You're not mad at capitalism; you're mad at the government!
By Timothy Tarkelly
web posted April 28, 2025
Words have meaning. Political jargon gets thrown around so much, and a lot of the time people don't really know what they're saying.
Capitalism has a meaning. It is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned. Socialism is an economic system in which the means of production are owned by the workers. Capitalism allows for the free exchange of goods and services while socialism heavily regulates these exchanges.
If you sell bracelets on Etsy, you are not fighting the capitalist system by diving into artisanal commerce. You are participating in capitalism. However, you may be fighting a corrupt corporate system: a version of capitalism corrupted by cronyism and government interference.
The popularly accepted definition of free market economics is as follows: under a free market, corporations have reign to ravage the environment, and the entire economic system will become one giant monopoly that will take over our lives. A lot of criticism against capitalism comes from the status quo. "Big business is polluting our waterways!" "Big business is ruining healthcare!" The cries of "big business" abound. Don't get me wrong. Corruption is rampant, and there are countless companies earning the unfortunate reputation that capitalism has. However, these problems aren't the result of a free market; they are the result of the government.
How does a company own everything, anyway?
Coca-Cola makes a fortune siphoning drinking water away from impoverished third-world countries and selling it to privileged people around the globe. Why does this happen? Because those countries sell away the rights to their water, even while forbidding their own citizens to have access. When lumber companies decimate forests or when mining companies exploit struggling countries in Central Africa, it is done at the (often eager) request of the government. Every weapon of mass destruction ever built was done so to fulfill a government contract. Every company that dumps their waste into public waterways was given permits to do so by our government.
This program of twisted rewards is further harmful as it is unfairly discerning in choosing which companies to prop up. As Dr. Mary Ruwart puts it, "As long as government has the power to regulate business, business will control government by funding the candidate that legislates in its favor." The corporate world has no shortage of lobbyists and pet officials to make sure the law is written to their benefit.
The government tells you where to get your healthcare coverage, where and how to save your money, and where to get food. The way food is distributed in this country is at the will of our elected officials. Grocery and beverage suppliers get to buy exclusive distribution right, which is why during Covid grocery store shelves were empty while food rotted in trucks. We grow corn in Kansas to ship off somewhere else and have corn delivered to us from other places. Why? Because it's the law.
Liability caps
A common claim is that the free market endangers the environment. However, when it comes to natural resources, the government is public enemy number one. Taxpayer money is used to perpetuate the fossil fuel industry while lobbyists prevent clean energy sources (like nuclear) from becoming viable options.
2020 Presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen campaigned on Libertarianism and its positive effect on the environment. Campaigning in Alaska, she spoke on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurred in 2010. The media narrative around the incident of course focused on corporate greed and recklessness, but it left out "the rest of the story, the government had given them a liability cap." These companies benefit from a cap on how much they would ever have to pay in damages. Of course an oil company is going to be reckless if they know that any damages they may cause will never exceed their profit margin. Without government protection, oil companies would have to pay very high insurance premiums to operate. In order to be granted insurance coverage, they would have to pass extensive inspections or risk losing their coverage. If a spill did still occur, the damages would be enough to bankrupt such a company. Instead, they get a slap on the wrist and federal approval to keep on conducting business as usual.
If you want to know more about free market solutions to the environment, the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) does a ton of great research and advocacy work.
Healthcare and Education
The Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, was lauded as a victory over for-profit healthcare and a step toward a single-payer system. Actually, it was a huge victory for insurance companies. These are businesses that make a profit off of our medical misfortunes. They are reviled for their carelessness and often unwillingness to actually follow through with the coverage they are supposed to provide. So what did we do? We made it the law that you have to give them your money. Obama was proud of "giving" people healthcare coverage. He did not. He made it against the law to not have it. If you can't afford it, don't worry! We will use taxpayer dollars to pay these companies to cheat you out of the healthcare coverage you deserve.
Our government's incestuous relationship with insurance companies is why healthcare is so expensive in the first place. Hospitals can now charge whatever they want, knowing that insurance will pay for it, that you will just spend the rest of your life paying the insurance company, and the government will cover the rest. This is the exact same model that jacked up the cost of college tuition. Universities know they can charge whatever they want because you will just get federal loans to cover it.
Final Thoughts
You can't be mad at the free market because we don't have one. We have an economic system in which elected officials get to choose which companies get to participate in their exclusive arena. The point is that when you see your favorite patch of trees turned into lumber, it's not another random victim of capitalism. It's the law. When your insurance company denies coverage for your much-needed procedure, you're not another random victim of capitalism. You're a victim of congress.
Once we start directing our anger at the right people, we may be able to find solutions that work for people. If we don't, we will only make this corrupt system even stronger. 
Timothy Tarkelly's work has been featured by Students for Liberty, Quaker Libertarians, the LPKS Blog, and Enter Stage Right. He's also an extensively published poet and romance author. When he's not writing, he teaches and coaches Speech & Debate in Southeast Kansas.
