Capitalists for Capitalism
Manifesto
Overview
Just because someone is a businessperson doesn’t mean they support capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system based on free and voluntary production and trade. That means it is fundamentally based on certain principles, like respect for individual agency, creating value, opportunity to innovate, collaboration, and bottom-up experimentation. Too few businesspeople embody these principles in their actions and even fewer actively stand up for these principles and the system of capitalism itself.
This is a call to build a movement of business leaders that are actually for capitalism, advance the principles that have built the modern world and are critical to humanity’s future prosperity.
This manifesto is a call to build a movement of principled business.
Section 1. Why is this needed?
Too few capitalists understand, implement, or stand up for the principles of capitalism.
Changing this would not only strengthen the moral underpinnings of how business is conducted, but also unleash incredible prosperity. There is a fundamental human desire to treat people well and for greater well-being for ourselves, our loved ones, and others. Capitalism has been and continues to be the greatest system at providing exactly that for humanity.
Capitalism is not just an abstract theory. It is brought to life through those who do business, and so business leaders are in a unique position as those who implement capitalism, witness its inner workings, and provide direction for its future activities.
As such, this manifesto calls for business leaders to realize that they are the heroes of society, and to lean into that role. They are the ones who take abstract ideas of value and turn them into reality. They are the ones who create new structures that lift people out of poverty. They scale organizations that align diverse interests and goals so people can work together towards a common good. They empower others to do more together than can be done alone. They drive humanity to greater heights.
All of this is made possible by the system of free and voluntary trade of goods and services that come from capitalism; however, if capitalists don’t stand for capitalism, we cannot expect others to.
This is a call for capitalists to stand up for capitalism and be the best representatives, advocates, and collaborators in capitalism.
Being the best representatives of capitalism means recognizing that it lives through the daily choices and actions of business leaders. Their conduct determines both the substance and perception of capitalism.
Being the best advocates of capitalism means speaking up for capitalism, not just one’s own business interests. That takes courage and conviction - qualities we must call upon now.
And being the best collaborators in capitalism means finding ways to do more business with others based on the principles of capitalism and instill those principles in others.
So, what is the best-case scenario for what comes from those who read this manifesto or are influenced by it? In general, it is:
Being proud to be a capitalist at events
Standing up for other business leaders
Building businesses based on real value creation, not extracting value from the government
Not using the government to benefit your own business
Creating win-win-wins to not abuse people for short-term gain
Inspiring positive portrayals of business in movies
Inspiring positive coverage of business in the news
Investing in businesses led by those who believe in capitalism
Doing business with others who are willing to stand for capitalism
For investors, it is:
Evaluating the principles of those you invest in and back those who are committed to the principles of capitalism
Mentoring your portfolio companies to embrace these principles
Seeking to use the examples of those companies you support not only on how to make more money, but how to leverage the system of capitalism to make people’s lives better
For executives, it is:
Incorporating the principles of capitalism into the way you level up your employees
Developing programs for your company that imbue the principles of capitalism in your culture and brand
Leveraging your position to share your and others’ stories as examples of capitalism advancing humanity
For entrepreneurs, it is:
Making the principles of capitalism core to the way your business operates
Seeking out values-aligned investors, team members, and other partners
Making the goal of your business to show what can be done through the free and voluntary interactions of people through capitalism
For nonprofit leaders, who are in business in their own way, it is:
Seeing for-profit entities as contributors to society as much as nonprofit entities
Learning from for-profit entities
Elevating capitalism and others who embrace its principles as a solution to many of the social problems that nonprofits seek to solve
Actions without context are not examples. Context determines which actions become examples. This is why capitalists need to understand theory. It is theory that contextualizes which actions are business, which are charity, and which are downright criminal. For too long, criminal activity has tried to hide behind the legitimacy of business. The ability to call out such fraud protects the principled leader's reputation just as much as the integrity of capitalism itself. More than anything else, our friends and colleagues influence who we are and how we are perceived. Choosing to do business with other principled leaders is one of the most effective ways to incentivize other principled leaders, avoid tarnished reputations, and starve crony capitalists by denying them the hard-earned legitimacy of true capitalists.
Section 2. What is Capitalism?
Names can lead to misunderstandings and miscommunication, so it’s important to first define what we’re talking about when addressing, “capitalism”.
Simply put, capitalism is an economic system that's based on private ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined by the free and voluntary trade between them.
This was a revolutionary system compared to the systems that came before it, such as:
Feudalism: A historical economic system where wealth and power were concentrated in the hands of landowners, and where peasants worked the land in exchange for protection and subsistence.
Mercantilism: An economic system focused on maximizing national wealth through strict regulation of trade and accumulation of precious metals.
And it is in contrast to other economic systems developed after the advent of capitalism, such as:
Socialism: An economic system where the means of production (e.g., factories, land, and capital) are owned and directed collectively, either by the state or the workers.
Communism: An economic system based upon classless society where all property and resources are communally owned, and the production and distribution of goods and services are based on communal decision-making.
Fascism: An economic system where private ownership exists, but the state directs the use of that property to serve national goals.
Mixed Economics: Attempts at combining two or more of these economic systems together.
Each system is guided by different underlying principles. For example, mercantilism was based on the principle that real value lay in precious metals. Socialism and Communism prioritized distribution of wealth and production based on need rather than ability. And Fascism is based on the principle that a national interest should guide economic decision-making.
Capitalism too is based on certain underlying principles. At its core is a belief in the principle of Respect for Individual Agency. The concept of private property depends on the agency of each individual to own him or herself and extends to their actions and that which they produce. Similarly, when engaging in trade with others, their agency means they have the freedom to choose what trades to engage in or not engage in, engaging in negotiations and agreements as individuals. To believe in private property is to believe in the respect that each person deserves for what they have created and only become entitled to what is theirs if they agree to trade it.
There are several other principles of capitalism that deserve note as well, including:
Creating Value - Rather than relying on a conception of preordained value, there is a presumption that value is determined by what people reveal is valuable to themselves. There are some things that are objectively valuable, such as food, health, purpose, etc. But how to provide those for people, maximize that value, and more, Profit is a byproduct of creating value for others that did not exist before. Making money is different from taking money from others.
Opportunity to Create - Because individuals have agency and can determine what is most valuable for themselves, they have the opportunity to not only choose what to purchase, but also what they want to contribute. There is a presumption that people have the agency to start new businesses, improve existing ones, develop new products or services, and pursue opportunities that others do not see or believe in. Rather than certain jobs or industries being imposed on them, they get to seek out what they want to do.
Collaboration, i.e. Working Towards Aligned Interests - Capitalism isn’t about competition as much as collaboration, and finding ways to help each other. Voluntary trade only happens when interests align in a win-win-win scenario, where all parties benefit. But such scenarios are not obvious. We must understand what others value and share what we offer in return. This process cannot happen in isolation or theoretical debate: it requires real engagement. Engaging in capitalism is agreeing to collaborate in the learning, teaching, and exchanging of value. Only after this collaborative groundwork, can meaningful competition emerge.
Bottom-Up Experimentation - Underpinning it all is the belief that progress comes from experimentation. When individuals and private entities try new ideas, they uncover insights and innovations that might otherwise be missed. This process is known as entrepreneurship.
These principles do not stand alone. Capitalism is a system built on interdependent and interconnected ideas, and understanding how they work requires theoretical exploration. This is the core of Adam Smith's landmark work, The Wealth of Nations, and why it remains relevant today.
Smith was the first to systematically show us how capitalism creates an ecosystem for massive increases in productivity that benefit everyone, so long as we can freely trade. This is a lesson humanity needs to re-learn with every generation. If we do not embrace it, who will? Smith’s ideas cannot be left to gather dust on a shelf, precisely because we have seen the effects of his insights over the nearly 250 years since he first made the argument:
200 years ago, 85% of the world lived in extreme poverty, defined as less than $1 a day. As of 2024, this is now down to 9.2% and continues to decline. To put that in perspective, between 1990 and 2020 alone, 128,000 people escaped abject poverty every day.
Globally, average GDP per capita has risen from $1,300 in 1982 to $17,527 in 2022 - a 1,248% increase. This translates to real-life benefits for people, such as diminishing hunger. As Vaclav Smil pointed out: “in 1950, the world was able to supply adequate food to about 890 million people, but by 2019 that had risen to just over 7 billion: a nearly eight-fold increase in absolute terms,” and “"rising food production reduced the malnutrition rate from 2 in 3 people in 1950 to 1 in 11 by 2019."
Global average life expectancy rose from 28.5 years in 1800 to 71 years in 2022.
In 1820, world literacy was 12%. In 2022, this was 87%.
There are ample examples to compare and contrast capitalist economic systems from non-capitalist systems over this time. After adopting capitalist policies and encouraging free trade and association, places like Hong Kong, Dubai, and Singapore grew significantly. What’s more, over the decades since the partition of Korea, the North has economically stagnated while the South has become one of the highest per-capita GDP’s in the world.
The case for capitalism is not merely that it delivers the best results for people. It is also that it respects the moral authority of every individual. In 1759, almost two decades before he wrote The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In it, he articulates how people respect one another in society through moral engagements. That each person is a unique agent with the ability to recognize and collaborate with others, is what makes us human. This provides the moral basis for capitalism: every person has moral agency, which both means we are capable of showing respect for others and they have a moral claim to demand that we provide that respect in our engagements with them. This is not limited to mere politeness or manners, but extends to the most fundamental ways we interact with each other, including economic activities. This is where the free and voluntary nature of economic production and trade comes into play. Capitalism is premised upon the belief that each person has the freedom to choose what they want to accomplish in life and pursue it as they best see fit.
Section 3. The Problem: Capitalists Against Capitalism
Given all of the positive impacts of capitalism on humanity and the fact that business leaders are the ones at the forefront of creating or at least seeing how this is done from the inside, why are business leaders themselves too often anti-capitalist? Here are a few reasons:
Some capitalists don’t understand capitalism as a system.
Some capitalists are actively opposed to capitalism as a system. Some are socialists because they feel guilty.
Some capitalists are scared to speak out for fear of being attacked. They keep their head down and pretend they have no role in defending the system in which they operate.
Some capitalists are not really practicing capitalism - they take money from others or use regulation and special privileges to protect themselves from competition instead of making money through new value creation.
Some capitalists are unprepared to defend capitalism effectively, lacking the arguments, analysis, or storytelling capabilities needed.
Business leaders can’t assume that others will protect capitalism, whether society at large, the government, associations, or anyone else. The implications are significant for one simple reason: If capitalists don’t stand for capitalism, why would anyone else?
For those that are not yet sure of the benefits or importance of capitalism, there is a need to change the dominant, negative narrative that capitalism is a result of stories of bad actors being more commonplace than the majority of good actors.
For those who feel alone, there is a need for business leaders to have a peer-support network to stand up for capitalism, and work with those who believe in capitalism.
For those capitalists who are ill-equipped to defend the system they believe in, the danger is not abstract. This is an immediate problem for THEM because every successful company will run into regulatory and tax hurdles, and if they aren't equipped to defend themselves in a pro-liberty way, they'll fall into the trap of compromising with government.
For the next generation, we need the best and brightest to enter business as a way to make the world freer and more prosperous.
Section 4. The Solution: Capitalists For Capitalism
Capitalism is not just a theory. It is a system implemented and practiced in the real world. At its heart are business leaders and the businesses they run. The way they conduct themselves reflects on capitalism, even if not in the ideal, certainly in the substance and perception of capitalism in practice.
This is why it is imperative for capitalists who support the principles of capitalism to do three things:
First, be the best representatives of capitalism through their actions. This means embodying the principles of Respect, Value Creation, Aligning Interests, Collaboration, and Opportunity. This will look differently for each business.
This is the key difference from other approaches that claim to be about business as a force for good. Too often, they presume that fundamental activities of business are destructive, that businesses need to “make up” for what they do in their day to day operations in some way. And they apply one-size-fits-all metrics of value-creation onto businesses. Instead, principled businesses know that their core operations are value-creating and the way to do more good in the world is tailored to each business.
Second, be the best advocates of capitalism by leveraging their positions and platforms. Speaking openly about the benefits of capitalism as a system, sharing their own stories as a business leader, elevating the stories of other business leaders, and encouraging others to support that system.
It’s not enough to promote one’s own business - It’s needs to be about taking the next step to advocate for the system in which they operate, thrive, and which makes every other individual’s opportunity to contribute to a better world possible.
Third, be the best collaborators in capitalism. This means engaging in trade and business relationships with others who share these values. Not only is this good for capitalism, it is good for business as well.
This is more than saying good things or running programs for employees. It is a call for business leaders to put these values into practice by investing in, partnering with, and supporting other principled businesses. It is often said that customers vote with their dollars. Business leaders do the same. They should choose to work with those in business who are committed to the principles that allow businesses and thus society to flourish.
This matters because leaders have greater potential to shape society and promote capitalism than they realize. Building a movement of business leaders who believe in capitalism can have wide-ranging positive impacts to create a freer and more prosperous world.
Consider how much control and influence business leaders have by virtue of the power of private industry. For example, in the US alone, 63% of the $25 trillion in GDP comes from non-governmental sources. (And, it is important to remember that even government spending is paid for by the private sector via taxes.) There are 5.7 million private companies and 5,000 publicly listed companies with employees. In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 132,989,428 people worked for businesses in the U.S.
This influence goes well beyond money or people. Business leaders shape the dominant cultural narrative and perception of capitalism through how they talk about it. Successful business leaders are able to inspire others to become capitalists and support capitalism. This is obvious with big names people frequently read in the news or on their social media. Yet it also includes the many smaller businesses or unknown business leaders who serve as heroes and role models inspiring others to emulate and pursue it themselves.
This influence is especially potent when it challenges the prevailing narrative that businesses are evil, greedy, or destructive. Take as two examples:
The Texan grocery chain HEB is often valorized for having a culture where employees and customers feel appreciated and loved, which leads to an appreciation of the company itself and the opportunities it provides to the community.
Similarly, Southwest Airlines is known for being so different, and so giving to its people that its customers have an obsessive loyalty to the company.
By their very activities, businesses can offer products and services that not only give consumers new options, but challenge limitations to their freedoms. Consider how:
Uber broke the stranglehold of taxi monopolies with ridesharing.
WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal created new communication tools that protect the privacy of users.
Bitcoin and the blockchain created alternative mechanisms for establishing trust, and new opportunities for financial transactions and contracts.
Lastly, an individual business leader can make a significant difference by their ability to convene and be invited to convenings. By being “in the room,” they can direct the flow of conversations, present proposals for a better future, and direct change.
Section 5. Two Futures
Why does this matter? Because the progress humanity has achieved under capitalism over the past 200 years is not guaranteed to continue for the next 200.
Nothing guarantees that progress will continue - there is every possibility that humanity will regress. And it is up to those at the forefront of the most powerful system for progress, to do what they can to advance it.
A future without capitalists advancing capitalism is one where business remains derided, and business leaders are ashamed of their work. As a result, they take advantage of others because there is no reason to do otherwise. Wealth extraction is more important than value creation. Innovation is a cost rather than a profit. Society regresses. And people are tangibly worse off for it.
With capitalists standing up for capitalism, though, a very different path is possible: Imagine young people dreaming of being entrepreneurs, executives, innovators who want to create value previously thought impossible. Imagine a world without poverty, where life expectancy is well over 100 years, literacy is universal, average per capita GDP is another 1,000x greater than it is today. Imagine people seeing business as an opportunity to express their individuality and opportunities.
This is a call for capitalists to bring about the latter future by being for capitalism.