by William Banks

Created on: September 16, 2010   Last Updated: September 17, 2010

There is no denying that capitalism is and has been under attack in this country for the last century. Our current representatives in DC are just the latest insurgents in a hard fought political war. In as far as I'm concerned, if their main goal is to crush freedom, they needn't fight any more. You would have to be naïve or dishonest to mistake our current system for a free marketplace. I think it's time for the other side to quit being so modest. Capitalism has been defeated and replaced with a system that is increasingly controlled by a centralized, all knowing political elite.

So what, right? I mean, doesn't capitalism promote human suffering and greed? If not for the courageous, statist, so-called “liberals” our son's would be enslaved to work the mines while our daughters would be prostituted to the highest bidder. I am told that freedom is slavery and that to think is stupid. They (politicians) have saved us from ourselves. They have sold millions of people the line that it is better to be owned by them indefinitely then choose to work for someone on terms negotiated and freely agreed upon by myself and another man. They have made the case for 100+ years that without them and their monopoly on violence I am nothing. It is better to except a welfare check from my benevolent master than work for less than what they say I'm worth.

So if capitalism is so evil, how did it become the American system. Were we duped by “robber barons” into buying magic beans? No. The truth is, we invented capitalism. Our Founding Fathers were concerned with private property rights above all else. Under a system of British Mercantilism, which was ironically, remarkably similar to the modern US model, Colonial wealth was continually being taxed away so that English men could eat and the King could expand his empire. After many decades of abuse our courageous Founders had to read the writing on the wall. The government protection they received for their obedience eventually took on the feel of British military men guarding property, instead of kin. They had to face the truth. As long as they were Englishmen they would be treated as slaves. That they were nothing to their fellow countrymen but exploitable flesh.

So here's the scoop. Capitalism chose the US. It is the only system mankind has come up with that is based on individual sovereignty. Capitalism combined with a political system rooted in just laws is the only way that government and freedom

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