Capitalism Revisited (Show 051)

For show 051, Mosley starts by reading a quote from the essay What is Capitalism? in “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal” by Ayn Rand. He then elaborates on this, discussing the basic nature of capitalism and its practical significance in our lives. Here is the quote below:

Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.

The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force. In a capitalist society, no man or group may initiate the use of physical force against others. The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force; the government acts as the agent of man’s right of self-defense, and may use force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use; thus the government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of force under objective control.

So what do you think? Do you have any arguments against capitalism? Feel free to share. This is a forum for people to express their thoughts and maybe learn something new.

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