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Anjali Iyer

In Defense of Capitalism

Growing up, I was raised under the strong belief that any political extreme is poison. Fascism, communism, the two extremes of the political spectrum were depicted as the fatal, poisonous huckster’s crutch in my early years. Since then, as I have chosen to start building the foundation of my individual political beliefs on the grounds of conservatism, I have noticed a slow, but definite increase in societal hatred towards capitalism. Often times depicted as the structural opressant posed against anyone of a low socioeconomic or minority background, I am now taking to defend a system that has showered humanity in its money making glory and reveal the truth behind the thick curtain of misconceptions and false imagery.


“As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer” This tired, debunked claim has been used as a weak shield to protect the values surrounding communism, and why some members of society have taken to attacking capitalism and the free market. In actuality, this could not be further from the truth. As humanity continues a steady progress, there hasn’t been a better time to exist as a member of any socioeconomic bracket then in the present day. Due to the incentivising nature of capitalism, which entails that to incur more money you must offer a good or service to those around you, those of low economic backgrounds are now getting rich faster than ever before.


King Louis the 14th, was historically renowned for his extravagant eating habits, in which 40 elaborate meals would be presented to him and he would select one that most appealed to his appetite. When compared to the modern secondary sector worker, it’s undeniable that they have the ability to select their own food from a wider and higher quality range of products for a relatively low price. This is not due to any government or United Nations instilled programme or otherwise. This is due to the free market’s ability to organically nurture ingenuity and innovation which results in a clear snowball effect that benefits all classes of our society.


While it may seem highly plausible that capitalism is in fact beneficial for the poorer members of society, the argument sounds materialistic and greed based. But not only is the desire to satisfy our human greed beneficial to the people some claim capitalism negatively affects, but it is also in our human condition to appeal to materialistic goods, and anyone who claims otherwise is a hypocrite beyond reasonable proportion. As mentioned before, a capitalist society ignites invention and development with the expectation to improve society in exchange for profit. So essentially, anyone who believes that the free markets and capitalism needs to be abolished, should be more than able to bid farewell to any upcoming technology or initiatives that will be produced twice as slow in a government controlled environment. Initiatives could’ve in fact try to slow down climate change, or perhaps help deliver food to families trying to cross the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh.


On its basic level, capitalism and the money based incentives that the free market provides does seem to span in the opposite direction our school wants to move in, but as proven before, that simply is not the case. Yes, capitalism is not the “win all” of economic systems, especially considering how the profit motivated nature of corporate capitalism is sometimes morally questionable. Rules, regulations and government intervention when necessary will help companies be kept in check. If we have learnt anything from the benefits capitalism has rewarded humanity with, it is that capitalism will incentivise the people who are able to create a change and lead our world in the right direction to actually do so.


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