He’s not my first pick to be Britain’s next prime minister, but Boris Johnson deserves credit for centering his Conservative Party leadership campaign on capitalism. Democratic capitalism is history’s greatest economic force for human good.
As Johnson put it this week,
The message matters. After all, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s left-wing Labour Party is a socialist’s socialist. And unfortunately, were an election held today, Corbyn might win take power. The Conservatives must pick a leader who can not just settle the Conservatives’ Brexit problems, but also extol the moral benefits of capitalism. Note here that the Conservative Party’s effective parliamentary majority means that whoever wins the party’s leadership will replace Theresa May as prime minister.
But politics must be relatable. So Johnson and all conservative politicians should focus on asking these key questions.
First off, why is only 10% of the world’s population living in extreme poverty today compared to 36% in 1990? The answer is expanded free trade and widespread (especially in China but also in India and Eastern Europe) abandonment of socialist economic principles.
Why do socialist-governed nations lag behind the U.S.? Why are children starving in the nation that has the world’s largest oil reserves? Answer: because socialist governments stifle competition and innovation, protect vested interests, and have no clue how to allocate capital efficiently, as this is something only the free market does well.
Why has the real median household incomes increased alongside our access to more and cheaper goods? Answer: because of increases in productivity and innovation. (By the way, ever notice, in line with Bernie Sanders’ complaints about the diversity of available deodorants, that socialist states offer little diversity of goods?)
Why do we have new medicines and medical tools? Answer: thanks to research motivated by the union of science and aspirations for prosperity. Note that European social-democracies — not even true socialist countries — are free riders on U.S. research and development.
Why do we now have online streaming companies like Netflix and Sling instead of Blockbuster and expensive, rigid cable plans? Answer: because capitalism produces competitive innovation in the pursuit of a profit.
Why did Chernobyl explosion happen in the Soviet Union? Why are there so many ecological disaster sites in the former U.S.S.R. and other former communist countries? Answer: because socialists foster a corrupt state first, and its priorities always supersede the little things in life, like clean air and drinkable water.
The key here is that conservatives must articulate the better morality of free-market capitalism. It is far superior to socialism (even the so-called “democratic” kind) as a servant of moral human interest (just look at the data). But unless Conservatives like Boris Johnson make this case relentlessly and without apology, folks like Corbyn will enter power.
