Rick and Newt are Capitalists. Believe Me.

This week, waves were made in an attack on Gov. Mitt Romney by former speaker Newt Gingrich and Gov. Rick Perry. The two candidates accused Romney of practicing "vulture capitalism" during his tenure at Bain Capital. Their comments were quickly dubbed by the media as "anti-capitalist" sentiment, the ravings of desperate foes that could easily be used by President Obama and his Occupy allies to attack Romney in the general election. Michelle Malkin and Sean Hannity were two commentators who lambasted Gingrich and Perry for their comments, and seemed to question the candidates' commitment to the capitalist spirit. MSNBC mocked the candidates, saying that they were betraying their own ideology.

But did Gingrich and Perry actually attack capitalism? I don't see any evidence that they did. They didn't attack the structure of capitalism, merely the judgment of a man. They questioned the ethics of firing some people while delivering healthy profits to others, at no sacrifice to the self. They didn't propose a law banning this kind of behavior, they merely called it contemptible. Their comments were consistent with the kind of voluntarism that shapes supply and demand. If we are to be good citizens of a capitalist democracy, need we be blind to injustice? Or should we shape our market with our ideals? Is it anti-capitalist to call Walmart out for killing small businesses, buying Chinese slave-goods, or treating their workers poorly? Not in the least!

There is no rigid orthodoxy in capitalism- it's as boundless as mankind is. We the people are not slaves to supply- we create the demand! There is nothing wrong with blasting JC Penney for trying to shove turtle-necks down our throats, just as there is nothing wrong with blasting Bain Capital for their unsavory business practices. Public awareness doesn't undermine capitalism, it strengthens it. The supply will react to the demand. That's what is behind the amazing vitality of our economic system. We can decide as a society that certain practices are not to be tolerated, putting the practicioners on the defensive. The problem is that we haven't been doing that. We have become so lazy as to think that if something isn't illegal, then it must not be wrong. On the flip side, sometimes we make things that we think are wrong illegal, even if those things don't involve force. Both ways of thinking are poisonous to our society, and creates moral sloth. Bain Capital as a corporation of free individuals have the right to do what they do, as long as they do not infringe on the person or property of others. That's because America's only official ideology is freedom. But we the people also have the freedom to condemn- sometimes a necessary action in both the capitalist and the democratic spheres.