‘No one is worth a billion dollars’? Free enterprise beats socialism every time
by Bob McEwen · The Washington TimesOPINION:
“No one is worth a billion dollars. No one can earn a billion dollars,” the congresswoman boldly declared on a talk show. “That’s right, that’s right,” the host affirmed.
Well, just how is wealth created? How does one become wealthy?
Who exactly decides the value of a person’s work? The value of one’s contribution to society?
Across the ages there have been only two answers to that question: One is the people. The other is the powerful.
It works like this. There is a car going down the street. There are only two ways one can get money from the passenger in that car. One is called free enterprise/capitalism; the other is called socialism.
Under free enterprise, a man lies awake nights dreaming up ways to do something good for the passing traveler whereby he will slam on his brakes, pull into the driveway and say, “You will wash my car, sweep the carpeting, and clean my dash and windows? I would much rather have that than this $20 bill.”
Or, a person sees a Global Positioning System (GPS) app for sale. He or she decides, “I would much rather have that app than this $60, so I’ll never get lost again.” Or someone decides, “I’d rather have that small Smart TV than this $200.”
Under free market capitalism, the only way one can get money from a stranger is to offer something so beneficial that the customer voluntarily and freely reaches into his wallet and makes an exchange with the producer, such that at the end of the exchange they are both better off. They are both wealthier than before their exchange. And if not, they don’t make the exchange!
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This is the only way that wealth is created.
In a free market, there is no need for some powerful government planning board. The people the consumers are supreme. Through the simple expedient of profit and loss, the producer must comply with the demands of the consumer who, voting with his or her dollars, dictates what is produced in what quantity and what quality. The marketplace determines the value/price of any good or service.
The freer the country, the more open the economy; the greater the wealth creation. The United States makes up only 4% of the world’s population, yet it produces between one-fourth to one-third of the planet’s goods and services. It’s not because we are smarter or work harder than others. Hardly. It is because we are the freest.
Every time we use our right to vote to make the economy less free, e.g., by voting for candidates who favor government control of private enterprise, we make the nation/state/city poorer. Our wealth disappears just as if it were taken by conquest.
Of all the economic systems known to man, the most beneficial has been the American private enterprise/capitalist system.
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Now, the only other way to get money from the passing traveler is to simply take it.
We call individuals who take things by force criminals.
When people ban together to take things by force, that is called socialism.
The impact is the same: fewer choices and a lower standard of living.
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Let me explain.
A worker crossing the parking lot is accosted by a criminal who puts a gun in his ribs and demands half of his pay. The worker goes home and explains that this is how much the family has left for expenses.
Or suppose the worker makes it to his pickup truck, opens his paycheck and sees that Uncle Sam has already been there. Half of his pay is already gone! The impact is the same: fewer choices (less freedom) and a lower standard of living.
Thus, the greater the government, the greater the poverty. Whereas the greater the freedom, the greater the wealth. It only works this way, every time.
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Under socialism, a good or service is taken from the producer and given to a favored voter/consumer. Under socialism, wealth is not created but redistributed. The degree to which the receiver benefits is the degree to which the producer is diminished. This “taking” punishes the producer. No longer able to produce without sufficient compensation, he must move to a freer state in America or go out of business.
The greater the socialism, the emptier the shelves.
Concluding wealth principle of free enterprise: The greater your contribution, the greater your reward.
Provide one cup of coffee, get one reward. Provide 5,000 cups of coffee, greater reward. Serve 5 million cups of coffee, receive even greater reward.
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Only under free enterprise are persons rewarded not because of who they are but rather by what they do for others. The producer is rewarded only when consumers decide that the light bulb, the Microsoft software, the Starlink connection is such a significant blessing that they voluntarily (freely) exchange for those products they value so greatly
In free America, yes, the reward for that contribution could even reach a billion dollars, Madam Congresswoman.
• Hon. Bob McEwen is executive director of the Council for National Police. He served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Ohio. During his tenure, Hon. McEwen served on the Intelligence and the Rules Committees. He was also a member of the U.S. delegation to the European Parliament for 10 years. In 2020, President Trump appointed him to the 1776 Commission on patriotic education and the Defense Science Board. He and his wife, Liz, have four children and nine grandchildren.