Capitalism Is Not A Four Letter Word

What ever happened to the American dream—the one that says work hard and you’ll reap the benefits of that work? Today’s politicians would have us believe that the villains of this country are those that make a profit in their businesses. To hear them tell it, the more money someone makes, the worse they are.

This perspective may be based on envy or outright jealousy. It also seems have its roots in the belief that it’s immoral to make a profit. If someone makes a profit, does it mean they are doing something wrong? What if they make a huge profit? Are they doing something hugely wrong?

We are, whether we realize it or not, a country that was built on the backs of entrepreneurs and capitalists. Entrepreneurs are risk takers who toss aside security and take big gambles as business owners. These people, along with their capitalist partners, are the ones who left their safe, reliable paychecks to go out and start their own businesses. Capitalists are those that are willing to take their hard-earned money and invest into these businesses, with no guarantees of a return on their investment. Sometimes entrepreneurs and capitalists are one and the same.

Both groups are brave, for their path is not without risks. These are the people who have sold all their assets, emptied their savings accounts, and risked all they had in life to “go it alone,” not working for someone else but believing in the dream of owning their own business. Many thousands of people have failed trying this. In fact, most start-up businesses do fail. However, there is a minority who, through hard work, dedication and sometimes fortunate timing, have had success.

Where would we be without these entrepreneurial risk takers, who are many times the investors as well? Did these people have their wealth handed to them on a silver platter, as some would have us believe, or did they take risks that others are not willing to take?

Let’s take a look at some real-life examples.

Bill Gates Gates dropped out of Harvard to devote himself to his new company, Microsoft, now a tremendously successful, multinational technology corporation.

Sam Walton Walton had a dream of building the best discount stores in America, so he borrowed $20,000 from his father-in-law and used the $5,000 he had saved from his military service to turn that dream into reality. Wal-Mart now provides jobs for hundreds of thousands of people. Also, thousands of people have become wealthy from owning stock from the company’s early years, and many of these were employees.

Oprah Winfrey Winfrey was born in a small town in Mississippi and began her career in broadcasting at age 17. Not content to work for someone else, in 1988 she founded her own production facility. She is the first black woman to achieve billionaire status.

Walt Disney Disney and his brother Roy moved to California, borrowed some money and set up a studio in their uncle’s garage. Disney went from sketching a rabbit to running a multi-billion dollar empire.

Madame C.J. Walker Walker was the daughter of former slaves, orphaned at the age of seven. She built a beauty products business, eventually employing 3,000 people in the early 20th century. Her hard work, honest business dealings, and quality products made her the first female African-American millionaire.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak These two sold a car and other things to raise the money for their company and went on to create the first personal computer in 1977. Fortune magazine named their company, Apple Computers, the most admired company in the word in 2009—yet it began in a garage.

These are just a handful of inspiring risk takers—capitalists, if you will—who risked all they had on a dream. It was a dream that could only be realized in a country founded on dreams and on achieving a better life. And yes, each of these people acquired tremendous wealth along the way. But without these people and thousands more just like them, we would not have so many of the things we enjoy today.

Isn’t it wonderful that they lived in a country where opportunities existed for them to pursue their dreams? The curious thing is that all these great inventions, whether it be the automobile, the personal computer, fabulous software, low-priced stores, or animated cartoons, is that they were ideas born not of some government program or any politician, but of free people, free capitalists, in a free market, capitalist system.

And speaking of cartoons, for an interesting commentary on capitalism vs. other “ism’s” being recommended to us these days, an excellent one was produced by Harding College in the 1940s. It is amazingly current and appropriate today, even though it was produced over 60 years ago!

You can view it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6H63CD7uQA

Let’s remember that, regardless of what politicians may tell us, we are a capitalist country. Capitalism, when accompanied by personal ethics and responsibility, is a tremendous thing. After all, it has allowed our country to become the greatest country in the world.

Brad Bradley is the former CEO of Senderra Funding in Charlotte, North Carolina. He now runs a private investment company and is a member of the CJS Board of Directors.

The CJS Forum seeks to promote an open exchange of ideas about the relationship between faith, culture, law and public policy. While all the articles are original and written especially for the CJS Forum, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for a Just Society.

Picture above from Flickr user aresauburn licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License.