For instance, he insists that our ills arise partly from a disordered emphasis on man's creativity as opposed to his receptivity, which should be primary. As a Catholic, I have a lot of sympathy with Schindler's view, but as a Catholic economist, I think there are serious problems with it, both in theory and in practice. I object especially to the condemnation of an economic system as a whole, because of its particular cultural deficiencies. But before I get to my criticisms, I want to clarify the meaning of the term capitalism. Let me offer a basic definition for a starting point, and then proceed to draw some implications which, to me, seem to undermine Schindler's position.
Capitalism is one of many possible economic systems.
Capitalism uses a market system for organizing resources and distributing wealth, goods and services produced. Our present experience of capitalism in most western industrialized nations, however, is not that of a pure capitalism. Rather, nations like the United States, Japan and Germany are usually thought of as mixed capitalist economies. Such public intervention is justified when the market system fails to achieve certain goals. This definition of the economic system is rather simplistic.