The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF

Economic outcomes in the market—the distribution of incomeand wealth—depend on the voluntary actions and interactions ofall the participants. The concept of justice applies not to the outcomebut to the process of economic activity. A person’s incomeis just if it is won through voluntary exchange, as a reward forvalue offered, as judged by those to whom it is offered. Economistshave long known that there is no such thing as a just price fora good, apart from the judgments of market participants aboutthe value of the good to them. The same is true for the price ofhuman productive services. This is not to say that I must measuremy worth by my income, but only that if I wish to live by tradewith others, I cannot demand that they accept my terms at thesacrifice of their own self-interest.Benevolence as a Chosen ValueWhat about someone who is poor, disabled, or otherwise unableto support himself ? This is a valid question to ask, as long as it isnot the first question we ask about a social system. It is a legacy ofaltruism to think that the primary standard by which to evaluatea society is the way it treats its least productive members. “Blessedare the poor in spirit,” said Jesus; “blessed are the meek.” Butthere is no ground in justice for holding the poor or the meekin any special esteem or regarding their needs as primary. If wehad to choose between a collectivist society in which no one isfree but no one is hungry, and an individualist society in whicheveryone is free but a few people starve, I would argue that thesecond society, the free one, is the moral choice. No one canclaim a right to make others serve him involuntarily, even if hisown life depends on it.But this is not the choice we face. In fact, the poor are muchbetter off under capitalism than under socialism, or even thewelfare state. As a matter of historical fact, the societies in whichno one is free, like the former Soviet Union, are societies in whichlarge numbers of people go hungry.Those who are capable of working at all have a vital interestin economic and technological growth, which occur mostrapidly in a market order. The investment of capital and the use81