Announcing #CapitalistAndProud: A National Campus Initiative

March 9, 2016  |   Filed under: Spring 2016,Uncategorized  |   Written by:

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The rise of Bernie Sanders along with some astounding new data suggest that young people today hold an increasingly favorable view of socialism. Although campus publications across the country appear to be overrun with such students, there is another side to this debate—the pro-capitalist side—and it’s time to make our voices heard.

In an effort to stimulate a more vibrant national discussion, The Undercurrent is calling on like-minded students everywhere to write in to their campus papers explaining why they identify as proudly pro-capitalist. The following note was submitted by TU writer J.A. Windham as a “letter to the editor” for publication in various campus papers. The version below was posted in The Cornell Review, and a lengthier version was subsequently published in The Prince Arthur Herald. It’s our hope that this simple act of speaking out will inspire students across the country to follow suit and to let their classmates know why they too are #CapitalistAndProud!

Although our goal is to see these notes published in campus papers nationwide, the TU blog is committed to posting any similar #CapitalistAndProud letter that you’ve at least submitted to your own school’s paper—whether ultimately printed on your campus or not. Any such submissions should be sent to editors@the-undercurrent.com. Letters published in campus papers or on this blog by April 22 will be eligible to win $1,000 in the Ayn Rand Institute’s “Campus Writing Contest”! Please visit the contest page for further details.

Capitalist and Proud

Support for “democratic socialism” is growing on campuses across the country. With so many students caught up in Bernie fever, this seems like an appropriate time to bring some diversity to the conversation—some intellectual diversity. Due to word count limitations, I’ll keep this short and sweet. Below are five reasons that I’m proudly pro-capitalist.*

  1. Capitalism respects my right to live—not for the sake of the group, the nation, the race, the proletariat, or for any of you—but for my own sake.
  2. Capitalism recognizes that my mind is my basic tool of survival and that in order to think, I must be free to use it.
  3. Capitalism treats me as the sole proprietor of my own life. Under capitalism, my time and energy—my triumphs and failures—my burdens and my beloved dreams—are my mine alone.
  4. Capitalism treats me as the rightful sovereign of my soul, respecting my authority to chart my own course in the one, precious life I have on this earth.
  5. Because capitalism does not chain me to any of you—because it does not demand that I serve you or that you serve me—I’m free to value you.

Because my goal here is to stimulate discourse, I’m calling on all like-minded students to let your classmates know if you too are #CapitalistAndProud!

*By “capitalism,” I mean a laissez-faire social system that protects each individual’s right to life, liberty, and property by banning the initiation of physical force from human affairs. For more on nature of capitalism, check out the course “What is Capitalism” on the ARI campus website.

Posted by on March 9, 2016. Filed under Spring 2016, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry