To be certain there is nothing fair about the Fair Tax, it is still funneling money away from commerce and savings and it still only applies to certain groups and individuals.

The Fair Tax advocates will debate all day long that their system is better than what we have now, and I will not disagree, however I will say this: it is far from an ideal way to handle things. The entire idea of collecting money to fund programs and departments that the original "victim" may not have voluntarily given to is still present. The idea that money is still being diverted away from private enterprise and given to a bloated, inefficient and expanding government hasn’t changed. The same idea that Rothbard stated is still there: if the department or program cannot be funded by voluntary means it should not be fit to survive on public funding. Much like private business, if customers do not value the product or service, the company will fail and cease to exist. In the opposite of public departments and government offices, there is no measuring stick or ruler to determine if the service is viable beyond the edicts of bureaucrats and politicians wants.

To name a few things that tax monies are used for that would most likely not be funded by voluntary means.

The NSA and its wiretapping programs- Seen as a violation of privacy by a majority, this office and its "service" most likely would fall.

Animal Shelters that euthanize animals- This is a partial subsidy most often and the shelter may or may not survive with voluntary contributions.

The Militarization of America's Police forces and the brutality that they commit on a daily basis-If these police departments were reliant on the surrounding communities support and contributions there would be less of a chance they would commit the heinous acts that they do. Killing family pets and even people are becoming everyday occurrences in America. Changing the way they are funded could force them to rely on community service and protection services without the God Complexes a lot of them have.

Calling on more taxation.

There is a growing movement in America, an added Tax movement. The Robin Hood Tax or The Wall Street Tax is the next big thing for gluttons for monetary punishment. This new tax would add tax onto Wall Street transactions. If any sane individual thinks that this would not have a detrimental effect on the Stock Market, they are gullible and economically ignorant. Any addition to transactions coming from Wall Street would hamper the degree and volume of daily transactions. This would have a negative impact on the formation and expansion of companies and corporations as they will stifle new markets and products. These new taxes, like all others, will be passed to the end consumers, YOU AND I. When a new tax or regulation is added to a transaction of a corporation, the owners of that company will want to reduce any interference in their ability to turn profits (after all everyone is after a profit). That is the reason most of us have jobs; to profit off of our skills and labor. The owners will pass their cost of compliance to regulation or the collection of new taxes down the line until it hits the product on the shelf where the end user, the consumer, picks up the higher price.

As an Anarcho-Capitalist, I understand that this is hard for some to understand and takes much more than a simple blog post by a relative unknown person for many to grasp the concepts I have laid out here. That is why I encourage further reading into the failure and immorality of taxation.  The works of Ludwig von Mises, Murray N Rothbard, Lew Rockwell and so many more are easily found online. Take the time and educate yourself. Learn and apply, it really is that easy.


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Tahmooressi and the Border Issue

The latest battle between political parties and their followers and pundits is the issue of Borders, Securing those borders, Immigration and Amnesty. It has in the past few months become the most visible topic by candidates, commentators and political junkies alike. The story of ex-US Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi has reignited this issue and has left myself with more than enough questions to the idea of borders and the sincerity of either political party and their adherents to the motives of their stances. The idea of borders, definable lines arbitrarily drawn on maps and fought over, has consumed the airwaves.

As always, the issue is made to be seen as only two options. Pro Immigration and Anti Immigration or Pro-Amnesty and Anti-Amnesty. The first option is to allow amnesty to persons already in the country "illegally" and the second is to continue deportation and criminal charges against those living in the United States borders without having gone through the immigration process, the "legal" way as they call it. The line these two beliefs draws is apparent and approachable by yet other paths. The history of immigration into the United States is riddled with laws, regulation, restrictions, hate, fear, death and hypocrisy. Beginning the Idea of America on the act of Immigration, Genocide and Conquest doesn't lend well to the history of immigration into this country and the resulting years and decades since the first Illegal Alien stepped foot on American soil. If we were to respect borders of any countries our military armaments would rust and its soldiers be taken back to private employment. If one reduces this issue down to its base it is a belief that one person may have say over the movement of another, this is to say that one person holds rule over another, or that any government have the right to restrict travel in any way.

We have seen wars fought over land, deaths in foreign countries in the name of this land and a new breed of bigots and hypocrites arise from the simple act of movement and travel around the globe. The mainstream accepted idea on immigration is to subject other human beings to tests and health restrictions, to perform up to certain levels, to curtail freedom and to allow themselves to be robbed of wealth in the process. Every year hundreds of people die in an effort to reach "The Most Free and Most Prosperous Country in the World". They die in their attempt to reach a land that promises freedom and prosperity, they die for a lack of freedom to enjoy a better life, they die for a lack of freedom to move about the earth unhindered and uninhibited. The act of Legalized Immigration is an act of barbarity and exclusivity.


To say you believe in the closing of borders, demarcations of land used in exclusion by one government entity, You have not only barred any entering of outside persons but have also confined oneself to the same rule. You have created your own prison.

The economic theory behind the want of closed borders is this. As more and more immigrants come into this country they will, without fail, turn and send these American dollars outside of our borders. In a proper understanding of Economics this isn't seen as a negative as any country that bars it's currency from foreign circulation fails to have that currency to buy products from the foreign markets. If this theory were to hold water, countries would have difficulty acquiring goods from foreign markets for lack of foreign funds. Now one might say to convert these currencies would be the answer and to reduce trade to currency exchanges and money manipulation. There is also the prohibition of allowing workers into trades within a country. Lower skilled workers who enter into a foreign marker make much lower wages, while this is seen on its surface as a negative, is actually a positive. Lower wages equal out to lower costs and in effect lead to lower prices. "Let's look at the problem of immigration from another angle. There exists a market demand for low-skilled cheap labor. Part of this demand is being met by outsourcing of jobs overseas. The rest is met by vast numbers of immigrants coming to this country. Illegal immigration is the market supplying a demand. A demand is being met and satisfied. When viewed this way, how is this a problem? This triumph of the market is not in itself a problem." says Wade A. Mitchell

Now to the Hypocrisy Part.

Ex-US Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi sits in a jail cell in Mexico for this very act, and the hypocrites on every side of the political aisle are in fervor for his release and an escape from the very laws they seek to impose on their own borders. The Marine, who had been visiting friends had supposedly come upon a border crossing station and checkpoint run by the Mexican Federal Government. Tahmooressi alledges to have informed the guards that he had registered weapons in the vehicle and had just made a wrong turn. Enforcing their own laws the border agents arrested Tahmooressi and the ensuing battle over his release has brought a new wave of nationalistic border builders and wall wishers. Whether Tahmooressi had or had not meant to cross into Mexico and whether or not he informed them of his weaponry, the Mexican Border Agents did the job of upholding their national law. This law may not be agreeable to me but it is to those that wish to "secure" the US's borders in the same fashion. It is hypocritical to say that a man from America should be released from custody yet scream and push for the same actions from your own border agents and administration.  This is the real gap in reasoning I see in the issue.

The gap in this is the face of the issue, subjective value and nationalism. Nationalism, to believe that the nation of your residence is befitting a higher status and therefore more rule over any other. The Subjective Value to reduce a mans worth and the worth of all others to the geographical location of their birth. The happenstance of birth in any place of the world  does not predispose one to a higher place in the world or a higher rule over others. It should not be seen as a benefit or hindrance where one is placed on the earth and it should not be restricted or inhibited in any way to any place he wishes to travel.

The issue of borders can best be seen from afar. Space. In the pictures of earth from above there are no borders, there is only earth, all of us together, all of us combined in this experience.

Minimum Wage Law

The Minimum Wage hurts both businesses and workers alike in that it takes away the right of them both to come to mutually beneficial terms of employment. Below is a recent conversation I had with the Manager of a local grocery chain. As I explain how the minimum wage laws hurt the contracts between company and workers, it also fails to allow services to be rendered at a rate of agreement and forces businesses to comply with rules and laws, mandates and edicts of government agencies that are not present at the time or place. 

Me: Hello I wanted to find out if you were hiring at the moment.
Store Manager (SM): We take applications and fill spots according to the need.
Me: Great, I noticed the parking lot was full of shopping carts and wanted to offer my services for retrieving those carts. I assure you my rate would be sufficient and according to the skills involved.
SM:Your rate?
Me: Yes sir you see I would willingly accept $4 per hour until the job was complete or until a specified time had passed, your decision,
SM: Oh no we cannot do that, that is well below the Minimum Wage set by law, I am sorry but there is no way.
Me: Would you deny me to make any wage simply on an edict of a federal and state agency that is not present at this time or place?
SM: Sir, there is nothing I can do, they set the rate at which I am supposed to pay employees.
Me: And is that fair to either you or the employee? I ask, if I were to say that $4 per hour is what it would cost to have my services, which are needed by the state of your parking lot, and that wage would sufficiently support myself, why then would you deny me a chance to use my skills to earn a wage simply on the arbitrary and unfair rule that takes away the right of companies and employees to come to mutually beneficial terms of employment?
SM: It may not be fair but that is the law and this company will not skirt the law in order to hire cheaper labor.
Me: The company willingly gives away it's right to mutually beneficial terms of employment contracts on the will of a government office that is not present, leaving customers swerving to miss your shopping carts, and then you can deny a man who offers services to help not only you but your customers the ability to earn a wage that is fair and agreeable?
SM: Sir, I am sorry I cannot help you in your search for temporary employment, rules and laws are there for the protection of the people...
Me: Excuse me sir but how then is the minimum wage law helping either me or you in this instance?
SM: Well it isn't in this instance but what you are asking is not normal, a low wage for work is almost unheard of.
Me; I assure you my decision on that number is equal to the amount of skill I have in the matter compared to the time it would take to do the job and given the need for the service the wage seems more than fair, wouldn't you agree?
SM: Well yes but that isn't the point, the point is that we cannot have you on the books at that wage...
Me: Fantastic, I will work for cash money, that would insure neither the company nor I would have to pay taxes on that money, what a fantastic idea.
SM: Sir, No we cannot do that.
Me: Why not, it was your idea. Let me be completely honest, I didn't come in here to bother you with all of this, I just wanted to see how the common company would refuse a person a wage on the edicts of a government agency, against the better judgement and benefits of both parties. I thank you for your time. Good afternoon.
SM: Good afternoon to you as well.

What are you paying for?

The raging wildfires in California brought up a unique point to my wife and she asked me to expound on it here.

When the people of this nation are extorted for billions of their hard earned dollars every year, when they are forced to pay the privilege of subservience, there is some level of belief that the funds they are paying in are going to be used for somewhat basic needs and variable necessities. But what if it doesn't? What happens when everything you thought you were funding is actually a farce? What is to be made of the fact that even for that belief in the priorities of the government your money is not being used in the ways it is advertised to you? What happens when a person is further hurt by the inefficiencies of government and their misuse of money?

Taking the recent wildfires raging in California as an example. The people whose homes are on the edge of destruction are probably expecting some sort of government intervention based on the money they have been forced to pay for services currently held in monopoly by the state and local government. But what is happening? The fire departments are deciding which homes to save and which ones to overlook. So who decides on the triage status of these properties? Who gets to decide if a home is to be saved or allowed to be destroyed? How should those people who have paid for a protectionist service such as a fire department be compensated for the inability of the department to provide the service they are intended for? What recourse do those that have now paid for services, and not received appropriate actions from these mandatory services, really have?

The same can be said of police departments and their "services". If a man is injured or killed and has paid for these protectionary  government agencies, what now happens to reclaim losses or injuries? The agency has obviously not performed a duty right? The police slogan being to protect and serve, the first mentioned duty as protectors has not been provided. In the instance of a man being robbed, the police are in most cases called after the act has taken place, these crimes go mostly unsolved as clues can not or will not (willfully) not be found. A great deal of what police officers do are what is known as reactionary measures. This means that police by and large do not stop crime from happening but merely respond after a crime has been committed. They try to recreate a scene and to collect information to further an investigation of the matter. This leaves people to still be victims and no recourse for the inability of police to "stop" crime from happening. Now this problem could be solved by the hiring of a private security force, to dispel any threats against the life and property of a contracted client. Mostly wealthy individuals choose this route as their preferred choice, knowing that in the instant a threat is made their personal protection agency and its enforcers are there to act. So what happens if a private security firm fails in their actions. The contract, if written to include clauses, could provide all recourse measures, including recuperation of monetary losses.  


It is a failure of government that highlights the free market alternative for fire and police services. In a world where people are free to choose their own protection and not be forced to submit authority or be extorted for money to fund mandatory services, a market of competing and cooperating companies is possible. Think of a service that includes the service of fire suppression and prevention for a fee, by contract and with means to collect losses if they occur. Think of a service that allowed person to hire security forces for themselves and to also collect looses on the occasion of breach of contracts or failure to provide adequate services to the contract holder. This is not so out of the ordinary or far fetched, it is simply a new way to look at the choices, preferences and right of association and contracts of free people and free markets. All the services currently held in monopoly by government can be provided in a market without the use of force or coercion.

Top Ten Capitalist Arguments – Explained

I found this rather interesting post on Reddit which sent me to this Liberty.me users profile. Ethan Glover gives an excellent rebuttal to this video trying to give a false impression of Capitalism.

It is not often that I respond to these things of such low quality as the video below. I vowed a long time ago that I am done with anarcho-communists. I do not debate them, and I do not talk to them. After many attempts of communicating with them, with 100% accuracy I was exposed to the most vile of creatures totally unable to act like adults, or even like human beings. I don’t like to generalize entire groups. I was sent a message by an anarcho-communist with some very helpful and enlightening information that gave me a better understanding of their philosophy once. Will Moyer, a leftist, wrote a brilliantly put together article that I responded to in “The Limits of Will Moyer“. But any efforts I have made to talk to them directly have resulted in the most pathetic and lowest of treatments.

The reason I so thoroughly enjoyed Will Moyer’s article is because, unlike the video below, it was not full of SCE (sarcasm, cynicism, exaggeration). His article made his points directly and he proved that he had an understanding of “right libertarianism,” or synonymously, and more accurately to me, anarcho-capitalism. He did not mince words and was not afraid to go against libertarianism, but at the same time he did not treat his writing as a BuzzFeed Top 10 list. It was meant to be of high quality, and it was meant to be taken seriously.

The video below was made for attention and makes no attempt to understand capitalism, but rather it only illustrates a reconfirmation of biases. I respond to it only at request, and grudgingly so. If the video creator wanted to be taken seriously he would have sucked it up, cut out the childish SCE and utilized a little CHI (curiosity, humor, impudence). Or to put it in other words, there’s no problem with disagreeing and rejecting the arguments of others, but if you don’t want to be torn apart, try to have some fun and create a real discussion. This video, in its despicably low BuzzFeed sarcastic style, does not deserve a bit of respect. I’d be willing to point out the positives in all other cases as I did with Moyer, but this will simply be the crumpling and throwing away of an undeserving piece of junk.

A note on how to read this article: This is not a thorough break down of anything in particular. Rather, it is merely a response to a poorly put together, quick list of arguments against capitalism (which are actually arguments against socialism). For the best way to follow this article, watch the video one item at a time, and then read the appropriate response. For example, watch #10 from the video, then read #10 in the article. #9 from the video, then #9 in the article and so on.

10. Capitalism promotes innovation

Many people do indeed fall into taking easy jobs and not looking for upward mobility. Of course, the socialist answer is usually to force everybody into a single system of being equally poor. Not everyone is capable of being innovative, and not everyone wants to sit around playing the guitar all day. Most people take normal jobs that require simple work and live their life outside of work. Work does not have to be some amazing thing that we love to do, there are always going to be shitty jobs out there to be done. What we can do is allow adults to make their own decisions, and run their own lives. You simply cannot force everyone to be an artist. If everyone were innovative, there would be no such thing as innovative.

Not only that, but the source that the video uses to show that only 13% of people are disengaged at work is a worldwide poll. The four highest countries for most engaged are the United States (mixed-economy, partially capitalist), Canada (mixed-economy, partially capitalist), Australia (market economy, third freest economy in the world), and New Zealand (market economy, fourth freest economy in the world). The most disengaged? East Asia (which with the exception of newly capitalist systems such as China and Hong Kong, most countries in East Asia have socialist command economies), Sub-Saharan Africa (a highly underdeveloped region with a long history of socialism and communism), and South Asia (a highly liberalized area, it’s fastest growing nation, Sri Lanka recently took on some capitalist policies). [Source]

As for the source on people not responding to financial incentive? Massively taken out of context. First, the study found that when it comes to mechanical skills, people respond to financial incentives, and when it comes to cognitive skills people respond to different kinds of incentives, but we’ll get back to that. The economic law that says people respond to incentives is still true. If you don’t pay a programmer enough, he’ll quit for a higher paying job. However, once the pay is good enough, he’ll start to look for other incentives like the ability to be autonomous and creative. What does this mean? High value employees are capable of demanding more, and do so. This is something we have found through capitalism. It is the still generally free market in the software world that has recognized this. This is why you see such incredible innovation in the workplace in places like Google and Amazon. This has been known for a long time, this research is only repeating what has already been discovered in, and put into practice in the free market.

Within the highly capitalist software industry, this is also where you see things like Apache, Linux, and Wikipedia. Large open source projects that are dependent upon free labor and donations. The “open-source way” does call for people to lead projects, but it also welcomes free labor. Open source has become one of the best ways for young people to gain experience and work with big projects. This is why they’re so popular. It provides an opening, and the people who are at the top, leading the project and running the show? They’re being paid. Of course, they’re being paid. It’d be silly to think that wasn’t the case. Open-source is a huge industry. All of this is a part of the free market. Being free of charge has nothing to do with socialism. This entire video is an idiotic misunderstanding of a simple word that can be looked up in the dictionary in about two seconds. Socialism means collective ownership. Guess what? The Wikimedia Foundation, The Apache Software Foundation, and Linux distributions such as Fedora? All owned and operated by full time employees.

Queue the canned rants about “global inequality” and how it’s not fair that everyone doesn’t have the same piece of the imaginary pie. First of all, wealth is not distributed, it is created. It is the socialist nations who end up poor. It is not the fault of capitalist nations that that is the case. It is the fault of the governments for holding people back and not allowing them to adapt to the world and build better lives for themselves. Second, you don’t need to be rich to innovate, the greatest innovators throughout the world come from humble and poor means. It is their striving to build something that pushes them into innovating in the first place. Does this mean it is capitalism itself that promoted that innovation? Sort of, on a general scale. But take it down to the individual scale as the video has, and it’s more because those innovators wanted to get rich and share their ideas.

Then there’s the idea, that’s repeated many times throughout the video that “capitalist education” destroys creative thinking and critical thought. Of course, the video is ignorantly referring to public schools, the exact thing it had just called for by saying that we are more than capable of providing education for everyone.

9. Free markets increase economic development

Immediately after saying the word “free market”, the video starts talking about the IMF, World Bank, and Free Trade Organization. These are not free market organizations, and it must be said that it is impossible to force free market on anyone. At that point, it is by definition, not free, nor capitalism. People must be able to trade among themselves freely in order for there to be a free market. You’d think that’d be obvious, right? It then suggests that protectionist policies such as anti-trust laws and banking bailouts are good for economies, and all the evidence that shows that protectionist policies are only to protect special interests (shocker!) don’t matter.

On the internet being a major innovation, let’s consider first where innovation on the internet has come from. To the government, the internet was nothing but a tool for the military, they had no idea of its power. It was only until the private sector started building on it that it became what we know of today. The internet that the video refers to is pure private sector. Not only that, but just because entrepreneurs use roads to drive to work, that does not mean the government is responsible for their innovations. In the absence of government, roads will still exist, just cheaper and more efficient. If the government never created the “internet”, it still would’ve been created, probably by the same private sector contractors. The internet and GPS, today, are old technologies that are only useful to the average person because of innovative entrepreneurs in the free market.

8. Markets are a rational means of organizing economic life.

The fact that the U.S. wastes so much food is a sign of prosperity (obviously). That prosperity comes from better technology and a (relatively) free market. The starving nations around the world (which are mostly under socialism and dictatorships) lack the agricultural technology that countries like the U.S. do. Even still, countries like the U.S. continue to send them food and care, causing their populations to rise disproportionally to their technology. This only makes things worse than they are. Socialist programs of just giving things away with no consideration as to the consequences and potential alternatives (such as abandoning intellectual property and business regulations that may allow companies to help these countries) are what cause the mass poverty in poor nations.

The New Deal (mentioned in one of the videos sources), by the way, destroyed the economy and it was only after Roosevelt’s death and the removal of his policies that the economy recovered from it and World War II.

As for planned obstination, this is primarily caused by inflation, which is caused by central banking. As the dollar loses value, people have less to spend, so they demand cheaper products. Companies respond to this demand by making… cheaper products. In order to do this, they must use lower quality material. This is as opposed to the post world war two era in which socialist public works programs were being dismantled and the pent up economy went through a major boom. This was an era in which cars, clothes and appliances were made to be very sturdy and long lasting. Today, people simply cannot afford such things and must choose lower quality products.

These cheaper products do not generate more profits, because they are lower priced products for lower priced material. Without planned obstination, there would be higher priced products with higher priced materials that would be more durable, and would not be replaced nearly as much.

When Keynes said that technology would lead to 15 hour workweeks he ignores the entire purpose of technology. Technology allows us to advance society. As technology rises, we create different kinds of technological jobs. The purpose of technology is not to create an imaginary, impossible Peter Joseph world. It is to raise the standard of living and to solve problems. Robots have replaced menial factory line jobs and have allowed more people to take on more challenging jobs in robotics and electronics. This is a positive that the video was complaining doesn’t exist from the very beginning. You don’t create more challenging jobs by playing the guitar for no pay, you do it by innovating in the free market to meet customer demand.

The videos source, which complains about people working longer hours, makes no mention of things like inflation and high tax rates. The countries mentioned such as the United States, Canada and Japan all have some of the highest individual tax rates in the world. As always, the socialist answer is just to pass regulation to shorten the workweek, which inevitably leads to mass poverty because no one can afford to live and afford all the socialist publics works programs at once. As for the article on “bullshit jobs,” it’s just a lot of complaints about necessary jobs and how the author wishes he could spend his life doing nothing productive.

You can work as long as you want, the free market (again) is by definition free. The market isn’t some magical being that doesn’t let you do less work. It is, however, inefficient and bad for the people to hire 100 people to work for half an hour each. To quote the video, “How stupid is that?”

The claim that everyone is working “bullshit jobs” to buy “bullshit products” is.. well.. bullshit. It’s entirely subjective opinion. My smartphone is not a bullshit product, nor is my laptop. I don’t own any bullshit products, because I don’t choose to buy products that I think are bullshit. I think socialist books are bullshit products and a waste of money. But some people don’t, so be it. Nobody “makes me want” anything, that again, is a bullshit argument. If you buy one thing over another, that does not make you superior, that makes you human.

7. We can prevent bad business practices through ethical consumerism.

The very first argument is that the media (state controlled) is advertising products to people and are, therefore, catering to the evil corporations. Advertising, overtime, has become much more subtle, internet marketing is about advertising products to people who already want that product. This has happened because people have begun to ignore advertisements, this is why adless mediums such as Netflix have become so popular over things like cable.

Yes, vegging out on the couch and watching TV is bad for you, but will it program you to go out and buy stuff? No. In the end, it is the individuals choice and responsibility to do so. Everyone, including the commentator of this video, has found a great product that they like (and is, therefore, subjectively not bullshit) through advertising. Advertising is not only a great way to drive down costs of certain things like YouTube (ads are the reason it’s free) but it’s a great way for us to discover new products that we might enjoy. A personal lack of self-control is no reason to vilify the entire thing. That’s like saying Mountain Dew should be illegal because I enjoy it too damned much.

But, the point of saying advertising is bad is because companies won’t advertise their own bad practices. Yes… that’s an actual claim. At no point have I ever heard a capitalist claim that companies should self-police. What I have heard is that the market is capable of self-policing. This means that there is no need for government intervention. Especially when there are things like Consumer Reports and the thousands of systems for product review out there such as with Amazon and eBay.

Just because single products bring multiple products together, it doesn’t mean a thing. Individual products and companies speak for themselves. What the video is referencing (but coyly doesn’t mention) is the “business practices” of companies in foreign socialist nations in which workers are treated like cattle, thanks to bad economies and regulations created by their governments.

At the end of this rant, the video says you can only vote with your money if you actually have any money. This shows a total misunderstanding of what voting with your wallet means. First of all, politics currently control and dictate most business products, especially things like food. Businesses can not cater to their customer because they are either held back by protectionist regulation or must use protectionist regulation to get ahead. Voting with your wallet has nothing to do with moving companies actions by yourself, it’s about making your own decisions. Yes, this gets increasingly harder as countries become more socialist, that does not negate the purpose.

6. Government regulations address the question of bad practices.

No. They don’t. They create them. This is not capitalism, it’s got nothing to do with it. What the video complains about is actually socialism.

Capitalism: The possession of capital or wealth; an economic system in which private capital or wealth is used in the production or distribution of goods and prices are determined mainly in a free market; the dominance of private owners of capital and of production for profit.

Socialism: A theory or system of social organization based on state or collective ownership and regulation of the means of production, distribution, and exchange for the common benefit of all members of society; advocacy or practice of such a system, esp. as a political movement.

The enforcement of collective ownership and social organization is government. The government, through socialism, chooses certain companies over others by creating protectionist regulations.

“Worker control” already exists due to government regulation, they’re called unions, and they only make things worse by deluding supply and demand.

5. Don’t you buy things from corporations? Doesn’t that make you a hypocrite?

No.

4. Capitalists put risk into their businesses.

It was challenging for Nazi’s to take power, and because it’s challenging to start a business, then it’s wrong? Wait, what if it’s challenging to build a socialist system that doesn’t collapse in five years? Does that make it wrong? This has nothing to do with challenge, it’s about the fact that when someone puts blood and sweat into building something, you can’t come along and claim that it somehow equally belongs to everyone on earth.

People voluntarily build businesses, other people voluntarily work for those businesses. In the same way that this video creator thinks you’re stupid for buying a smartphone instead of socialist literature, he thinks you’re stupid for working for a private company rather than working for the government or a cooperative. It is actively saying that you are too dumb to manage your own life and instead, your life should be run by a British teenager on the internet.

Socialists want to exercise their power over others by destroying systems that everyone explicitly agrees to and is perfectly happy with. Thankfully, they’re unwilling to take the risks of gaining actual support and tend to enact what they want through groups like the democratic party in the hopes that one day, the government will put a gun to your head and tell you that you own nothing, no matter what your personal beliefs are.

3. Living standards improve overall, even for the poor.

Living standards improved under Nazism and Fascism, therefore, it’s not a good thing that living standards improve under capitalism. Again, the video is going immediately towards the Nazi’s and saying, “Look, they did it!” If the video claimed that socialism improves living standards for the poor (as it does temporarily) I could claim the same thing. What’s more important is that capitalism and free trade permanently raise living standards and does not lead to mass famine and poverty as socialism and Keynesianism does.

Argentina has always had economic troubles and experienced the usual boom bust cycles that any Keynesian economy does. There’s nothing wrong with worker cooperatives and are perfectly welcome under capitalism. If they work, if they can meet customer demand, then they are totally OK. I would love to see more attempts at cooperatives, but only if they compete on the free market where people can decide which is best. It is important to mention that there are both pros and cons of co-ops. It is also important to remember that the customer is more important than the employee. This does not mean it’s OK to commit criminal actions against employees, but to say that working is a personal decision that is about serving others for the sake of future personal benefit.

2. Capitalism is the result of human nature.

First of all, capitalism has existed for at least 150,000 years. Second, of course it came after humans, humans created trade. Capitalism being a result of human nature has nothing to do with genetics as the video author very well knows. It’s about the fact that trade is a part of communication. It’s what allows us to build societies. The division of labor is the entire reason modern society exists.

Communicating with others and having friends has nothing to do with communism.

Communism: A theory that advocates the abolition of private ownership, all property being vested in the community, and the organization of labor for the common benefit of all members; a system of social organization in which this theory is put into practice.

The video is trying to suggest that capitalism means you can’t live with friends, have relationships or communicate. However, it is in communism that it becomes impossible to solve disputes because there is no recognition of ownership. Such a society quickly devolves into a primitive state.

Capitalism does not force you to charge your friends to help you to move. This, as the video creator and everyone on earth knows, is a ridiculous thing to say to begin with. Capitalism thrives on, and asks for cooperation, it is built on cooperation. Competition is not the opposite of cooperation, nor is it the only foundation of capitalism. And yes, competition is natural, if it weren’t, sports wouldn’t have been around for well over 4,000 years.

And then we get back to how public schools are capitalist schools. Over and over, this video talks about socialism and calls it capitalism. The public education system (which this video creator should adore) teaches an over exaggerated idea of “sharing is caring”. They do not teach fundamental reasoning, negotiation and critical thinking skills. If we had a capitalist education system, there surely would be plenty of schools that did just that, but alas, we have a socialist one.

1. Capitalism is the only system that’s possible.

No one is saying this. In fact, it is very rare to see capitalism today. It certainly does not exist in the US or UK. But the video doesn’t talk about that and the historical effects of socialism. Instead, it queues the pictures that are purely a result of the tragedy of the commons and the lack of private property. When all land is unowned, people have no incentive to take care of it.

It’s been proven time and again that the environment is not headed for collapse, and when the economy collapses it is often due to Keynesian practices and central banking which creates ridiculous and unnecessary boom/bust cycles.

The only need for social change is the need to get rid of government to allow people to act like adults and make their own decisions instead of bending to these ridiculous “common good” arguments that have never had a lick of actual reasoning behind them. (Mostly because there is no such thing as a common good, it’s an impossible concept.)

The only way you’re ever going to convince everyone that all companies should be cooperatives is to force it on them by regulation. The fact is that structured companies, which are responsive to the customer, not some bratty socialist employees, will always out compete them and the customers will always choose them as superior businesses.

As for anarcho-syndicalism in the Spanish Civil War, this system was indeed forced on those peaceful non-criminals who did not want it. The punishment for using money was death. There is no possible way to force a particular kind of anarchy without the use of coercion, in which case, it is inevitably a state. Of course, this is only in the few areas that anarchy was established. In the grander sense, the Spanish Civil War was fought between Nazi and Italian Fascist supporter Dictator Francisco Franco against the Soviet Union.

I get that anarchy makes places better than they are, I’m sure those parts of Spain under anarchy were in a better position than being under a long series of dictators who were constantly at war for the entirety of Spain’s history. Is this really the best case for “left libertarianism?” If so, it’s got nothing to stand on.

Conclusions

In reality, this video gives no real arguments against capitalism and why it is criminal. There are a lot of arguments against socialism and the usual whining of, “Why isn’t everyone as economically ignorant as me? I’ll make them that way!”, but nothing with any real content.

When the video says not to use, “rehashed, terrible phrases that mean nothing [that] are often completely inconsistent with reality” it ignores the fact that the video uses a stereotypically wrong view of capitalism pushed by socialist government and it ignores the realities of economics, something socialists like this have never been able to get straight in their entire history.