Liberty Begins At Home

We want our kids to go into the world with a good values system. Something where we can be proud of what they do.

Or at least not take blame for the monster we’ve wrought upon the world.

And with that values system, you also want kids to provide for themselves when you’re not around.

It might surprise you to learn how important it is to teach your kids about capitalism. And how much you need to supplement that education with values.

What Capitalism Is

So let’s start with what capitalism is:

Capitalism uses a resource to create more resources.

Yep. That’s it. It’s just a tool.

But it’s how iron ore, charcoal, heat energy, and human effort make steel.

It’s how raw ingredients become cuisine.

Farming is capitalism. You save the seeds from last year’s harvest to plant a new one next year.

If you want a life with material goods at scale and in one location, you need some form of capitalism. The only flip-side from this system is hunter-gathering.

Capitalism isn’t evil. It’s an acknowledgment that everything grows. 

So we can hold onto our vanity and overstate our inputs. Or acknowledge we have an abundant world and be stewards of the growth beyond our time on earth.

That said, it takes something else to make capitalism either helpful or oppressive.

What Capitalism Lacks

To get those outcomes, you need a values system.

With apologies to generations of left-leaning college students, capitalism comes value neutral.

The problem with being value neutral? We tend to impose our own values on it:

Is the problem with capitalism that Big Food could add chalk to milk to make it look fresher for longer on the shelf?

Or that the FDA would raid Amish farmers selling raw milk to neighbors who freely accepted the risks?

Or that there was an overwhelming desire for control?

Using outsized influence to squeeze out legitimate competition comes from a values system of scarcity.

But we can choose to operate from a values system of abundance. More players can come to the market to offer their goods and services for our benefit.

It’s up to the user to apply a value system.

Need more clarification? Here are more examples:

Pure, unadulterated capitalism can’t kill us all. But it doesn’t feed our poor neighbors on its own, either. That’s up to the user.

Making Capitalism Work for You

Now all that’s left is to decide which way you want to apply capitalism.

You could lock up a swath of natural resources and keep the benefits only for yourself. Or you could figure out something value added to serve your neighbors’ needs. Then get so good at it you can teach others how to do it well and safely while you figure out how to get it to more people. And then you grow and grow until…

Well you see where this goes. Your decisions on how to execute these actions determine what path your practice of capitalism takes. It doesn’t matter how big or small.

And, remember: your kids are watching you.

Things to consider:

• Do you have to force your value add onto someone for it to work?
• Is your value proposition wholesome enough that others will accept it?

Capitalism and your Kids

Even if capitalism is value neutral, it doesn’t make you helpless. It’s an empowering kick in the backside to figure out what values you need to apply to it.

Capitalism and values are a “both and” proposition. Your kids need both a means of providing for themselves and a values system to live in community.

If you teach your kids that capitalism is evil, you may have the best intentions of not unleashing a monster on the world. But to do so is to cut them off from an understanding that things grow.

And that limits them from providing for themselves. Would that make us proud?

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Affiliate Corner

Looking for a community that can help you teach your kids values AND capitalism? Check out Tom Woods’ School of Life and join an accountability group today!

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Want more content? Check out these related articles next:

Want More Liberty? Have Kids

Growth Takes Struggle

Be An Example for Your Kids