Capitalism is freedom, statism is bondage.  There is serious confusion about what capitalism is.  Capitalism is pure protection of property.  Statism is some combination of socialism and fascism, which violates property.  Statism is the spirit of violence.  It is the subjection of the masses into the leaders’ plan.  It’s not no plan vs. plan.  Who plans?  It’s the individual plan vs. the impersonal plan of the leaders.

Under capitalism, the consumer is king.  An enterprise can only succeed by pleasing the consumers.  To remove them from their position, another enterprise must succeed in pleasing the consumers better.  Under statism, a select few are king, which has been referred to by Robert Michels as the Iron Law of Oligarchy.   They succeeded in the popularity contest that happens after each term. The many are always subjected to a few.

Capitalism doesn’t just make the owners wealthy, but all individuals.  The marginal productivity of the individual has been raised, which means higher wages, and the quantity of goods has increased.  There is a tendency towards improvement under capitalism.  How did Crusoe and Friday improve their standard of living on the island?  It was saving and cooperation, not Friday stealing from Crusoe in perpetuity.

Two terms commonly used are state power and economic power, but these two are categorically different.  State power is compelling into submission all of those who don’t fall inline.  Economic power is gained by those who provide the best possible satisfaction to consumers.  If they were not compelled, these are actions they wouldn’t take.  How do I know this?  They must be compelled because they don’t do it voluntarily.

It is true, the masses acquiesce into the whims of the rulers.  This is not because it was chosen voluntarily.  They were compelled in certain ways, this is statism.  People’s behavior is altered voluntarily by providing them the best possible goods or services, this is capitalism.  There is no compulsion under capitalism.  Capitalism is convincing, statism is compelling.  The only requirement to outstrip them is to serve the consumer better.

Reference

Ludwig von Mises; Economic Freedom and Interventionism