The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF

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epair trade are crowded out by the students of Lei Feng, theywill lose their jobs and suffer hardship.In no way do I oppose the study of Lei Feng, as he helpedthose in need, which for society is a positive, even a necessary,activity. However, the requirement that the service of others beobligatory creates incoherence and disorder and distorts thevoluntary spirit of Lei Feng.In our society there are those who are quite cynical, and whodetest a society that, in their estimation, elevates money aboveall else. They think that those with money are insufferable andthat the rich view themselves above the rest of society, while thepoor suffer for the sake of humanity. They believe that moneywarps the normal relations between mankind. As a result, theydesire to create a society based on mutual service, free from talk ofmoney and prices. That would be a society where peasants plantfood without thought of reward; where workers weave cloth forall, also without reward; where barbers cut hair for free; etc. Issuch an ideal society practical?For an answer, we need to turn to the economic theory ofresource allocation, which requires a digression of some length.To make it easier, we could start with a thought experiment.Consider a barber. Currently, men get their hair cut every threeto four weeks, but if haircuts were free, they might go to thebarber every week. Charging money for hair cuts better utilizesthe labor of the barber. In the market, the price of the barber’sservices determines the share of society’s labor devoted to thatprofession. If the state keeps the price of a haircut low, then thenumber of those seeking haircuts will increase, and accordinglythe number of barbers will also need to increase and other jobsmust be reduced if the total labor force is held constant. What’strue of barbers is true of other professions.In many of China’s rural areas, the offering of free services isquite common. If someone wants to build a new house, theirrelatives and friends all come to help with the construction. Thatusually happens without payment, save for a large meal servedto all those who helped. The next time one of the beneficiary’sfriends builds a new house, the one who benefited the first timeoffers free labor as a form of repayment. Repairmen often fix49
electrical appliances without charging, expecting only a giftduring the Chinese New Year holiday as compensation. Such nonmonetaryexchanges cannot accurately measure the value of theservices offered. Consequently, the value of labor is not efficientlydeveloped, and the division of labor in society is not encouraged.Money and prices play an important role in the development ofsociety. No one should hope to replace emotions such as love andfriendship with money. It does not follow, though, that love andfriendship can replace money. We cannot do away with money justbecause we fear that it will erode the bonds of human emotion.In fact, prices expressed in money are the only method availablefor determining how to allocate resources to their most highlyvalued uses. If we maintain both monetary prices and our highestemotions and values, we can still hope to build a society that isboth efficient and humane.The Balance of Self-InterestsSuppose that A and B need to divide two apples before they caneat them. A makes the first move and grabs the bigger of thetwo. B bitterly asks A, “How could you be so selfish?” to whichA retorts, “If it were you to have grabbed first, which one wouldyou have chosen?” B responds, “I would have grabbed the smallerapple.” Laughing, A responds, “If that is the case, then the way Iselected is perfectly in line with your wishes.”In that scenario, A took advantage of B, as B was following theprinciple of “placing the interest of others above oneself,” whileA was not. If only one segment of society follows that principlewhile others do not, the former is assured to suffer losses, whilethe latter will profit. If that continues unchecked, it is boundto lead to conflict. Clearly, if only some of the people put theinterests of others before themselves, then in the end this systemwill merely generate conflict and disorder.If both A and B look to the interest of the other party, then theabove mentioned apple problem would be impossible to resolve.As both would look to eat the smaller one, a new problem wouldarise, just as we saw in The Land of Gentlemen. What is true ofA and B would be true of everyone. If all of society, save for one50
Page 2 and 3:
The Morality of CapitalismWhat Your
Page 4 and 5: ContentsIntroduction: The Morality
Page 6 and 7: Introduction: The Morality of Capit
Page 8 and 9: China, Morocco, the United States,
Page 10 and 11: in a friendly sense.” 9 The word
Page 12 and 13: Marx saw the “bourgeoisie” as i
Page 14 and 15: usinesses rising and falling more r
Page 16 and 17: and one an economist, and an interv
Page 18: Section IThe Virtues ofEntrepreneur
Page 21 and 22: is why I was mentioning the sophomo
Page 23 and 24: our society are motivated by purpos
Page 25 and 26: promote microfinance in poor countr
Page 27 and 28: ownership of wealth, was highly str
Page 29 and 30: in the world for a couple of hundre
Page 31 and 32: without a strong business sector th
Page 34 and 35: lightning rod and Watt’s steam en
Page 36 and 37: Competition and CooperationBy David
Page 38 and 39: advocates of “back to nature”
Page 40 and 41: that the associations within civil
Page 42 and 43: For-Profit Medicine and the Compass
Page 44: Profit and CompassionThat’s too s
Page 48 and 49: The Paradox of MoralityBy Mao Yushi
Page 50 and 51: after assessing the situation, sett
Page 52 and 53: efrigerators and color TVs, are onl
Page 56 and 57: person, followed the principle of e
Page 58 and 59: if in return for A taking the bigge
Page 60 and 61: The Moral Logic of Equality and Ine
Page 62 and 63: equality in exchange is economicall
Page 64 and 65: eliminate or to establish inequalit
Page 66 and 67: earned by the poorest 10% of the po
Page 68 and 69: Adam Smith and the Myth of GreedBy
Page 70 and 71: them to lobby the state to create c
Page 72 and 73: strangers, but when we haggle for t
Page 74 and 75: Ayn Rand and Capitalism: The Moral
Page 76 and 77: the welfare state, which redistribu
Page 78 and 79: Welfarism: The Unchosen ObligationT
Page 80 and 81: Egalitarianism: “Fair” Distribu
Page 82 and 83: A worker is hired because of the an
Page 84 and 85: To live by reason we must accept in
Page 86 and 87: Economic outcomes in the market—t
Page 88: is a social asset is incompatible w
Page 92 and 93: The Market Economy and the Distribu
Page 94 and 95: no unfavorable, economic results. O
Page 96 and 97: owner, actual or potential, reflect
Page 98 and 99: losses prompted by the chance of, o
Page 100 and 101: We are not saying, of course, that
Page 102 and 103: well-being reflects a potentially c
Page 104:
discrepancies. The difference was c
Page 108 and 109:
Global Capitalism and JusticeBy Jun
Page 110 and 111:
preferences, and infrastructure. It
Page 112 and 113:
Human Betterment through Globalizat
Page 114 and 115:
any particular sophistication. Afte
Page 116 and 117:
These young people are returning be
Page 118 and 119:
etterment through exchange and the
Page 120 and 121:
of diverse cultures. In this manner
Page 122 and 123:
primitive magical-religious communi
Page 124 and 125:
to censure, repression, and margina
Page 126 and 127:
That is why the best defense of our
Page 128 and 129:
A Little Further Reading for Fun an
Page 130 and 131:
Dr. Tom G. Palmer is executive vice
Page 132 and 133:
14 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,
Page 134 and 135:
Index of Proper Names(Chinese names
Page 139 and 140:
The Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Fou
Page 141 and 142:
Students For LibertyA Free Academy,
Page 143 and 144:
Additional Resources for LibertyThe
Page 145:
“We need to change the narrative
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