Steve Jobs: The Beauty of Capitalism

                In our society, it is quite often that those who succeed are thrown under the bus.  Often, the leaders of big business are shown to be lying, dishonest, disloyal, and utterly immoral cheats,  and to some degree, there are quite a few that are.  The fact is that there are some CEO’s that are getting paid millions in bonuses that were paid for by TARP and the Bailout.  Honestly though, I can see no reason why we should expect anything different – there was a reason they were in need of it to begin with.  When you give a drunk a filled keg, do you expect him to use it wisely? 

                But, the fact is that in our society, we also have some of the most valiant human beings who run big businesses.  I can think of no better example than the late Steve Jobs.

                For Christmas I received his biography by Walter Isaacson.  Though I haven’t finished, I can’t help but find it very interesting how the man himself represented the American Individual.  While Jobs wasn’t the ideal man – none of us are – it can’t be denied that his whole intent and being was very much like the rugged Individual that we believers in Capitalism take heart to. 

                Contrary to the popular idea that CEO’s are all about money, Jobs was just the opposite.  It’s actually quite funny to read some of the conflicts that he came into with those who were simply in the computer business for the money – he hated them.  For Jobs it was about beauty, art, and the desire to create something that would last and that would revolutionize humanity.  Much to the chagrin of some of his co-workers, he stayed with that belief whether it took him to bankruptcy or not. 

                However, this is the story of what Capitalism allows us to do.  Capitalism, that is not crony-controlled, has shown itself to be the place for great Individuals like Jobs.  Can it be argued that the man was not strong willed and ambitious?  No.  But then could he have done it if he had been hindered by government regulation?  Could he have been able to compete had the government subsidized IBM or even Microsoft?  That is something that we can never know, but we can look to the past and see that Individuals are squashed by the government intervenes either way. 

                And that is why Jobs is the proof that Capitalism is the greatest, and only moral, economic system.  Were there any such people in the Soviet Union?  No, the greatest inventor there was perhaps Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK47.  And beyond that there was never true innovation as was seen when the walls came down.  What of North Korea?  Cuba?  I believe we can collectively laugh at that thought. 

                We have fallen away as a society and a people from realizing what is staring us in the face.  The Crony-Capitalism is not going to stop until those who are in control are taken out, when people are given a chance to do as they want, and when we have a Free Market and Laissez-faire Capitalism once again.  Until then, the Steve Jobses of this country will become a dying breed and that should make us all sigh with despair. 

We Must Defend Capitalism Morally

                Too often do we Conservatives end up forgetting that many people are not governed solely by Logic and Reason.  Whether it is a sad fact or not isn’t the issue.  Rather, what has harmed many and has left many would-be-Free-Market-defenders declawed is the fact that for the most part, the defense of it has been based only on logic.  While all the facts and theories stand in our favor, they still leave us wanting.

                The fact remains that we are in many ways left open to the attack of Morality.  What are we supposed to do when a socialist responds to our logical claims for the free Market with, “Well what do you think Jesus would want us to do?” or “It is the responsibility for each of us to give to his fellow man,” as justifications for Welfare and the rest of the social safety nets?  In many ways we can’t say much.  With many of us being followers of some religion or another, we can’t help but recognize the fact that our faiths desire us to be charitable. 

                And so this is why there is a need for an ethical foundation for Capitalism.  We cannot hope to gain support merely by battling with Logic – we are not merely analytical, cut and dry creatures.  As humans we possess an inherent need to have some moral guidance in which we can apply to our daily lives.  And so it is necessary for us to show how Capitalism is the only Moral economic system in existence.

                Here we have to look at all the other economic systems.  Communism, Feudalism, Socialism, Welfare statism (which is really just a branch of socialism), and then the Mixed Economy are all immoral in their own way.  In Capitalism, all men are given equal rights.  One man isn’t viewed by the government as more worthy of protection than another.  With this asserted, we have to see how men are treated in this system.  In Capitalism, Individuals trade as that – Individuals.  They aren’t serfs sacrificial to the king are they?  They aren’t the Individuals sacrificial to the Commune are they?  No.  This is why Capitalism is the only Moral System, instead of a sacrificial animal, he is a man, and he is an Individual who can’t be coerced by Force. 

                How can the Left fight this morally?  The Jesus issue isn’t even relevant because Jesus would never have Forced anyone to do anything for the “Greater Good” – that  was their choice.  The responsibility to each other doesn’t mean that we should be forced to do things for others – that would be our choice.  Socialists would say they wouldn’t force Individuals to do such things, but it is a lie.  In Socialism and Communism the only way they achieve their ends is by force and violence.  For proof of such, look at Russia. 

                It is time for us to embrace this approach.  It time for us to fight the Left with an appeal to both logos and ethos.  We will never convince and defeat every collectivist, but we can do better than we are.  It is time for the idea of the Controlled economy to be destroyed and that will only be done by this – proving that Capitalism is the ONLY Morally correct economic system.  Until we embrace this, we will fail.