Who is the greatest humanitarian to ever live? Ghandi? Mother Teresa? Jimmy Carter? Bono? I would argue that person would be Adam Smith, the moral philosopher who laid the intellectual and moral groundwork for what came to be known as capitalism with his 1776 book Wealth of Nations. We are all bombarded in a variety of ways with tales of human misery in an attempt to separate us from our money. Guilt is a good motivator, if not a dishonest one. The assumption with all such appeals is that our money will help alleviate the suffering. No doubt it does and can in some cases, but the wealth generator of the free market is a far better cure for much human misery.

Our pastor at the church we attend recently gave a sermon on a disturbing passage in Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31-46. This is the parable of the sheep and the goats. In it Jesus says:

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

His conclusion; what you did for such as these, you did for him. The same goes in the negative; what you did not do for such as these, you didn’t do for him. The result? Eternal life for the former, eternal punishment for the latter. Tough stuff, because it seems to say if you fail to do these things your eternal soul could suffer. After the sermon I told my wife that caring for the helpless is certainly important, but that capitalism has helped more people out of poverty and thus increased their quality of life in every way than all the charity and government programs combined. I’m sure our pastor would acknowledge that, but it would be nice to have this fact as part of a broader message on what really helps people.

A wonderful piece in City Journal called “Growing Out of Poverty” brought this to mind. According to a study by the World Bank extreme poverty around the world is declining fast. And why would that be? Yep, capitalism.

Thirty years ago, half of the planet lived in utter misery, and many commentators argued that poverty was destiny. At best, most pundits conceded that pockets of poverty could be alleviated through international aid. Only a handful of economists begged to differ: Theodor Schultz, Milton Friedman, and Peter Bauer were the mavericks advocating free-market policies for every nation as the way out of poverty. They have been proven right. . . .

The debate is over, or should be. Humanitarian aid has helped alleviate misery in specific conditions, but it is no substitute for sound economic policy.

Ever since Karl Marx came on the scene capitalism has been on the defensive, and although communism is dead, the mindset that animated it is alive and well in every variety of leftist today. Our professions of cultural influence are dominated by such people, and thus capitalism continues to be on the defensive in American culture. It’s time for that to end, because the case for free markets vs. anything else isn’t even close. The blessings it has produced for billions upon billions of people is unmatched in the history of the world.

By all means give to charity, give to your place of worship. Those dollars really can help people in need. In fact, conservatives and religious types always give more, because they know where their blessings come from, and they are not from government.