Firstly it destroys artificial social and hierarchical barriers and generates opportunities for the poor to become rich or less poor. The modern socialist will argue that this reasoning is fallacious because those with capital will exploit those without it and therefore the rich will become richer and the poor poorer. The scope of this book does not permit us to refute such specious arguments. It is sufficient to remind ourselves that capitalism where it has flourished for any length of time has had a better record of reducing poverty than any system of state paternalism. At the second level, capitalism by the creation of wealth promotes benevolence.
Capitalism makes benevolence affordable to individuals.
The great charity foundations of the United States which have benefited all mankind through the advancement of learning and science are by products of free enterprise. Under socialist welfarism benevolence and charity becomes the responsibility of the state. Individuals are deprived of the capacity to show concern for fellow man by being deprived of their wealth through taxation and other controls. Vast bureaucracies are set up to extract money from the public and to spend it on state determined priorities. In the process the bureaucracy itself soaks up most of the public revenue.