Ten Commandments and Capitalism

     Within the ten commandments that Moses received from God upon Mt. Sinai is the command, "Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15).  That command has to do with how individuals, individually or collectively, are to treat each other in respect to property.  A persons property is a manifest fruit of that persons labor - whether intangible or tangible.  Thus it is unjust for another person or group to take another persons property without their consent.  For in doing so that person is being robbed of their labor, which is made up of their time, talents, means and exertions.

     Capitalism is the only economic system which guarantees or protects an individual's and an organization's property.  For without property rights or the protection of an individual's or an organization's labor, means and ingenuity then the economic system of capitalism collapses.  

       "One of the most fundamental requirements of a capitalist economic system—and one of the most misunderstood concepts—is a strong system of property rights. For decades social critics in the United States and throughout the Western world have complained that “property” rights too often take precedence over “human” rights, with the result that people are treated unequally and have unequal opportunities. Inequality exists in any society. But the purported conflict between property rights and human rights is a mirage. Property rights are human rights."  Armen A. Alchian