Lessons from India - Part 2

Now, a few comments on Mr. Sabhlok's article.

Starting with:

Whatever else is true about capitalism, this much is clear that never did John Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith, J.S. Mill, Ayn Rand, F.A. Hayek, or Milton Friedman advocate unbridled capitalism or freedom. It seems that socialists like Marx and Nehru have badly sullied the reputation of liberty. The socialists have repeatedly alleged that capitalism caters to so-called ‘capitalists’ and gives them unbridled powers to exploit the weak. But that is totally false. Philosophers of liberty have always insisted that freedom comes with responsibility and justice. Adam Smith opposed mercantilism and monopolistic industrial interests. David Ricardo wanted more competition and free trade. Adam Smith and J.S. Mill advocated labour unions to face the economic power of the owners of industry.

Love it. I am just getting into really reading the classical economists, and regardless of what the press or modern economists would have everyone believe, "the invisible hand" of Smith is not used to praise the mysterious wonder of laissez-faire capitalism. The "Lost Legacy" blog I link on the blogroll goes into much more detail, including that "Adam Smith was never linked to laissez-faire in his lifetime; he never used the words and, if anything, considered those who used them, such as the French Physiocrats in the 1760s, too extreme in their ambitions for commercial economies", and that the term 'capitalism' was not invented until almost 80 years after the writing of Wealth of Nations. Smith was first and foremost a moral philosopher, an recognized the need for law and justice to protect the many from the vices of a powerful few.

Next:

By repeating lies against liberty long enough, socialists have made it appear that the system of natural liberty encourages corruption and things like the sub-prime crisis. But what are the actual facts? Capitalism begins by looking at human nature. The fathers of capitalism, Hobbes and Locke, pointed out that since human nature is far from perfect, some people will always try to cheat, mislead, and misuse their powers. So if anyone cheats, then systems of justice should catch and punish the cheats. Thus everyone must be held equally to account and no one is to be above the law. In this manner, by ensuring all crimes are punished, capitalist societies are today among the most ethical on this planet.

True - mostly. The rest of the article continues extolling the superiority of free economies to their corrupted and controlled counterparts. While it is all true, there may be a few omissions about the not so great aspects of capitalism, particularly as it is currently practiced in America. There is a problem with corporate giants that get "their guys" elected or appointed to government positions, then use lobbyists and the dangling carrrots of campaign funds to ensure the government works for them. Marx was right about powerful business using government to strengthen its own interests to the detriment of the working class. And he was also right in his prediction that while capitalism would increase wealth, the spread between rich and poor would grow exponentially. These are enormous current wrongs with our current system that need to be set on a new trajectory. And no, that does not make me a Marxist.

At the end of the article, the writer mentions the lack of virtues being taught to citizens. This begins to really get to the core of my own developing philosophy, and I hope to explore it in greater detail in the posts to come.