By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – August, 2014
The theory of evolution suggests that species change in ways that increase their ability to thrive. Biological evolution is generally a slow process but can exhibit rapid transformations if a mutant specie emerges which has substantial survival advantages.
Human societies based on different principles also have different degrees of success in sustaining their citizens. One would expect that societies, like species, would also evolve in a manner that favors better outcomes. Unlike biological processes, societal evolution can occur very rapidly since all it requires is that the majority of people recognize the better outcomes and adopt those principles that fostered success.
Unfortunately, evil forces that hinder the adoption of sound principles are often at work even when citizens are free to implement them.
Societal “experiments” are constantly being carried out both internationally and domestically and the results are available to anyone who cares to observe them.
One key characteristic that is varied in these societal experiments is the degree to which property rights are protected. Reviewing the results of these experiments over the last 250 years, the success of societies that respect property rights is evident to any objective observer, as is the utter devastation caused by societies based on theft.
Domestically, the results are also compelling. States that have low or moderate taxes and a relatively favorable regulatory climate are thriving when compared to those where high taxes and destructive regulations kill jobs and economic growth.
While the evidence is clear, self-serving politicians constantly tout discredited socio-economic propaganda relying on low information voters, moochers and those embracing victimhood to ignore the obvious path to upward mobility and prosperity. These politicians instead offer dependency on government and life-long serfdom, while suppressing individual freedom.
Let’s review some key facts and clear trends that any objective review of economic history could confirm:
• the scourge of famine has never existed in any capitalist society,
• countries ranked “mostly free” have four times the per-capita income of countries ranked “mostly unfree” and incomes double again for countries ranked “free,”
• wars between countries which protect property rights are nearly non-existent,
• well over 100 million innocent human beings were slaughtered during the 20th Century by statist governments that rejected property rights,
• the per capita income of “non-free” countries (approximately $2800 annually) is substantially bolstered by foreign aid and technology infused by free countries and that, if left on their own, these statist societies would have descended into even greater misery,
• in Communist China, before the introduction of market forces, hundreds of millions of Chinese lived on less than $1 per day,
• economic growth was nearly non-existent until the year 1500 and then averaged only about 1/10th of 1 percent per year from 1500 to 1700 when capitalism emerged, and subsequently this rate of growth accelerated by a factor of 15 in countries that embraced capitalist free markets,
• and, that the poorest 10% of Americans live more comfortably today than the monarchs of the pre-capitalist period.
Just think how much more prosperous the world would be if government interference in the marketplace had been substantially less.
The unmistakable conclusion is that capitalism and protection of property rights lead to prosperity, while statism, the rejection of property rights in favor of arbitrary government authority, leads inevitably to poverty and human misery.
It is undeniable that respect for property rights and the institution of free markets – together known as capitalism – creates prosperity and facilitates the “pursuit of happiness” as envisioned by our Founding Fathers. So why is America losing sight of these self-evident truths and instead embracing their antithesis, statism?
The answer is that a short-term deal with the Devil can often seem more appealing than an honest proposition that is in one’s long-term best interests.
Consider, for example, that:
• a government subsidy that lines a businessman’s pockets today may seem preferable and easier to achieve than the long-term benefits of honest competition in a free market,
• the near-term benefits of a cheap, rent-controlled apartment may be enticing even though they will inevitably lead to lower quality, less available and less affordable housing years later as landlords abandon the housing market,
• mandatory employment benefits and increased minimum wages are sought despite their negative impact on job growth and long-term wage levels,
• regulations that stifle competition appeal to established businesses even though they represent impediments to growth that accumulate over time, and
• guaranteed public assistance today will always be welcomed and encouraged by its recipients even though their long term interests and self-worth are almost always impaired by it.
The list is endless.
So who are the Devils that peddle these poison pills? Of course you know the answer: The crime syndicate of statists, the Democrat Party aided by RINO Republicans and reinforced by an army of moochers, including crony socialists.
These Devils are trying to make a deal with America:
Eviscerate the Constitution that has protected our freedoms for over 200 years in exchange for a share of the loot stolen by an all-powerful state.
They don’t advertise the obvious immorality of this pact or its inevitable consequences: grinding poverty and a descent into slavery, not to mention the threat of death to those who resist.
Can you say no to the Devil’s offer? Can America say no?
We will know this November.