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The official
position statement of Celebrate
Capitalism™ The Bernstein Declaration
On the Principles and Possibilities of Capitalism
Capitalism is the only
system based on the recognition that each individual owns his life.
Capitalism is the only social system in which individuals are free to
pursue their rational self-interest, to own property and to profit from
their actions. It entrenches individual rights, limited Constitutional
government, and political/intellectual/economic freedom.
The more capitalist a culture - the greater its freedom and
prosperity
That is the verdict of history. In just two short centuries, capitalism
has lifted men’s living standards to heights undreamed of in the
pre-capitalist era. Often forgotten today is that Western Europe, prior
to the capitalist revolution of the late Eighteenth Century, suffering
under the political yoke of the feudal aristocracy, was the equivalent
of a Third World country - wracked by famine, recurrent plague, and the
most unspeakable poverty. But no longer.
When was the last time a famine occurred in any capitalist nation -
whether in Western Europe, North America or Asia? The United States has
never suffered a famine in its history. Capitalism has created abundance
unmatched in human history, enabling hundreds of millions to live better
today than all the kings of yesterday.
Less capitalism means more human misery
But the non capitalist nations - the fascist, socialist, military or
theocratic dictatorships - enslave their own citizens and subsist in
abysmal squalor. In many African countries the living standard is one or
two hundred dollars per year. In North Korea, they starve to death by
the tens of thousands. In Cuba, they drown trying to swim to freedom in
the United States. Millions of oppressed people around the globe yearn
to emigrate to the Free World. But who in the capitalist nations seeks
to emigrate to Cambodia?
What makes capitalism’s astounding success possible?
What principles explain the fact that mankind’s greatest inventions
and works of art - his most life-giving material and spiritual advances
- the steam engine, the cinema, the telegraph, the telephone, the
electric light, the novel, the automobile, the symphony, the airplane,
the radio, the television, the personal computer, the Internet and
countless medical cures - were created under capitalism?
The simple answer is: freedom.
When men are free to pursue their rational self-interest, when they are
free to use their minds in the quest to profit and better their lives,
they are magnificently productive. The political/economic freedom of
capitalism liberates the best minds and the most ambitious men to build,
to create, to innovate, to invent, to advance human well-being and
happiness.
Mankind’s greatest inventor, Thomas Edison, in his laboratory at Menlo
Park, specifically tailored his projects toward the purpose of
profitability. He, and so many of the other great inventors and
industrialists responsible for raising men’s living standards, earned
and enjoyed great wealth. Left free - under capitalism - to create,
produce, and build for personal gain they consequently raised the living
standards of all.
The Mind
Involved in this is a deeper principle: Capitalism is the system of the
mind. The mind is man’s fundamental survival instrument, just as wings
are a bird’s. It is only by means of rational thinking and productive
work that man can raise his living standards and increase his life
expectancy. But the mind does not function under coercion. Coercion
paralyses creativity. The mind cannot be enslaved. Capitalism flourishes
because it is the only system of free minds, free men and free markets.
The greatest thinkers and activists of history - from Aristotle to John
Locke, from Thomas Jefferson to Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, and Ayn
Rand - have recognized, fought for, and glorified the freedom of man’s
mind. They have understood that when men are oppressed, the rational
mind is stifled, and the darkness of barbarism follows. But when men are
free to think and to act on their thinking, when the mind is liberated,
the Renaissance and the Enlightenment are possible. Freedom is freedom
of the mind. Oppression is oppression of the mind.
Universal and Inevitable
It is no accident that man’s freest periods have seen his greatest
achievements. From the Golden Age of Athens to the Italian Renaissance
to the technological and industrial breakthroughs of the United States,
the freedom of man's mind has led to magnificent advances in philosophy,
the arts and science.
This is the promise and the possibility of capitalism. This is the
Capitalist Vision. It is our vision.
Liberate man’s mind and behold the spectacle of his advance. Revel in
the beauty of his sculptures, paintings and symphonies, soar with the
heroes of his novels, marvel at his philosophic, scientific and
technological advance.
The West progressed culturally and economically because it had at least
some reverence for man’s mind and the inalienable rights of the
individual. These are the inescapable prerequisites of human
advancement. If we desire the effect of cultural Renaissance, we must
enact the cause of political/economic freedom.
The current predicament of the Third World’s starving millions is
identical to that of Europe in the Dark Ages. Their minds and bodies are
oppressed by political dictators. Give them freedom - and give them
life. They have the advantage of seeing what the West has accomplished.
When they institute freedom, they can replicate the achievements of
capitalism.
Your life, your choice
Capitalism is the greatest benefactor man has ever had. It is time for
the thinking men and women of every nation to recognize that fact and to
fully embrace the system of the mind and of individual rights.
Men and women of all countries unite - in your support of capitalism.
You have a world of joyous achievement to win.
© 2001, 2002 Andrew
Bernstein & PRODOS
The official position statement of Celebrate
Capitalism™
Lima,
november 2002
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