An Introduction to Capitalism

Capitalism is also called the free market is defined as the economic system where the means of production is in private hands. The idea is that you are free to market your goods and services on the open market. Even in trying to find a job you are offering you skills, talent and labor on the open market.

Capitalism is the natural result of freedom. It is the economic system results from people being free to choose their own course in life as opposed to being forced down a path by the government, religion or other governing entity.

While capitalism comes with no guarantees, the potential rewards are endless. Under capitalism you are not forced to stay in your current employment but can seek other employment or strike out on your own and start you own business.  In a pure capitalist system there is nothing but your own personal limitation; most of which are self induced; to hold you back. Put simply the only thing standing in the way you own prosperity is yourself. Even the richest person around can’t stand in your way unless you let him.

If you look to some one else to give you prosperity you will be disappointed regardless of the economic system. So capitalism is the system in which the most people are prosperous. You can actually succeed because of what you know and can do rather than who you know.

Reduced to its simplest terms capitalism equals freedom, and any other system is a form and degree of slavery.

The Nature and Creation of Wealth

Wealth is often equated to money, but while money is a form of wealth it is not the only form of wealth. A person can have a huge income and because of how the spend it, have no wealth at all. A person can also have no income and because of what they have accumulated have a lot of wealth.

The best definition of wealth is the total amount of assets that a person has. By this definition most people a wealthier than they think, because true wealth includes such immaterial things such a person talents, knowledge and experience. In most cases these can be used to make money one way or another and so have financial value.

Contrary what some people think the total amount of wealth is not constant. It is created and destroyed all the time. However it not Government that creates wealth but individuals working to produces thing, both material and immaterial. Government can redistribute wealth, but they usually end destroying much of it in the process. Government can also destroy wealth by so regulating the means of producing as to reduce the amount of wealth created by a given amount of effort or reduce once profitable type’s efforts to worthlessness.

Gulliver’s Travels on Mars

Gulliver’s Travels on Mars

This is a space based parody on Gulliver’s Travels. This fictional account is satire of the foolishness of current U.S. Government spending, taxation and barrowing.

Like Gulliver’s Travels it’s a fun way of making a point about current events. The sad irony of the Gulliver’s Travels is that much of its satire is a valid today as it was when first written. Like Gulliver’s description of lawyers as men trained to prove that which is not.

Money

We all use it but what really is money. First of all while
money is a form of wealth, is not equivalent to wealth. Reduced to its simplest
terms money is simply a medium of exchange. What ultimately gives money value
is the willingness of people to exchange it for something else. This is true
even of gold, its only real source of value other than as a medium of exchange
is the fact that it can be made into things.

The danger of un-backed paper or electronic money is the
tendency to produce more than is justified by the available goods and services.
When this occurs the result is that the value if that money goes down driving
up prices. This is called inflation. Doing this is actually a theft of value because the value of
the money one already has is reduced and that value is transferred to those
issuing the currency. Because the government is usually the ultimate
beneficiary of inflation, it can be considered a hidden tax. It is hidden
because you do not write the check or file a form, nor does it change amount of
money in your hand or bank account. All you see is that things cost more and
that can happen from causes other than inflation.