Celebrating Good Capitalism

We stopped by the Bush Bean Museum on our way to the Smoky Mountains last weekend. I thought it just sounded like a random, quirky, and free place to visit, but I left with an appreciation for the underlying values represented by the museum. A large part of the museum simply showcases the history of the company as they overcame hardships, innovated new canning technologies, and came up with foods that customers wanted to buy – basically, a shining example of good capitalism.

We need to celebrate more examples of good capitalism, because bad capitalism makes more noise and unfortunately leads many people to think that capitalism is inherently rotten. We have old fashioned thievery and corruption (Enron, et. al.). We have accusations of negative externalities ruining livelihoods (Monsanto). We have generic cries against greed in environments that appear to be zero-sum where one party gets rich by taking from another (bankers, et. al.).

So when people start thinking that’s the only way to get rich, it’s so important to remind them that natural, uncorrupted capitalism is a system where individuals get rich by providing goods and services to other individuals who choose to pay for such things because both parties expect the transaction to make their lives better. Additionally, good capitalists follow laws about cheating, stealing, and lying, and those who don’t are punished either by the law or eventually by customers refusing to purchase the goods or services any longer. Now libertarians sometimes think good capitalism exists in more places than it really does, and liberals often accuse them of believing in fantasy, but it’s incredibly important to recognize that good capitalism is not only possible to exist, but that it does exist. I simply disagree with the likes of those who comment on Mother Jones that it’s impossible for someone to get “that rich” without “exploitation,” because at its root, capitalism is not theft. It’s trade. And I could come up with a hundred exploitation-free ways to voluntarily trade your way to a million dollars and improve the lives of your trading partners at the same time!

Steve Jobs did it with iPhones. The Bush family did it with beans. People invent, innovate, and improve efficiencies in the way that they do something, which allows them to sell something to you because you don’t have the time or resources to do it yourself. Every time you buy something from the grocery story you’re participating in good capitalism, benefiting from centuries of accumulated innovation that allows someone else to make money while allowing you to eat without running a farm and a cannery in your backyard.

Of course, all capitalism is not good capitalism. Information does not flow perfectly. Sometimes companies can get away with lying about a product for a long time. Sometimes companies don’t properly check their equipment and things explode and affect the lives of thousands of people living on the coastline. Sometimes executives break the rules of capitalism and launder money or try to cover up things, and even if the law and/or market eventually punishes them, there are people who get hurt in the process. Bad capitalism exists. But good capitalism does too! And we should celebrate it whenever and wherever possible.