The Business Success & Liberty Blog

Peronal and Economic Liberty Requires Control of Property and the Right to Enjoy the Fruits of Our Labor

True economic liberty requires control over our own property and a right to the fruits of our labor.

Unfortunately our government today has regulated and controlled businesses to the point were they actually inhibit the full potential of the free-market economy.

If there is anyone in government today that truly understands economic principles it’s Congressman Ron Paul.

In a speech in New Hampshire he pointed out that Peace and Prosperity are not possible, to the fullest, when the Government acts as a Nanny Sate, thinking they are only doing what’s best for the people.

Watch the video: Ron Paul on Economic Principles:

When Government gets involved in distribution of wealth many believe that they are doing what’s best for society. While this may benefit some people, in the long term it has been proven to be destructive to society and the individuals that are relying on government handouts. The actions lead to the destruction of liberty.

Government can never know what’s best for each individual. The only person that knows what’s best for me is me and the person that knows what’s best for you is you. The greatest thing we’ve been given of God is agency. When government, groups or individuals begin to regulate the lives of others it can lead to a destructive pattern of reliance on others, rather than self-reliance.

I am not saying we shouldn’t help the poor, and do good unto others. We should. But we must be careful that the element of FORCE is not in play. We must all have the liberty and choose to help, or not to help, others.

Consider a quote by Ayn Rand:

“…there are, in fact, no “economic rights,” no “collective rights,” no “public-interest rights.” The term “individual rights” is a redundancy: there is no other kind of rights and no one else to possess them. [“Man’s Rights,” from Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand. 1963]

Regarding the principles of economics and individual economic liberty. We are most prosperous when allowed to “Buy and Sell, Try and Fail!”.

Tags: ayn rand, business success, capitalism, economic liberty, Entrepreneur, free-market, individual rights, private property, ron paul

A Free-Market Economy Makes You Free

The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy (free enterprise) and a minimum of government regulations.

Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:

• The Freedom to try.
• The Freedom to buy.
• The Freedom to sell.
• The Freedom to fail.

A market economy (also called a free market economy or a free enterprise economy) is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services take place through the mechanism of free markets guided by a free price system. In a market economy, businesses and consumers decide of their own volition what they will purchase and produce. Technically this means that the producer gets to decide what to produce, how much to produce, what to charge to customers for those goods, what to pay employees, etc., and not the government. These decisions in a free-market economy are influenced by the pressures of competition, supply, and demand. This is often contrasted with a planned economy, in which a central government decides what will be produced and in what quantities.

No pure market economy exists. Thus, almost all economies in the world today are mixed economies which combine varying degrees of market and command economy traits.

Here are some quotes from some of my favorite philosophers in support of the free-market system.

Every individual necessarily labors to render the annual revenue of society as great as he can. He generally neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. He intends only his own gain, and he is, in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was not part of his intention. [Adam Smith]

A society that robs an individual of the product of his effort … is not strictly speaking a society, but a mob held together by institutionalized gang violence. [Ayn Rand]

We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force. [Ayn Rand]

In the long run even the most despotic governments with all their brutality and cruelty are no match for ideas. Eventually the ideology that has won the support of the majority will prevail and cut the ground from under the tyrant’s feet. Then the oppressed many will rise in rebellion and overthrow their masters. [Ludwig Von Mises]

The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder (taxes). [Frederique Bastiat]

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. [Milton Friedman]

The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-unon-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures, as profits in fostering successes. Let government succor failures, and we shall be headed for stagnation and decline. [Milton Friedman]

Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion – the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals – the technique of the marketplace. [Milton Friedman]

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. …government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. [Ronald Reagan]

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. [Albert Einstein]

The easiest way to determine which ecomomic system results in the greatest individual prosperity and wealth is simply by examining which are the wealthiest countries in terms of ‘per capita personal income’. The European Union, United States, Japan and Germany are at the top. The countries which allow the most freedom in the economy have the wealthiest people. Those countries that are more socialistic and have greater controls and regulations on their economies result in more poor.

A Free-Market Economy Makes You Free

Tags: adam smith, ayn rand, bastiat, capitalism, free-market, freedom, milton friedman, quotes