Quote of the Day: Capitalism is Love Thy Neighbor

Capitalism is not a “system” like democracy or a composting toilet. It is not something that anyone designed. It is not something that can be consciously improved.

It is the result – or should be – of free markets, including the insights, work, gambles, and luck of millions of people all over the planet.

Improve it?

You might just as well “improve” the price of Walmart shares or of a pound of peaches.

Capitalism is not a system that you can take or leave, or take some parts of and leave the others, thereby making it more suited to your needs.

Capitalism is just what you get when you respect the rules of civilization. Don’t kill. Don’t steal. Don’t bear false witness. The rest probably don’t matter, but we haven’t taken the trouble to think about them very much.

Jesus condensed the rules into two big ones when he gave his Sermon on the Mount: Love God. Love thy neighbor.

The Jewish scholar Hillel the Elder later put it in terms a child could understand: If you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you then don’t do it to someone else.

All the rest is detail. You can’t love thy neighbor and steal his stuff. If you follow that rule, capitalism is what you’ve got. There is no way to improve it.

This is from Agora publishing's Bill Bonner at his web page Bonner & Partners