Capitalism vs. All Other Systems
Capitalism has all of the positive values of the Judeo-Christian systems The West is built on, without any of the contradictions.
Many religions say things along the lines of “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime”. Religion and its teachings took man from the cave, dancing at the sky in hopes for a fish to land on his lap, to a stage of introductory thinking and planning.
Society owes a great deal to religion.
Capitalism takes man a step further by telling him “Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime, but teach a man to barter his excess fish and his children will be able to buy their food and use their newfound free time to study math and science, so his children's children can take that math and science to create machines to feed themselves and a million more men.”
Christianity, being the most widespread religion in the United States, will be discussed to connect with the most readers, but these same issues exist in all forms of predeterminism and by no means do we mean to pick on one belief. Systems like Judaism and Christianity greatly benefitted society in many ways but their contradictions led the population of this country (and the world) to a philosophical base with cracks in the foundation that is therefore easily exploited.
The 10 Commandments being the general rules of Christianity will be explored as they are the essence of the system. Here you will see how some commandments created a path forward for a system like Capitalism, while some still leaned on the old systems of the past that damned man to predeterminism. Of the 10 Commandments, 6-10 are proper guides while 1-5 are contradictory to reality.
#6 Thou shalt not kill
This is a valid concept that is also explicit in Capitalism. The Capitalist knows that no one is entitled to an unearned value. A human life is the ultimate value and you are not entitled to eliminate a human life unless your own life is at stake in a moment of self-defense.
#7 Thou shalt not commit adultery
This is a valid concept that is also explicit when the principles of Capitalism are applied to a situation of adultery. The Capitalist knows that contractual law i.e. marriage, is to be held to the utmost respect otherwise there is no foundation of Capitalism.
#8 Thou shalt not steal
This is a valid concept that is also explicit in Capitalism. The Capitalist believes that the only way to deal with people is to offer them value for value. Therefore stealing is not permitted under Capitalism.
#9 Thou shalt not bear false witness
This is a valid concept that is also explicit in Capitalism. The Capitalist knows that the liar may win in the short term, as none of us are all-knowing, but they will eventually get exposed as they do business with more and more people.
#10 Thou shalt not covet
This is a valid concept that is also explicit in Capitalism. The Capitalist believes that you are not entitled to the unearned. If you want something you do not wish or envy to obtain it, you go create value that others are willing to exchange their value for, until you can afford (deserve) that value.
Now compare these to the contradictory commandments.
All of the commandments below are the reason for religion's dwindling influence which is leaving a vacuum filled by collective leftwing extremists.
#1 & #2 False Idols/False Worship
Religion claims there is an all powerful being watching over you. There is a god or being beyond your understanding and the way men find nature that is not for you to question, just blindly believe. Telling men not to question something goes against their nature. If it is true, it will be true after questions are asked.
#3 Name in vain
Religion claims there are things you can’t say because there is an all powerful being beyond your understanding and the way man finds nature watching over you. Telling men they can’t say certain words goes against their nature.
#4 The sabbath
Religion claims there is something beyond your understanding and the way man finds nature so you must submit your time (time is another word for value) to a church for what may or may not be a value to you. Telling men they can’t move freely without use of their judgment goes against their nature.
#5 Honor thy parents
This commandment tells you to give value even if no value return is promised and therefore naturally anti-capitalist. Note that it is proper for any being (a child) that relies on another (a parent) to exist, to operate within the desire of the one providing that life-sustaining value. So Capitalism demands that the child who is taking value i.e. shelter and food returns equal value i.e. behaving how the parent desires. However, telling men to honor someone no matter what goes against their nature. Should the abused child honor his abuser and give value where none is returned? If your beliefs cannot be equally applied to all circumstances, there is a flaw somewhere in your logic.
The better systems like Judaism and Christianity, Democracy and Republicanism, rose to the top because they offered the most common sense systems at that time.
As Christianity explained above, the systems with the most rules based on reality won, but even the best examples only get it right about half the time. Extremists can make claims on these systems because they all have elements of contradiction leaving the benevolent followers responsible for the few lunatics who hold them hostage by means of their own belief systems. That primary belief is living for something other than the self. Religions ask you to sacrifice the self for an all-knowing “god” while the political systems ask you to sacrifice the self for an all-knowing “public good”.
None are proper systems.
Capitalism is the only system that lets men make any choice they see fit, so long as the rights of others are not violated. If his choices align with reality and the reality of other men, he can reap a great reward and live a comfortable life without force upon others or force placed upon him. If his choices do not align with reality it is only the individual who bears the responsibility.
Capitalism is the only system we can ask someone to believe in wholeheartedly and know we have the proof to back it up. The proof is America. The nation that has embraced Capitalism the most. No other recorded time on earth, since our formation, has seen more people lifted out of poverty and life expectancies rise.
We can still honor the systems of the past that got us to where we are today while being good stewards of the world that they built, applying new and better systems we discover, not just in the hard sciences but in the politico-economic realms as well. That relatively new discovery is Capitalism and it it must be brought to all of the world’s people. The citizen of a free nation does not clamor for war or need a nuke as it brings him no benefit, the citizen of a collective nation can only hope to acquire wealth by force. Do you want a world with no need for war? No quarter must be provided for any system but Capitalism.