This video, by LibertyPen, is an appearance Margaret Thatcher made on Firing Line in 1977, which was two years before she became Prime Minister of Great Britain. She was talking about ‘Capitalism and a Free Society’. The whole video is great but the part that really jumped out at me starts at 4:27. Mrs. Thatcher talks about the difference between American politics and British politics. Below is the money quote from the video. Oh how times have changed.
“I think in many ways American politics are very different because you have two parties based on a free society, or free enterprise society and economic freedom. We have one party based on that, one main party, and another one based on socialism.”
Mrs. Thatcher’s statement about American politics couldn’t be uttered in 2016. Today we can safely say the Democratic parties ideals are in harmony, if not goose step, with socialistic ideals. And since around 2000, the Republican party has and is basing its actions on socialistic ideals, even though its platform doesn’t reflect its new direction. The inside the Washington beltway Republican establishment talks a good game when it comes to smaller government but its actions don’t back up its rhetoric. If what a person values is revealed by his actions, then we can safely say that both parties value ideals that are based on socialistic thinking.
Over the last seven years President Obama has increased the size and scope of Government with no opposition, and in some cases help, from the “small Government” Republican party. When both parties increase the power of Government, what are the options for people who understand individual liberty, the rule of law and free markets?
Since it is hopeless to change the Democrat party, your options are, either start a third-party, or take over the Republican party and purge it of the big government established leaders like Boehner, McConnell, McCain, Graham, Cantor et al. Since election cycles are every two years, this will take a long time. I think the third-party option has a higher cost in terms of time and credibility. Incrementally taking over the Republican party is the best option, and the seeds of this take over have already taken root around the country. How important is this job? This quote from F.A. Hayek spells it out.
F. A. Hayek: “The battle for freedom must be won over and over again. The socialists of all parties must be persuaded or defeated if they and we are to remain free men.”
Where would we be today if the insurgency against big government hadn’t started in 2009 with the tea party and liberty groups? The gains by Republicans at the State and local levels (click here Republican Stranglehold On State Government) is a direct result of the grass-roots insurgency. The insurgency is led by people who believe in such radical ideas as individual liberty, free markets, and constitutional limits on government. It will take time for this limited government insurgency to trickle up to the Federal level. Senators Cruz, Lee, and Paul, along with the forty or so members of the freedom caucus that forced Boehner out of the House speakers position were born out of this bottom up change.
Bottom up change has a better foundation than top down change. Most peoples world view is based on the shifting sands of emotion not logic. Changing a persons vision of the world is difficult, which is why it happens at the individual level. It is personal. It starts and ends one conversation at a time, one person at a time, and it isn’t easy.
Just remember, as you start to walk through a tunnel, it gets darker and darker with every step. Just keep in mind that when it’s darkest, you are half way to your destination. Don’t give up. Keep moving forward, because you don’t realize how far you’ve traveled when you’re in the dark middle of the journey. Take some motivation from this quote by Ludwig vonMises.
Ludwig von Mises: “The history of mankind is the history of ideas. For it is ideas, theories and doctrines that guide human action, determine the ultimate ends men aim at, and the choice of the means employed for the attainment of these ends. The sensational events which stir the emotions and catch the interest of superficial observers are merely the consummation of ideological changes. There are no such things in rather misleading terms, a “turning point in history” is the coming on the scene of forces which were already for a long time at work behind the scene. New ideologies, which had already long since superseded the old ones, throw off their last veil and even the dullest people become aware of the changes which they did not notice before.“
AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT 
Pope: “Capitalism Lacks Morals And Promotes Selfish Behavior”
September 24, 2015The Pope will address a joint session of congress Thursday morning. Except for about 50 of the members, all will be in agreement with the Pope’s understanding and dislike of capitalism. Our Congressman and Senator’s anti-capitalist politics comes from being educated in anti-capitalist universities. The Peronist Roots of Pope Francis are the reason for his anti-capitalism politics.
BACKGROUND
Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires Argentina in 1936. Juan Peron was the President of Argentina from 46-55 and gave his political movement the name Peronism. Peronism rejects the extremes of capitalism and communism and is considered a third way. The Justicalist Party is the party of peronism. Justicalist comes from the Spanish words justicia and social, the English translation being social justice. The Pope’s formative years were during the Peron era. Of course Peronism didn’t go away when Juan Peron was deposed in 1955, the ideology is still alive today. You can read more by clicking on the words above.
SOME DEFINITIONS
Lets start with a few definitions before we talk about the Popes comments about capitalism. Capitalism means private ownership of the means of production. Socialism means state ownership of the means of production. In a capitalist economy decision-making power over the use of capital is dispersed among the people. In a socialist economy decision-making power over the use of capital is concentrated in one person of a small group of people.
Communism and Nazism are examples of state ownership of the means of production. The U.S., as founded, was an example of private ownership of the means of production. Do you think that either Chinese communism or U.S. capitalism, as they exist today, fit the definitions of socialism or capitalism? No! As constituted today they are third ways just like Peronism. Almost all countries are middle grounds moving toward or away from capitalism or socialism. The middle ground between capitalism and socialism is chaotic, just look at the world today.
LETS LOOK AT THE POPES COMMENTS ABOUT CAPITALISM
Pope Francis: “Capitalism lacks morals and promotes selfish behavior.”
Capitalism lacks morals?
Only individuals can be moral. Capitalism is an economic system that is neither moral nor immoral. It’s analogous to Governments. Governments aren’t moral or immoral, only individuals in government can be moral or immoral. The Pope should understand this because Christianity teaches individual salvation. Each individual is reconciled to God through Christ. There is no group salvation.
Capitalism promotes selfish behavior?
Every individual by nature is selfish. Does capitalism incentivize {promote} selfish behavior? Since we don’t live in the Garden of Eden (we messed that sweet deal up didn’t we?) where everything exists in abundance, where do all the things we need and want come from? They have to be produced. To get what you want, you can produce it yourself, exchange what you have produced for it, its owner can give it to you as a gift, you can steal it from its owner, or you can have someone else steal it and give it to you in exchange for something they want {your vote}.
In a free market capitalist system you must first produce before you can consume. Capitalism incentivizes production and exchange. In order for you to get what you want from another person you must first produce something that they want and offer it in exchange. You have to give before you receive. Isn’t this the golden rule of Christianity. How can the Pope not see this?
I think the Pope looks at our current middle ground between capitalism and socialism and thinks this is true capitalism. He, like many individuals in positions of power think this way. Their ignorance in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. It only becomes bad when they enact policies in this state of ignorance. These policies influence and affect the lives of billions of people.
Here is the difference between capitalism and socialism. In a capitalist economic system, the means of production are owned by millions of people who are all selfish. The damage selfish people can do in this system is limited, first because decisions about capital are dispersed among many individuals, and second an individual can only be selfish for a while before he goes broke. In a socialist economy, where the means of production are owned by the state, a small group of leaders make decisions about the means of production. These people at the top haven’t traded in their pitch forks and horns for a halo and wings. The damage these selfish people can do in this system is unlimited, first because the decisions are one size fits all and are disastrous if wrong, and second because they can remain selfish in their pursuits no matter the results.
The Pope needs to stick to his ordained mission of mercy and reconciliation and stay away from economics until he reads Mises, Hayek and Rothbard. Until he does, he is speaking from a position of ignorance about economics. The Pope is not alone in his ignorance. He will be speaking to a group of people today who are in the same state of ignorance about economics as he is.
Watch this short video I posted last week titled, Is Capitalism Moral, by Walter E. Williams, it is informative.
Here are two great articles about the Pope’s ideology.
The Left Has Its Pope, by Thomas Sowell, at jewishworldreview.com.
Pope Francis’ Fact-Free Flamboyance, by George Will, at jewishworldreview.com.
Categories: Econ. 101
Tags: Capitalism, Juan Peron, Means of Production, Peronism, Pope Comments About Capitalism, Pope Francis, Pope Speaks To Congress, Social Justice, Socialism
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