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Money Making - In Defense of Capitalism

The classic tale of Robin Hood finds a man with good intentions robbing those who are rich in order to allow the poor to live another day. This is a romantic story where the guy gets the girl and the world is set right in the end, but how does it work itself out in reality?

Robin Hood is a sympathetic nod to socialism at worst and represents vigilante justice at best. Those who read the story will ultimately conclude Robin Hood is the hero in the story for finding a way to help the poor. However, Robin did so using methods that were illegal and some might contend dangerous.

For the sake of argument let's say that Robin worked to change the laws and the rich would be forced to surrender their wealth for the betterment of their fellow man. Wouldn't this solution ensure equality for all? Not exactly.

One of the primary reasons capitalism works is that it provides a unique incentive for individuals to develop ideas that result in improved personal wealth. That wealth is used to invest in other ventures or is saved for home improvements and education.

I can almost hear some of you suggesting that these rich business owners make their money at the expense of the poor. The truth is as one man or woman finds their hard work paying off they will ultimately create more jobs and spend more money with other businesses. As those businesses grow they hire more people and spend more money with others.

In a socialist model of government we often find that there is little incentive to do your best. Why should you? You receive the same amount whether you do well or do poorly - everyone is treated the same.

And because no one is being innovative in the role of motivated business owner there are very few new ideas and no reason to seek to improve ones position in life. If everything you have is provided by the government then you have no cause to do anything more or less than to accept your share and live your life in the best way possible knowing your conditions will never change.

In areas where capitalism is allowed to thrive you will discover that citizens find a motivation to be successful. They suddenly have a reason to succeed. Their taxes pay for programs to help those in need and many will involve themselves in programs aimed at corporate responsibility. In other words these successful businesses will voluntarily give back to their community simply because they have found monetary success - not because they were forced to give. When the motivations change greater successes are possible.

When one individual finds success others are motivated to do the same. Competition in business is a healthy outgrowth of capitalism. Competition generally makes both businesses better.

Yes, there may be greed involved in some business startups - that is also a byproduct of capitalism. While greed is probably the dark thread in an otherwise beautiful tapestry it doesn't negate the fact that even this seemingly negative attribute can be useful in job creation and as a means of redistributing wealth through hard work and great ideas.

Capitalism gets to the heart of self-determination and remains a useful tool in most of the ideas that have radically transformed virtually every aspect of commerce and technology.

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