Edwards, 20, Lee Edwards, PhD author or editor of 25 books, 5/21/2020, “The Case for Capitalism”, https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/the-case-capitalism - FT
Although a prosperous economy is good in itself, it is no less significant for its contribution to America’s first principle of ordered liberty. In the words of the cultural historian Russell Kirk, economic production (or capitalism) is the means “to raise man above the savage level, to make possible the leisure which sustains civilization and to free man from the condition of being a simple drudge.” Private ownership of property is not greed, Kirk argued, but “one of the most powerful instruments for teaching … responsibility.” The Nobel economists Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman both recognized that private property encourages wise decisions and requires individuals to accept the consequences of their choices. Capitalism puts a premium on industry, thrift, honesty, and ingenuity. It is not capitalism that is ruthless, wrote the economist John Attarian, but socialism, which makes a society ruthless by denying individuals the ability to make their own decisions and turning government into the master. Nowhere is the stark difference between socialism and capitalism more evident than in a photograph of the Korean peninsula at night. As Acton Institute president Robert Sirico, among others, has pointed out, South Korea (the lower half) is a glittering Christmas tree that offers a vision of what the world looks like under freedom. North Korea (the upper half) is a dark wilderness, suggesting what the world might look like were “the torch of human liberty to sputter out, casting civilization into darkness.”
Capitalism is the only system that works
Kim, 18, Anthony Kim, Anthony B. Kim researches international economic issues at The Heritage Foundation, with a focus on economic freedom and free trade, 8/22/2018, “Communicating Capitalism to the Next Generation”, https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/communicating-capitalism-the-next-generation - FT
Indeed, history manifestly shows that neither socialism nor other alternative economic systems—and many have been tried—come close to the record of free-market capitalism in promoting peace and growth, as well as improving the overall human condition. We live in a golden age of economic progress. People today enjoy longer lives, significantly better health, and a level of living standards that would have been unimaginable just a few generations ago. Billions around the world have escaped poverty. Things that people take for granted—antibiotics, the iPhone, air travel—would have seemed like magic to our great-grandparents. Bono knows this as well as anyone. The lead singer for U2 has led poverty-fighting initiatives for decades, and in those efforts, he has come to a telling realization. In his own words: