Capitalism = Freedom

I was listening to an anti-capitalism protester today, when he said "Capitalism equals oppression, we need to rid the world of it."

How utterly, absolutely, undoubtedly wrong.

The guy doesn't seem to realise that capitalism gives people freedom. Not the democracy kind of freedom, but pretty close to it. He has the choice of what to spend his money on, that's capitalism. He has more of his money in his own hand before the tax man takes it, so that he can spend it on paint to splash over RBS windows if he so chose.

You need to ask yourself, what has capitalism done to China? Although the people of China do not have the freedom to choose their politicians, they have a choice of what they spend their money on. For those not living in the countryside, their standard of living has increased immesurably since the East embraced capitalism. They can choose when to borrow money to invest, how many people to employ, the rates that they employ people on and what to charge their customers. Everyone benefits and world spins on its axis.

There is not an enonomic/political system to rival communism for lack of freedom, but these demonstrators see some pseudo-communist state/system as the panacea for the world's ails. It's so wrong-headed, capitalism goes with the grain of the human condition, not against it.

Squiffy.