Compassionate Capitalism
- Capitalism is an economic system based on service. In order to succeed in a capitalist free market, a producer must find a product or service that serves consumers well, so that potential buyers will be motivated to voluntarily trade resources (purchase) it!
- The market place in a capitalist system remains more free. People are allowed to make voluntary exchanges in the marketplace, purchasing products and services from a wide variety of producers who are trying to succeed in the market place. The competition that results when producers compete for consumers results in a rich collection of choices in the marketplace, so both consumers and producers benefit.
- In a sinful world, capitalism is the best economic system for downplaying greed because it requires each person in the marketplace to think about other people and prioritize the needs of others in order to succeed!
- Capitalism is often falsely portrayed as a system by which greedy capitalists prey upon victimized consumers.
- In reality, capitalism is by far the most DEMOCRATIC economic system of all! Because consumers have a wide range of choices, they have the opportunity to 'vote' for the products they prefer by purchasing them. Similarly, they can 'vote against' products that do not serve them well by not buying them. With capitalism, consumers use their democratic decision-making power - of where they voluntarily choose to spend their money - to select the products that succeed in the marketplace.
What if we viewed the free market as a place to offer gifts to others?