There's been much discussion recently about what younger people think "capitalism" is. It appears as though they associate it with all kinds of unsavory behavior, but respond more positively to "free enterprise" or "entrepreneurship." Of course, the former of those two is the same as "capitalism" rightly understsood as opposed to current practice, and the latter is the core of capitalism.
So maybe when they start bad-mouthing capitalism, remind them that this story is what the essence of capitalism rightly understood (and free enterprise and entrepreneurship) is all about.
"Today I learned a heartwarming story about the yogurt I’ve become so devoted to. In a nutshell, Chobani founder & CEO Hamdi Ulukaya had a dream and he made it come true — but it was only possible in America. A Turkish immigrant, he started the company with just a few employees in 2005, and last year raked in $1.6 billion in sales. It’s now the top-selling yogurt in the U.S. — and is the brand that put greek yogurt on the map. Now, Ulukaya is passing the benefits of that dream down to his employees in the form of stock for his 2,000 full-time workers — with shares of a 10 percent stake in the company."
That's a really nice story @honeybee. It is nice to see those at the top sharing the love.
Capitalism has kind of got the reputation of nurturing greed these days. It certainly can look that way sometimes. Greed exists with or without capitalism. Government intervention has made things far worse. In fact, Government love to push the blame while pretending to be the heroes. Entrepreneurship is considered by the Austrian school of thought as a factor of production.
P.S. Would be great if you added 'economics' to your tags
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Do you believe entrepreneurship can exist in the absence of capitalism?
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If there is no capitalism, there is no private investment hence no entrepreneurship.
Think of a world entirely controlled by the State. Everybody is a worker, investment is made by Government and not by private individuals. Entrepreneurship requires private investment and risk taking. Entrepreneurship is essential to innovation, growth, and efficiency. There is incentive to respond to market forces as survival of businesses rely on that. Absence of capitalism means everything falls on the State. There is no incentive to improve, hence you are likely to see stagnation and little to no growth.
Many problems blamed on capitalism is actually caused by State intervention. Capitalism ,unfortunately, is not particularly good at solving problems caused by the State. Then again it was not designed to solve them. Income and wealth inequality is a problem consistently blamed on capitalism. Inequality should, if capitalism is allowed to function, be a short-term problem. Creativity, innovation and cooperation among those more agile to adjust to market changes (smaller firms, new entrepreneurs) can close the gap and even overtake the existing leaders. State intervention leads to barriers to entry and inefficient Government monopolies. Government expenditure also creates a crowding out effect that hinders entrepreneurs and natural responses to market forces.
Just to add a final twist. I am not saying that capitalism is perfect or even ideal. Capitalism often leads to wastage and unnecessary competition. Competition certainly has its place but cooperation is generally far more efficient in the long-run. I see this more of a problem of the myopic nature of society. State intervention does not offer a solution to this problem. Control does not equal cooperation.
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Thanks for the reply. I have been here over a month and nobody takes me seriously.
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Hmm. Well I was led to believe Capitalism meant profit at all costs
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Your point is noted but I am quite sure that you will also agree that there have been quite a few entrepreneurs and enterprises who have given a capitalism a bad name through unscrupulous conduct.
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