People speak, think, act and talk as if the wealth generated by capitalism (or semi-capitalism) is automatic and guaranteed. They speak, think, act and talk as if it will never go away.
They should travel to places like Cuba and Venezuela to find out what happens when the government throttles economic production.
Wealth is not causeless. It comes from freedom, productive effort and — at the root of it — from the rational human mind. Without thinking and the effort to back up the thinking, there will be no wealth. No matter how many glib politicians you vote into office who promise you the moon.
“Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions—and you’ll learn that man’s mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.
But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made—before it can be looted or mooched—made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can’t consume more than he has produced.”
— Ayn Rand
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