FREEDOM AND CAPITALISM

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

© April 2008, The Center For Development

The moral dimension of human beings is the most important one. Upon this aspect of our thoughts and actions depends what might be called spiritual growth or maturity.

The more that each person’s activities are pre-determined or controlled by laws, rules, regulations, prohibitions or mandates, the less each person is able to exercise moral judgment and the less he or she is responsible for behavior. As a result, freedom is an absolute requirement for moral behavior and development.

Many well-meaning people view the inequities in our society and immediately want to pass laws to correct them. Yet each law they pass stifles the individual more, reduces freedom and therefore reduces the opportunity for moral development. For this reason, many of the laws have counterproductive effects.

The socialist conception is the ultimate in this area. The government (the regulators) should own everything and tell everyone else what to do. Not only did this idea fail in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and so many other nations. It led to moral and environmental degradation in the worst way.

Capitalism did not start out as a way to “make money” or increase wealth. It came out of the concept of encouraging the people’s freedom. Since economic activity is a large part of human existence, it is a prerequisite for morally significant conduct. The following is a quote from a book review in The Freeman; Ideas on Liberty, March 2004, page 44:

“If what you do is coercively imposed on you – as per the zillions of government regulatory and tax measures of the welfare state – there is no moral significance to your actions. Only to the extent that such coercive force is escapable and human beings are able to act on their own volition is their conduct morally significant…

More precisely, only when we act freely are we able to exercise moral judgment. By extension, only in a capitalist economic system can there be a moral dimension to economic life. This also means, significantly, that there is no such thing as generosity, compassion or charity without liberty.”

In other words, forced charity through taxes in order to pay for “good projects” and “the poor” is not charity. It is coercion, even if that coercion is for a “good” purpose. It is appropriate to coerce children, for example, in order to teach them generosity, discipline and more. However, it is a different thing to coerce another adult in the name of the “greater good”. This is tyranny.

In children or adults, coercion can breed anger and resentment. However, in children it is a necessary problem. In adults, the resentment breeds moral problems because people rebel in adult ways that can harm oneself and others. This, in turn, can slow moral development.

Real charity and compassion require the liberty to act as one sees fit, even if it takes longer for the correct action to occur. This, of course, is one of the main problems of a “free” society. This term is relative, of course.

So when we complain about individuals or even corporations, we must recall the moral reasons for their existence. They are allowing individuals and groups of individuals to express themselves. This is a good, in and of itself. To the extent that they act irresponsibly, they can be controlled through the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission and many other groups. However, eliminating them or regulating them out of existence is not helpful for humanity, which needs to develop morally as well as physically and mentally.

The corporation is not just a moral solution to human existence, it has proven itself a practical type of organization. This is also important to recall, no matter whether you personally like working in or working with corporations. The vast majority of humanity does like working in and with corporate structures, or they would not be as successful as they have been.

These structures are largely responsible for our industrial and other kinds of development. This, too, is an important fact to recall. If they are regulated out of existence, as some desire, the consequences would be disastrous from this point of view. Please keep these points in mind when working in or with corporate structures.

It is possible is to alter corporate environments, and they have changed significantly over the years. This is the best hope for mankind at this time that I can imagine.

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