Ignore the hype,

I mentioned in my other posts some of Capitalism's Truths. The important thing to remember about those Truths is that they never change. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise no matter if they are a politician, social worker, or even the President of the United States.(oh...and especially if they are a college professor!) The naysayers are working overtime these days to mislead people; unfortunately they often do. The law of supply and demand will always work whenever and wherever it is tried. You increase the cost of anything and you will get less people wanting it. Likewise if you lower the cost you will get more people wanting it. Remember this the next time you hear a do-gooder trying to make the case that swift and certain punishments for criminals do not deter crime.

What's the cost of freedom?

On Memorial Day we reflect on those who gave our lives for our freedom. Capitalism's underlying theme is freedom. The question is freedom from what? In a Capitalist society freedom means having freedom from the initiation of force by others. That's why conservatives tire of hearing new welfare programs to help the "common good". The only way the government can give a $1 to someone is to take $1 away from someone else! That is initiating force against someone to take their money and give it to someone else. But it's not just the politicians in Washington to blame; we as citizens act passive and let them get away with such schemes. I expect the men in Washington to keep acting as they do as long as we remain passive.

For a good follow up, check out Capitalism.org's piece on freedom.

Who's really for the rich man?

Many anti-Capitalist liberals claim to be for the little guy, and also claim that conservative Capitalists are for the rich man. But if you look closer you'll find that many laws passed to protect the little guy, are really harming the little guy more than anything. For instance in most US cities a taxi license is required to start your own taxi company. Most often such a license is more than (sometimes considerably more than) $10,000. Before such a law was passed, poor people would often buy a old used car and provide taxi services as low as $1 per 5miles. That would benefit both the poor owner and the consumer. So when the license law took over the little guy was priced out of the market.
So who was responsible for pricing the poor man out of the taxi service? The answer is rich owners of taxi companies who wish to price out competition. So the liberal politicians pass licensing laws to supposedly protect people from poor customer service, but in the end kick the poor man to the curb at the rich man's request. So who is really for the rich man?

"Big Government" knows Capitalism is great,

This morning while in my car, I had my radio tuned to my local AM station 1510 WLAC which is largely a conservative station. It is Nashville's home for Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity; but this morning I heard a commercial sponsored by the EPA with a liberal message. It spoke about pollution to our water bodies on earth (lakes, rivers, oceans etc..) and how industry is partly to blame for it. I don't want to waste time debunking this commercial, but I do find it interesting that Big Government groups such as the EPA would choose to broadcast their ads on a conservative station. The reason of course is because the audience of conservative talk radio stations is fairly large. Therefore your ads will reach more people than on rival stations. This shows the hypocrisy of liberals and their Big Government buddies; they knock Capitalism while living by its principles every day!

For the naysayers,

Is money really the root of all evil? Is the pursuit of profit evil? Today's anti-Capitalists would have you believe the answer to both questions is "yes", but take a closer look. Did Henry Ford labor hard to create a automobile because he wanted to serve humanity? Of course not; he was pursuing profit. When you go to a nice restraunt where service is excellent, do you really think those restraunt workers go to work each day just to serve humanity? No, they go to work to satisfy their need for income. When we each pursue profit and income to satisfy our own immediate needs....the whole economy benefits. Adam Smith called this the invisible hand effect; everything falls into its most needed place when people have economic freedom. So you can see that Karl Marx was nowhere close on his judgment of Capitalism.

The most important part,

The main word to remember in dealing with any economic system is scarcity. That means that every resource (time, money, intelligence, etc.) is limited. That's why in America if you find a $20 bill on the sidewalk you are excited; we know that $20 bills are scarce enough to not easily be found without good effort.

Germany at one time, tried printing more money to cure the national debt. As a result coined and paper money was no longer scarce, so it wouldn't have made your day if you found a $20 money piece on the sidewalk; because money at that time was easy to find and therefore not worth as much. In fact one can of beer might have cost you as much as $500!. We've learned over time that the best system to deal with the scarcity monster is Capitalism.

How to think like a Capitalist,

If you are familiar with Capitalist thought, you know that we Capitalists encourage individual effort and ask that government aid be kept out of it. But why do we feel that way? Because we have come to realize that the government ruins things when it tries to help; we also realize that when people face difficulty they usually overcome it best by using their own intelligence. So whenever the government steps in to lift someone out of poverty for example, that person stops looking to their own intelligence for help, and begins looking to the government. As a result that individual stays in poverty while being dependent on the government's help.

Thomas Sowell calls this concept, "thinking beyond stage one". That's all Capitalism is nothing more, nothing less. If you think beyond stage one, then you are thinking like a Capitalist.

Thomas Sowell

Time,

When asked to name a valuable resource, most people say money. While that is a very valuable resource, many fail to see just how valuable the resource of time is. If you think back to why the price controls of gasoline in the 70's were such a nightmare, you'll see that it was because much of people's time was wasted waiting hours in line just for gas. The gas was cheaper in price, but not in cost. Time is not free.

The beauty of creation,

Not only do the anti-Capitalists criticize Capitalism in America, but they also blame Capitalism for the poverty stricken areas in the world. The thing they fail to notice is that any area in the world that enjoys a high standard of living, does so because of Capitalism. The power to create must be encouraged to promote Capitalism and thus a better standard of living.

So what do I mean by create? To some it means investing money made from a part-time job, to others it means purchasing a business, and some may even risk starting a totally new kind of business. When these kind of businesses succeed we all benefit, because they can only succeed by providing us with a good or service we enjoy.

Close enough to perfect for me,

Capitalism isn't perfect. But then again, nothing on this earth is meant to be perfect. Capitalism does happen to be the closest we can come to a perfect economic system on earth. We all have general wants to be met; we also realize that there are limited resources to satisfy everyone's want. So Capitalism comes in and gets the resources to the places they are most needed.

If you have someone you want to marry, they may act angry at times, forgetful sometimes, and downright hateful at times. To the others that don't love that person, such qualities aren't worth putting up with. But if they satisfy your want for companionship, those qualities are a small price to pay. So you say to yourself that your spouse is "close enough to perfect for me!". That's exactly how I feel about Capitalism.


"She kisses me each morning, and smiles a sleepy smile. She doesn't have to say it, I can see it in her eyes. Don't you worry about my woman or what you think she ought to be. She's close enough to perfect for me."- Carl Chambers

The poor,

We here a lot about helping the poor these days. But who is "the poor"? Sometimes it seems easy to determine...if one man has 0$ in his bank account our instincts want to call him "poor". But what if he's young and in good health? In America should such a condition be labeled as "poor"? A young man in America with no money and perfect health is envied big time by the starving children in the third world nations. What if that same young men gets a job, but it is only a job working fast food for minimum wage? Does that make him poor? Chances are that young man's grandparents who lived through the Great Depression would have loved to have such a job.....even if it paid below minimum wage!!!

Thanks to Capitalism, "poor" in America is considered rich to the rest of the world. Like Walter E. Williams often says: If a unborn spirit was condemned by God to suffer poverty on earth, but given the chance to choose it's place of birth, you could safely bet that the unborn spirit would choose America!

Using reason instead of emotion,

The next time you must answer a economic question, the main thing to remember is to use your mind instead of your emotions. The only reason some people don't believe Capitalism works , is because they are being led by their emotions. Your emotions will tell you the "compassionate" thing to do would be to pay for health care for the poor. But using your mind you see that the only way that would be possible would be to take away money from others. Which of course would lead to people no longer willing to invest their time and effort into being productive since it is going to be taken from them by the government. And when productivity ends, nobody suffers more than the poor. So you can see that emotions can destroy lives, but reason can save them.

Anti-Capitalists are misguided,

While listening to the Phil Valentine Show this morning, I heard Phil read a letter on the air from a labor union leader. This union leader was very critical of the "Capitalist system" he said it caused the poor to be forced to benefit the rich. He also claimed that instead of championing Captialism, the American people should focus on serving humanity or some such thing.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what is wrong about this guy's criticisms of Capitalism; there are too many errors for this one post to hold. To make it simple, let's just say that things are the exact opposite, than what he claims. The rich people (doctors, employers, CEO's) create such products as medicines and automobiles to get rich, but in turn these inventions benefit the not-so-rich man. Take away Capitalism- take away those benefits. Go to a third world country and you'll see the horror up close.

It's the way we're wired,

No matter what the anti-Capitalists tell you, we as humans are by nature Capitalists. For instance, once we reach 18 years of age we want freedom from our family, when it rains for days we want the sun to come out, and whenever we have to work with a unpleasant person we long for the day when we no longer have to. So what does all that have to do with Capitalism? Freedom. We want our individual freedom. That's what Capitalism does, it acknowledges that individual freedom is what creates the best standard of living. So it's not the longing of the greedy, the rich, and the famous that makes up Capitalist principles; it's the longing of the human spirit. It's the way we are wired.

Private property rights,

Capitalism recognizes private property rights. That includes privacy from unlawful government intrusion. Today many young people can't understand such a world; because in the past 30 or so years lawyers have trampled on private property rights. If a man buys land that is inhabited by a endangered species, then he is told by the government that he can not use his land for certain purposes. But you don't see such cases getting much coverage in the news media. Some people know of Rodney King and his mistreatment by police, but the same people could care less about a farmer in North Dakota having land he purchased taken from him by the government in the name of the "public good".

Small talk and big costs,

I've found that a good way to teach someone Capitalism, is to teach the basic principles over and over in a variety of ways. For instance, one of Capitalism's Truths is that when the cost increases for something people want less of it; when the cost of something decreases people want more of it.
My father (and many other fathers out there) always advised his children to "never argue about religion or politics". Regardless if you agree with my father's wisdom, he is using that Truth of Capitalism I've just described. The cost of having a political or religious discussion is often greater than the cost of discussing other topics. Often arguments or fights can start and valuable time can be wasted.
Sammy Kershaw explained this well in his song Politics, Religion, and Her. Here are some of the words:

" Politics can start a fight. Religion's hard to know who's right. And one more topic I won't touch...that one's her -- it hurts too much." -Sammy Kershaw

Capitalism and Truth,

My blog's name is redundant; Capitalism's core is truth. You should remember that whenever you see a price on something. Prices are a result of reality. If I take my temperature with a thermometer and discover that I have a fever, I can put the thermometer in a cup of ice and make the reading on the thermometer go down. But that won't help my fever a bit; same principle when prices are set by the free market. The government can step in and lower the price but that will not change the reality that brought about the original price.

Creativity,

How does a person make it in a free market, if they have limited resources? What if they are handicapped or poor financially? The beauty of a free economy without government restrictions is such people are free to use their imagination to make it. For instance one man without any money at all was able to use his past credit history to be leased a wharehouse where he rented to vendors. He payed his monthly rent on the profits that he made from vendors. Another woman who was in a wheelchair charged people to do paintings they requested.

Moral of the story: when the government leaves the people alone, they do much better than with the government's help!

Talk radio and the free market,

A good place to see our free market at work is in the talk radio industry. Basically conservative talk radio does well and liberal talk radio doesn't do well. The explanation? In a word capitalism; the consumers make the choice to tune in to conservative talk radio more often. Since shows such as The Rush Limbaugh Show do so well, advertisers pay big money to have their adds during the show. So when advertisers run out, so does the show. That hasn't happened so far to any of the major conservative talk shows. It has happened to several liberal radio shows including Jim Hightower and Mario Cuomo. The individual consumer has the power in our economy, and thus his happiness drives our economy.

Payday,

A lot of people wonder just why it is that a man like Mel Gibson can make millions doing his job, while others work a hard 40 hour week for a fraction of what Gibson makes. The question to ask yourself is why do famous people like Mel Gibson make millions. The answer is simple, consumers are willing to pay their hard earned money to see Mel Gibson perform. If I could convince the same amount of people to spend their money for a chance to see my writings, I'd make the same amount of money. But nobody values my writings as much as Mel Gibson's movies. This is simple enough, but suppose a government agency stepped in and forced you to spend money for my writings, so "equality" could be achieved and we both could make the same amount of money. What do you suppose million dollar actors like Gibson would do? That's right, they'd quickly drop out of the entertainment business since they could make the same amount with far less effort. And who would lose out as a result? The consumer who can no longer see their favorite actor perform. So you see again how the individual is the driving force in our economy.

Why Washington wants you econ-ignorant,

I keep preaching the basics of Capitalism, because the basics alone make people wise to the tricks of politicians and activists. One basic thing about wealth that many miss, is that wealth is created; it is not just sitting in the Vanderbilts' hands waiting to be given to whoever is lucky enough to be chosen. So if Washington isn't creating any wealth, where do they go to find created wealth to pay for their programs? They go to you and me the taxpayers. They take dollars away from us to give to who they believe should have a right to it.

Another basic truth that a lot don't know, is that outsourcing has been going on since the beginning of man. Outsourcing is trashed by folks who call it "taking jobs overseas", without ever considering just why outsourcing takes place. I could list a lot of reasons why it does take place but to save time suffice it to say that it is nothing new.When our Marines used the Navajo Indian's code to take Iwo Jima in WWII, you could say we outsourced jobs to the Navajo Indians that Americans could have done. But thanks to the Navajo Indian's and their language Major Howard Connor of the US Marines in WWII said: "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima."

It all starts with the dollar,

The amount of economic freedom that people have, is proportional to the amount of personal freedom they have. If you've read my past posts you know that the individual is the most important unit in a free economy, and economics is present in nearly every decision individuals make. So it stands to reason that if you tamper with economic freedom, (Capitalism)you also tamper with individual rights. Try looking up the countries with the most economic freedom sometime; then take a look at how the standard of living is in those countries. You'll find that the countries with the highest standard of living also have the most economic freedom.

The "People's Economist" explains anti-Capitalist nonsense...

To better drive home the point in my previous post click here to see Walter Williams explain the nonsense created by government intervention. By the way Mr. Williams has emailed me that soon he will link to my blog! I mention this, because his teachings and Thomas Sowell's are what inspired me to create my blog. If you like my blog, thank them!

The cost of Capitalism,

Since we can't avoid costs, wouldn't it make sense to minimize the cost as much as we can? That's exactly what Capitalism does; it allows individuals to make transactions on their own free will. But today, many busybodies (politicians, activists, etc.) have tacked on extra costs to such transactions. If Mcdonald's wants to sell you the coffee that you want, you are served a cup with a WARNING: CAUTION HOT label. On a iron you have a label reminding you to not iron your clothes while wearing them. Not only are such labels childish, but they add to costs of businesses, in turn costing the individual consumers. If Mcdonald's has to spend time and resources to make a speacial coffee cup, where do they go to get the time and resources. The answer: stockholders, employees, and consumers. Reminds me of a Garth Brooks song, where the drunk blames the beer bottle for his drunkedness:

"Long neck bottle Let go of my hand. Hey barroom mirror on the wall, go stare at someone else. Don't show the world the fool I am "-Garth Brooks

Something to think about,

I want you to consider a simple but true fact. I would bet dollars to doughnuts, that the blogosphere alone can better educate you(about Capitalism's Truths) than our friendly college professors at today's universities. (With the exception of the People's Economist, Water E. Williams at George Mason University). Take a look at David Limbaugh's piece here if you doubt that liberalism is on campus.

Capitalism in the criminals' mind,

Even criminals make economic decisions. When deciding where to stage a burglary they go to certain neighborhoods more than others; they also look for certain types of people to be their victims. Most often they look for unarmed people to become their victims. Why? Because the cost of committing a crime, is much lower (to the criminal) with a unarmed person. The law of supply and demand isn't just a money thing; it is a universal principle that applies to every economic decision made by any individual.

Economics, we knew it before we realized it...

Economics is fun to learn, if learned properly. To make it fun for others to learn, I help them see that they already know more than they realize. When I was a child I remember going on a vacation to Florida with my parents, brother, and cousin. Because there was five of us my parents decided to rent a van to give us more space. However both me, my brother, and cousin saw the opportunity to bring more of our things (floats, games, toys, etc..) with us because we had enough space in the van to do so. My mother joked about "renting a bus next time", and my cousin wisely replied: "that still won't work...everyone will just bring more stuff".


Though he was only a teenager, my cousin understood one of Capitalism's Truths. When the cost changes, so does peoples' behavior. What happened on our vacation is what happened to the gas stations in the 1970's. The government artificially held the gas prices low, so everyone decided to take advantage of it and buy more gas; that's why waiting lines got to be the norm in those days.

Now can you see that you knew Capitalism before you may have realized it?

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." - Henry Ford

Is the mainstream media for Socialism??

Click Here! to see anti-capitalist thought in The Tennessean written by columnist Dwight Lewis. I want the readers of my blog to be educated, so I spend little time (if any) talking about other commentators. But for those of you who may just be learning Capitalism's Truths; I want you to see that our mainstream media does have a Anti-Capitalist bias.

"Whatever form it takes, we need some kind of movement in this great nation of ours. The reason: Too many people have been left behind. " -Dwight Lewis (in above article)

The problem with Lewis's statement is that Capitalism leaves nobody behind. In a capitalist society like ours you can't fail if you offer goods and services that people want. It's all how you serve your fellow man that will make you or break you.

Want further proof of liberal bias in Tennessee's media? Take a look at The America Mind's website.

Dwight Lewis

Results based economics...

Change is certain in everything including economics. We know that gas prices go up and down over time, and that a computer created in 1993 amounts to a fraction of the cost of a computer created today. But do we ever think that people's behavior change whenever prices do? Some of us don't take heed to it, but it is certain that people's behavior will change as the prices do. We've seen the results of such price changes time and time again. But results don't matter to the econ-ignorant; only good intentions count.

Let's say you have your favorite TV show that comes on Monday nights at 7pm. If that show gets moved to Tuesday nights, do you think your behavior might change? That's a no-brainer
of course; you will make all the necessary changes to be able to watch television on Tuesday instead of Monday. So why is this same concept misunderstood when it comes to prices? It's the same principle when gas prices were lowered by the government in the 1970's; people's behavior changed. As a result of people's changed behavior, waiting in line for hours to get gas was normal for nearly everyone at that time.

Moral of the story: Don't look at intentions to determine decisions...look at results.

"The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measure anew every time he sees me, whilst all the rest go on with their old measurements, and expect them to fit me."
-George Bernard Shaw

Capitalism - worth every thin dime

The beauty of capitalism is that it benefits everyone. Even those without a lot of money. For instance I don't have a lot of money, but when looking for a woman in my life I can compete with the old rich guys even though I don't have as much money; for the simple reason I am younger and more attractive than old guys. Also if I sold pencils on the street corner that were shoddy compared to those sold at Wal-Mart, I could compensate by charging you a lower price to buy my pencils.

Gene Watson taught this better than I ever could in his song Paper Rosie. In the song a old woman named Paper Rosie sold paper roses for extra cash, but since they were made of paper she only charged a dime.


"The sun goes down in Calvin county.Neon lights from an old beer sign, shown through the window out on the sidewalk.As I walked in to pass the time;I looked around, sat down at a table.Ordered beef on rye and a glass of wine.And through the door came a little old lady.She was selling paper roses and they only cost a dime.Paper Rosie, Paper Rosie. She sold you Paper Roses. But they only cost a dime"

"Like a breath of spring I could smell the rose.It came alive and I heard her say.Buy my Roses, pretty roses.They're only made of paper.But they only cost a dime." - Gene Watson

Tradeoffs not solutions,

Economics can put someone to sleep (even me), if not explained in a simple and thought provoking way. So I work hard at helping people see that the basics are all that a person must understand to grasp economics. One basic rule to remember is there are no solutions only tradeoffs. For example if I have high blood pressure, I can take medicine.....some would call that a solution to my problem, but what they overlook is that taking medicine has the cost of side effects; some of which could lead to death. But weighing my risks the greater risk would be to not take anything; consequently I take the medicine with the small risk of harmful side-effects.

I can also choose to not buy mother anything for Mothers' Day this week. I would save money for me, but also create a unhappy mother. If I can eliminate the guilt and frustration of having a unhappy mother, I can benefit by saving money. But since I value my mother's happiness more than a $10 bill in my pocket right now; I'll buy her something. I will satisfy my want of mom's happiness, and her want of a Mothers' Day gift.

A good lesson in Capitalist thought.

My local host Phil Valentine has a excellent article here explaining the anti-capitalist attitude of environmentalists. He explains the reason electric cars haven't yet taken the place of the gas vehicle.

A fellow Capitalist,

I recommend checking out Rudy Rummel's blog;he is a college professor in Hawaii that understands the truths of Capitalism remarkably well. He has always been good helping out yours truly, whenever I emailed him. If you like Walter Williams' economic teachings you'll like Mr. Rummel as well.