TOP TEN ARGUMENTS AGAINST

CAPITALISM AND HOW ONE CAN

ANSWER THEM

Martin F. Johansen (PhD Student at UIO)

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Goal of this talk

A 45 minutes talk cannot, and should not, convince

anybody on such a complicated topic

Those who are interested can find more complete

arguments in the books that are listed on the last slide

The full understanding of the theoretical and practical

case for capitalism requires years of study

Those who advocate the welfare state should adopt the

same standard! There is no reason to think that it is

easier to understand the welfare state than to

understand capitalism

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Discussions

An argument is put forth in a discussion

A discussion involves two (or more) people who want to

identify a truth

If two people come to an agreement, and if they are

right, they are both winners: one has learned that he

was wrong, the other has convinced the other.

The world is round.

No, the world is flat.

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Discussions

But often, identifying truth is not the goal.

Sometimes, it is possible to obtain agreement by using

fallacies.

Coming to an agreement using a fallacy has two losers.

One still believes a falsehood, the other was convinced

of something without sufficient reasons.

Common logical fallacies are “straw man”, “argument

from popularity”, “argument from authority”The world is round.

No, the world is flat.

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Discussions

Straw man example

“The US has a worse health care system than Norway;

therefore, capitalism would give us a worse health care

system”

The best way to counter a straw man is to identify what

something really is.

In capitalism there are no public hospitals, and this is not the

case in the US

Therefore, the US’s political system is NOT capitalism;

therefore the conclusion is wrong.

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What is capitalism

All property is privately owned

The government is there to protect individual rights

To ban initiation of force in human relationships

Three primary parts

The police, to protect against domestic use of force

The military, to protect against foreign use of force

The courts, to resolve disputes among men without using

force

Complete equality before the law

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What is capitalism

A complete separation between religion and state and

economy and state

Religious freedom

Economic freedom

Freedom of speech

A night watchman state and not a nanny state

A night watchman is someone you call if there is a problem

A nanny is someone who constantly watches and interferes

with all your actions

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What is capitalism

A constitutional republic

Constitution: A definition of what the government can and cannot do

The people elect the president and the congress

The congress can make laws

The president can ensure that the laws are enforced

The supreme courts decide if a law is constitutional

Separation of powers – invented by Montesquieu

The only power individuals can have is economic power

Political power is reserved for the government and thus limited by the constitution

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What is capitalism

Hospitals and schools are private

The government does not seize money in order to give

to the people

The money you make, you keep

Money will be issued by private banks – no central bank

Hang up a name-sign on your door and you have

started a company

If you are in need, you ask for help from others

Individuals will take up insurance to protect against

unforeseen accidents

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Arguments against capitalism

the top ten arguments

no particular order

you will probably have heard them before

if your favorite one is not here, we can take it in the

Q&A period

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Labor exploitation

Under capitalism, employers will exploit their workers

by giving them low wages, long hours and bad working

conditions

To exploit is to force, force is not allowed between people in

a capitalist system, it is the primary role of government to

protect against the use of force!

Workers can simply change jobs

Good pay, normal hours and good working condition will

attract the best workers

“Beggars are not choosers” – a motivation for you to take

your education seriously

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Economic inequalities

Under capitalism, the gap between the rich and the

poor will increase.

Is it better if the poor has $1 and the rich $10 than if the

poor has $10.000 and the rich $500.000? Clearly not.

This is not a problem: economic difference is not an

indication of quality of life.

One person’s wealth does not affect another person’s.

The rich get rich by production, and not from stealing from the

poor.

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Unsafe food and medicine

Under capitalism, we will get unsafe food and medicine because greedy businessmen will try to make quick profits without caring about the safety of their customers and because there are no government organization to certify food and medicine.

It is not profitable to poison or kill your customers.

If you misrepresent what you are selling, you will be sued.

Goodwill is worth a lot, greedy businessmen wants goodwill.

New businesses will have to build up trust over a long time. The slightest mistake will cause the media to go berserk, and they have to start a long process to rebuild their reputation.

Private certification

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Pollution

Under capitalism, greedy businessmen will pollute

rivers, forests and the air we breath.

You will only be allowed to pollute your own property, and

that reduces its value, which is not greedy

all property is privately owned

stopping global warming requires voluntary cooperation

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Monopolies

Under capitalism, companies that become monopolies will be able to keep prices high and restrict competition by lowering prices or taking over other companies.

A monopoly is a company with exclusive rights to operate in a market – the government can only protect individual rights, and not grant such right to any company.

Keep prices high by keeping prices low? Either they are high or low.

One is free to deny being taken over.

If a company has 99% of the market, and the customers only wants stuff from that company, then what is the problem?

15

Discrimination

Under capitalism, people are free to discriminate

based on handicap, gender, viewpoints or skin color.

A consequence of the principle hat human relations are

voluntary.

People are responsible for their own actions and choices.

Since difference in gender and skin color does not matter, it

will not be profitable to act as if they do.

There is legitimate reasons to not hire an anarchist as a

watchman or a communist as a factory manager.

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The poor

Under capitalism, some will be so poor that they cannot

go to school or get the healthcare they need.

This may also be problem in the welfare state. The welfare

state only guarantees these things as long as there is wealth

to tax.

Making it easy to produce goods and services is the best

guarantee of making them widely available.

There will be charity available for those who simply cannot

afford it.

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The countryside

Under capitalism, people cannot get the same offers if

they live on the country side than if they live in the city.

True, but that is their problem, and not the problem of those

who do not want it.

It is a feature and not a problem of capitalism that people

get only what they are willing to pay for.

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Irresponsible behavior

Under capitalism, people will do stupid things such as

taking narcotics, gambling away their money and

medicate themselves wrongly, because there is no

restrictions on these things.

People do not stick a knife in their eye just because it is

legal.

Who are to decide what should be illegal?

In the welfare state, the very people who, assumedly, are so

stupid they cannot take care of themselves.

You are the best person to decide what is good for you.

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Instability

Under capitalism, society will be unstable because

businessmen will do anything in search to satisfy their

own short sighted greed.

Swindling is illegal

The government does not have unlimited power

Changes are more predictable

One is free to trade with anyone one likes – do not trade

with people with a dishonest agenda.

Being short sighted gives you a bad reputation and low

economic power

Your ability to affect anything goes down.

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Top ten arguments against capitalism

1. Labor exploitation

2. Economic difference

3. Unsafe food and medicine

4. Pollution

5. Monopolies

6. Discrimination

7. The poor

8. The countryside

9. Irresponsible behavior

10. Instability

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Literature

Ayn Rand

Capitalism: the unknown ideal

Atlas Shrugged

George Reisman

Capitalism

Vegard Martinsen

Frihet, likhet, brorskap:

Kapitalisme i teori og praksis

Jean-Baptiste Say

A treatise on political economy

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Arguments against the welfare state

How do you explain to a person who has never done

anything wrong that he has to pay for the

irresponsibility of another person?

What can a person do if the government is forcing him

to act against his best judgment? (if he disagrees with

the majority)

How can rewarding bad actions and punishing good

actions help promote good actions?

Which principle delimits the welfare state? (unless we

have this, the government will expand without limits)

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Thank you24

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