Why Capitalism is Selfish--and Why That’s Good

Barry Brownstone has an article in the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) titled People Are Less Selfish Under Capitalism, with the subheading “Why individualism and free exchange make people more altruistic and trustworthy.”

It’s even worse than it sounds. Brownstone flat out declares, “capitalism leads to altruism.”

When people are free, as they are under capitalism, they work for their own benefit, which is each individual's moral right. The government is limited to protecting this basic right to the pursuit of happiness, by protecting man's individual rights--including the right to free trade, in which people exchange value for value, each motivated by his own selfish interests. Under socialism, the individual's interests are subordinated to the collective good, as determined by the state. He must always be ready to have his interests sacrificed in the name of the “collective” or “common good.” Since selfishness means the pursuit of self-interest, and altruism means the sacrifice of self-interest to "others," which social system would one logically conclude is selfish and which altruistic? 

Capitalism sanctions selfishness in a legal climate of free, uncoerced, voluntary trade. That is its greatest moral strength. Socialism enforces altruism at the point of a legal gun: That is its greatest moral evil. Ayn Rand proved these truths beyond any doubt, by properly conceptualizing selfishness as virtuous and altruism as anti-life—and thus provided the desperately needed moral defense of capitalism. 

But let’s be clear. Rand advocated rational selfishness, the reasoned pursuit of self-interest in conjunction with respect for others’ pursuit of their self-interest, as opposed to the conventional (and false) understanding of selfishness as callous exploitation of others. It’s true that capitalism fosters efforts to provide values to others. But this is not altruistic--that is, self-sacrificial--because the values are provided to others in the context of achieving one’s own happiness by expecting a value in return. It is the ultimate form of people getting better, and prospering, together. She showed how selfishness, and thus capitalism, fosters mutual good will and respect for the rights of others, and why altruism, and thus socialism, kills it--and why this is not paradoxical, but common sense. Despite her great accomplishment, many conservatives long ago threw Rand under the bus—and have been losing to the socialists ever since. If altruism is better than selfishness, then socialism wins, hands down.

No one with eyes and ears believes the nonsense that capitalism is altruistic. It's true that capitalism "shows the way" to greater brotherhood and humanitarianism. And yes, generosity increases along with the growing prosperity capitalism fosters. But only because of respect, not duty. A person’s moral right to say no to “sharing the wealth” is protected under capitalism. None of these social attributes is possible because of altruism, which says your moral duty is to live for others. How can anyone feel brotherhood when he sees all his efforts drained away by his alleged brothers, whom socialism says they are entitled to? How can one trust such “brothers?”  Generosity, brotherhood, and humanitarianism flourish only because people’s moral right to live for their own sake is protected; because capitalism protects the inherently selfish inalienable right to selfishly pursue one’s own happiness. Pro-capitalists should be explaining why this is so, rather than denying what everybody can readily observe to be true. Instead, conservatives keep pedalling this stale old line. As long as they do, they'll keep undercutting capitalism and its defenders.

Related Reading:

QUORA *: ‘Is Ayn Rand wrong about altruism?’

QUORA: Is Ayn Rand's 'Selfishness' 'the middle between altruism and selfism?'

Books to Aid in Understanding Rational Selfishness

Capitalism and the Moral High Ground by Craig Biddle

Why Capitalism Needs a Moral Sanction