What Capitalism Is
• Basic Principles
• Basic Principles
Fundamental Right is Right to Life
Property Rights
Contract Rights
Individual
rights are the means by which every man can live
morally in society with other men. The fundamental
basis for individual rights is the recognition that
each man is unique and must live a moral life,
which means to live according to reason. When a
society protects individual rights, it is ensuring
that the society is one in which all individuals
can be moral.
When men form a society, when they set down rules for living in an organized way, they must be guided by a principle of social interaction. This principle is the principle of rights. A right is, in Ayn Rand’s words, “a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man’s freedom of action in a social context.” To create a moral society it is necessary to define the range of action that each man may take consistent with a proper moral code.
The fundamental right is the right to life. This means that each man has a right to preserve and protect his own life. As a basic requirement of a moral society, each man must be left free to take those actions required for his survival, including the right to think and the right to produce and keep the products of one’s efforts. The right to life thus protects and sanctions an objective set of actions—those that are, in fact, required by the survival of a rational being.
Individual rights focus on the moral authority to make choices and take actions. Although rights have often been designated by a list or inventory, they are not limited to a set of concrete actions. To have a right means to have the moral authority to engage in the choices and actions that are necessary for survival of a rational being. Man survives by the use of reason, and rights protect this. To say that a man has a right to think to further his own survival does not prescribe what he must think or limit him to thinking only about certain topics. Likewise, to say that a man has a right to produce does not dictate what he must produce. He must evaluate each choice according to his own survival needs. He is free to choose, for example, to eat foods that are unconventional in his society, but he cannot choose to eat poison. In judging the survival value of a man’s choices and actions, reality is the arbiter.
There is no possible conflict between the rights of men; no individual can have a right to violate another’s rights. The only way one man can stop another from acting to according to his objective survival needs—which means according to the principles of his moral code—is to initiate force against him. In a free and just society, no man can claim a moral right to initiate force against another man because it is contrary to the survival requirements for a rational being. Human nature demands that each man be self-sustaining, which means that no man can claim by force the services or products of another man. To make such a claim against another man’s will necessarily involves the initiation of force. It cannot be claimed as a moral right by any man—to do so would be to give some men the authority over other men to replace the free exercise of their minds, which means to allow some men to dictate the conditions upon which other men live and think.
When men form a society, when they set down rules for living in an organized way, they must be guided by a principle of social interaction. This principle is the principle of rights. A right is, in Ayn Rand’s words, “a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man’s freedom of action in a social context.” To create a moral society it is necessary to define the range of action that each man may take consistent with a proper moral code.
The fundamental right is the right to life. This means that each man has a right to preserve and protect his own life. As a basic requirement of a moral society, each man must be left free to take those actions required for his survival, including the right to think and the right to produce and keep the products of one’s efforts. The right to life thus protects and sanctions an objective set of actions—those that are, in fact, required by the survival of a rational being.
Individual rights focus on the moral authority to make choices and take actions. Although rights have often been designated by a list or inventory, they are not limited to a set of concrete actions. To have a right means to have the moral authority to engage in the choices and actions that are necessary for survival of a rational being. Man survives by the use of reason, and rights protect this. To say that a man has a right to think to further his own survival does not prescribe what he must think or limit him to thinking only about certain topics. Likewise, to say that a man has a right to produce does not dictate what he must produce. He must evaluate each choice according to his own survival needs. He is free to choose, for example, to eat foods that are unconventional in his society, but he cannot choose to eat poison. In judging the survival value of a man’s choices and actions, reality is the arbiter.
There is no possible conflict between the rights of men; no individual can have a right to violate another’s rights. The only way one man can stop another from acting to according to his objective survival needs—which means according to the principles of his moral code—is to initiate force against him. In a free and just society, no man can claim a moral right to initiate force against another man because it is contrary to the survival requirements for a rational being. Human nature demands that each man be self-sustaining, which means that no man can claim by force the services or products of another man. To make such a claim against another man’s will necessarily involves the initiation of force. It cannot be claimed as a moral right by any man—to do so would be to give some men the authority over other men to replace the free exercise of their minds, which means to allow some men to dictate the conditions upon which other men live and think.
The
protection of property rights is one of the main
foundations of a capitalist system. Property rights
recognize the individual’s moral claim to the
products of his mind or his labor. The right to
private property is a direct implication of each
individual’s right to life, which entails the right
to take the actions necessary to sustain his life.
Since human beings require material values for
their well-being and survival, they must have a
right to acquire, use, and dispose of those values.
They must have a right to both the thought and work
that goes into the process of creating those
values.
The protection of property rights requires a stable system of laws, which recognize both material ownership of land and possessions as well as ownership of intellectual property in the form of patents or copyrights. Politically, the right to property entails a system of wholly private ownership. In capitalism, there can be no public property.
Property rights are crucial to a fully free society because they are the means of implementing the right to life and all its corollary rights. To sustain life, man must produce material values—from food and shelter to auditoriums and laboratories—that will enable human flourishing. To be moral, a man must be productive and he must have the right to engage in the production and consumption of material values. This right goes hand in hand with the other rights of individuals—rights are a unity. The right of property is what allows men to remain free to disagree in their political opinions, to express themselves in free speech, to practice their religion freely, to define the terms of their happiness according to their own judgment.
The protection of property rights requires a stable system of laws, which recognize both material ownership of land and possessions as well as ownership of intellectual property in the form of patents or copyrights. Politically, the right to property entails a system of wholly private ownership. In capitalism, there can be no public property.
Property rights are crucial to a fully free society because they are the means of implementing the right to life and all its corollary rights. To sustain life, man must produce material values—from food and shelter to auditoriums and laboratories—that will enable human flourishing. To be moral, a man must be productive and he must have the right to engage in the production and consumption of material values. This right goes hand in hand with the other rights of individuals—rights are a unity. The right of property is what allows men to remain free to disagree in their political opinions, to express themselves in free speech, to practice their religion freely, to define the terms of their happiness according to their own judgment.
A
system of capitalism must recognize and protect the
rights of individuals to form and execute
contracts. Because free individuals in a proper
society do not have to deal with one another except
by choice, a system of contract is essential. The
justification for enforcement of contracts is the
recognition that individuals have the capacity and
right to bind themselves legally to perform some
action or exchange some value. The proper basis for
a system of contract law is the understanding that
any disputes between rational men must be resolved
by an impartial arbiter with an objective set of
rules to define how such disputes will be resolved.
Under a proper government system, consenting adults may make any agreements they wish according to the best judgments of their own minds so long as those agreements are voluntary and do not implicate the initiation of force against any other party. Because breaches of contract involve the indirect use of physical force, it is vitally necessary for the government to provide a system of civil courts whereby contractual disputes can be resolved. It is also necessary for the government to define the context in which some breaches of contract may constitute criminal violations.
As the primary means of using and exchanging property in a social context, contracts form an essential foundation of a free economic system. Contracts facilitate a division of labor whereby individuals can specialize and trade for the goods they need to survive. Thus, the objects of contracts can range from a few hours of labor to a piece of land to a complex scientific process.
A consequence of the protection of contract rights is the ability of individuals to take coordinated action across large spans of time and geography. Through the creation of partnerships, corporations, trusts, or holding companies, individuals can contractually achieve economic results that are otherwise unavailable to them.
Under a proper government system, consenting adults may make any agreements they wish according to the best judgments of their own minds so long as those agreements are voluntary and do not implicate the initiation of force against any other party. Because breaches of contract involve the indirect use of physical force, it is vitally necessary for the government to provide a system of civil courts whereby contractual disputes can be resolved. It is also necessary for the government to define the context in which some breaches of contract may constitute criminal violations.
As the primary means of using and exchanging property in a social context, contracts form an essential foundation of a free economic system. Contracts facilitate a division of labor whereby individuals can specialize and trade for the goods they need to survive. Thus, the objects of contracts can range from a few hours of labor to a piece of land to a complex scientific process.
A consequence of the protection of contract rights is the ability of individuals to take coordinated action across large spans of time and geography. Through the creation of partnerships, corporations, trusts, or holding companies, individuals can contractually achieve economic results that are otherwise unavailable to them.
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