The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism - 6

Novak on the fundamental error of socialism:

“The fallacy of socialism is to imagine that brotherhood demands collectivism. The genius of democratic capitalism is to serve brotherhood by recognizing that the most precious of all common goods is the individuality of each person, and that the best way to increase the common good is to empower people through differentiated systems.”

“Consider the institutions of capitalism: the corporation, the labor union, banking, the stock exchange. Each of these is communal. None would make sense in a world of isolated individuals. Each depends on bonds of trust which go beyond coercive force, beyond written contracts, and beyond the letter of the law. (An effective way of halting any enterprise is to slow it down by “going by the book.”) Most interchanges within a democratic capitalist economy depend upon the good faith implicit behind the spoken word; they depend upon a bond of spirit.”

“Ironically, a society supposedly based upon competitive individualism and possessiveness seems to favor in its citizens forms of generosity, trust, extroversion, outgoingness, and reliance upon the good faith of others. Meanwhile, existing socialist societies seem to narrow the circles of trust, as group competing for the same allocations run afoul of each other’s interests. Collectivism pits man against man. A system which encourages each to seek first his own interests yields liberty and receives in return loyalty and love.” (Pg 226)