Remarks by Sir John Templeton at Atlas Network, Sept 2001 –
To begin, let’s think back. The idea has been going on since civilization started thousands of years ago, that the government should be a dictatorship. Only very recently have we gotten away from the concept that everything should be determined by the king, emperor, or by the pope. Only now do we have some freedom.
It was only two centuries ago that the great book on this subject was written by Adam Smith called An Inquiry into the Causes of the Wealth of Nations. And now, only two centuries later – in our own lifetime, in fact – this great struggle between mental control from the top and freedom has been won. It has been won by freedom.
And the reason it’s been won in most areas of the world is because of the people who fought for it. But even today among some scholarly academics, there remains some feeling that somehow top-down dictatorship from the government can enrich the poor. Also, there is a rather subconscious feeling that somehow free competition can lead to selfishness, not to ethics and spirituality.
We must understand the benefits for all people worldwide by keeping government very small, and by continually opening wider the incentives for invention, efficiency, and discovery – all of which result from free competition.
Invention and creativity are rewarded under free competition, which is a major reason why free competition enriches the poor. Likewise, freedom to change jobs enriches the poor.
Let me point out some very obvious reasons why free enterprise is the best way yet invented to enrich the poor and also the best way yet invented to teach good character.
Let’s look at just three clear comparisons among neighbor nations, one under socialism and the neighbor with free competition. The first, South Korea whose standard of living is over three times that of socialist North Korea, just since they separated less than 50 years ago. Secondly Florida, which borders on Cuba, has over ten times the standard of living as people in socialist Cuba. And third, Switzerland, whose standard of living is now 20 times what it is in those countries that have remained socialist, such as Belarus and Ukraine.
These are so clear and obvious, but it is not yet widely understood by all of the acedemics. We must help the acedemics see that free competition is on their side. They all want to help the poor. They all want to teach ethics, and free competition is their best tool. Just ask any people who vote for bureaucracy, as many do, why so many millions of poor people with experience under socailism want to emigrate to free nations. Whereas almost no one tries to emigrate out of the free nations, and almost no one tries to immigrate into a socialist nation. Those things are so simple and easy to understand.
Turning now to the evidence that free competition may is effective in teaching ethics – common sense will tell you that unless you treat your customer and your employees better than your competitor does, they will go to your competitors. Unless you and your enterprise build a reputation for reliability and honesty, your customers will go elsewhere.
Better service to customers brings you more customers. Now if these few concepts could be put across to the great minds in acedemia it would be a huge advance for freedom, creativity and innovation in the world.
I had this thought on a micro level yesterday. There are groups who are historically disenfranchised. Some fall
into certain races or classes but we have a general idea of who they are. What I see when running sales calls is tremendous missed opportunities. These people have no credit and no possibility of ever fixing their home’s property. I have however shown up to similar homes with similar home owners and made big sales. That is because the individual in the historically poorer community decided to buck the status quo. They have often spent 3 decades at a local manufacturing firm and have steadily built credit by paying their mortgage on time. This allows them to purchase quality products that will last and ultimately gives them a standard of living their family has never experienced before. All because of the free market… not government subsidies.
Very well said. Relying on a government never brings up the quality of life of a country’s citizens.
The politicians in power now (unfortunately) seem to have no idea that this country was built on this premise.
It all makes perfect sense. An employee works for their employer and wants to grow the company so their piece of that (income) grows as well. A politician works for the government and wants it to grow so their piece of that grows as well.