QUORA *: ‘Does laissez-faire capitalism want to abolish social programs, etc.?'
I posted this answer, slightly edited for clarity:
The answer is no. Laissez faire capitalism does not “want” to abolish social programs.
Before we go any further, let’s define our terms. Laissez faire capitalism, properly understood,** is the social system based on the principle of separation of economics and state, in the same way as we now separate church and state; meaning, the government is constitutionally forbidden to establish any economic activity, but protects every individual’s right to engage in economic activity--to work, contract, and trade with others--so long as he doesn’t violate the same rights of others. A laissez faire capitalist social system operates under a government that protects individual rights--that is, leaves individuals free to make their own decisions. Laissez faire means simply, “Let us alone.” The Government’s job is to police the markets against force, fraud, breach of contract, etc, but otherwise not interfere in people’s voluntary economic decisions and associations.
Laissez faire capitalism does not and can not “want” to do anything. It leaves people free to do as they want, within the context of a government of individual rights-protecting laws.*** Under laissez faire capitalism, social programs, including educational institutions, are perfectly legal and within the rights of citizens to establish and run. Government protects this right of voluntary association, but has no other role. Whatever social programs individuals choose to establish are privately run, membership is voluntary, and funded strictly by voluntary means. Every individual is free to choose which social programs to join or contribute to, if any, and those who choose not to participate are free to peaceably go their own way.
What is not allowed under laissez faire capitalism is for the government to forcibly impose social programs and fund them through taxes. As to the current assortment of government-imposed social programs, they would not be outright abolished. Instead, the government’s role would be phased out****, and the programs would be privatized and voluntarized. Whether each particular program would continue under new, private management or be ended would depend not on the government but on whether people as private, rights-respecting individuals want to continue them.
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* [Quora is a social media website founded by two former Facebook employees. According to Wikipedia:
Quora is a question-and-answer website where questions are created, answered, edited and organized by its community of users. The company was founded in June 2009, and the website was made available to the public on June 21, 2010.[3]Quora aggregates questions and answers to topics. Users can collaborate by editing questions and suggesting edits to other users' answers.[4]
You can also reply to other users’ answers.]’
** [The true nature of capitalism is buried under mountains of misconceptions and misrepresentations, even though capitalism in practice is evident all around us in virtually any decision we make that doesn’t involve government coercion. To balance the intellectual scales, I recommend Andrew Bernstein's books, The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Economic and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire and Capitalism Unbound: The Incontestable Moral Case for Individual Rights.]
*** [Rights are guarantees to individual freedom of action according to one’s values and in pursuit of one’s goals, with the condition that one’s actions do not violate by force or fraud the same rights of others. Rights are not an automatic claim on goods or services or “opportunities” that others must be forced to provide.]
**** [I want to stress phased out, which could take years or even a generation, depending on the program. To abruptly end these programs, which millions have largely organized their lives around, would be cruel and chaotic.]
Related Reading:
The Dollar and the Gun—Harry Binswanger
Why Capitalism Needs a Moral Sanction
QUORA: How can I make communism more feasible in our society?
Capitalist Solutions: A Philosophy of American Moral Dilemmas, by Andrew Bernstein
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