Government does many things to get us to behave in certain ways. For example, governments put high taxes on items that they want us to consume in limited amounts, such as cigarettes, alcohol, or gasoline. Economic systems influence the choices that we make. We operate based on the rules of our economy. Capitalism affords us many opportunities that people living in a communist economy do not have.
Voluntary trade creates wealth.
We trade things that we have a surplus of for things that we find scarce. This allows people to focus on producing the things that they are best at and trading for the other things in life that they want. The consequences of our choices lie in the future. We all try to predict what choices will turn out to be the best. Some people do a better job than others, but everyone tries to forecast their own economic future.