Georges Clemenceau once said that war is too important to be left to the generals. By the same token, morality is too important to be left to philosophers, especially where the morality of markets is concerned. Those who see themselves as the protectors of morality are more likely to be antipathetic to markets, whereas those who favor them typically talk about production, distribution and material wealth -- anything but morality.
The market's positive moral features, however, are many. Consider one identified by Adam Smith, namely the link between individual autonomy and self-support through legally free labor.
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest," Smith wrote. "Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow citizens."
This passage is a famous statement of the utility of self-interest. But notice its assertion that dependence on others is morally degrading. Thomas Carlyle, and later Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, would decry this appeal to self-interest and the related rise of the "cash nexus" as either a dangerous assault on tradition or a source of human self-alienation. At the least, there is the danger that the cash nexus can encourage a mindless commitment to work, and the belief that one's worth comes only from paid labor, leading to fear of dependence on others, or to shunning vital but unpaid activity.
But the flip side of the cash nexus is the freedom and self-determination that comes from overturning customary social relations such as slavery and serfdom, which totally subordinated the individual to the will of a master. Nor does the cash nexus subordinate the individual to the will of the state. This independence was at the core of Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's insistence that supporting oneself by earning a living is one of the key ways that we gain a sense of ourselves as individuals.
Moreover, market relations stimulate honesty as a virtue. Merchants who seek to build their business on a strong base of regular customers are unlikely to engage in fraud. Companies that want to attract and retain investors strive for financial transparency.
Perhaps most importantly, market relations contribute to international peace by creating ever-wider forms of association. As Smith emphasized, when commerce links us to foreign peoples, we come to regard them not as barbarians but as potential suppliers and customers. In other words, capitalism creates a rational awareness of their needs and interests.
Similarly, markets are a powerful solvent of religious and communal antagonism, by creating incentives to cooperate with those whose identity and ultimate commitments differ from our own. Having just passed through the bloodiest century in human history, increasing the zone of indifference to the ultimate goals of others -- as long as they are not directed against us -- should be mankind's top priority.
But self-interested indifference does not mean a lack of mutual concern. Self-interest is linked to mutual concern every time a sales clerk asks, "Can I help you?" That phrase is often derided as phony and manipulative -- except by those who have lived in societies where sales clerks ignore customers. The sales clerk's commercially motivated solicitude does lack true charity and altruism. But, seen historically, the market's ability to create a self-interested regard for others is surely preferable to the alternatives.
Of course, self-interested solicitude can lead to inauthenticity, to a sense of always selling oneself -- or rather, a sense of having to become someone who can be sold. This is a consistent theme of modern social criticism, from Jean Jacques Rousseau through Death of a Salesman and beyond. The constant creation of new needs -- when not bounded by a sense of how novelty fits into our lives -- may put us on a treadmill of joyless consumption.
But capitalism also creates newer and more complex forms of individuality than before. In previous societies, one's status as a peasant, artisan, or merchant often defined one totally. Being a member of a guild, for example, encompassed a complete set of social roles -- economic, legal, political and even religious. Modern market society, by contrast, is based upon looser, more temporary associations, founded to pursue specific economic, cultural or political interests.
Such associations demand only a small part of the individual's resources, sometimes only a token monetary contribution. As a result, the modern individual can belong to a greater range of groups, but groups that are not all encompassing. Modern associations allow for participation without absorption. I am a husband and father, a Buddhist, a jazz aficionado, a molecular biologist, a marksman and a reader of modernist fiction. What is historically new -- emerging just in the past few hundred years -- is the possibility of being all of these things at once.
This choice of possibilities is due in no small part to the market, and the peril we face is that so much choice can create a protean self, lacking binding commitments to anyone or anything, a self for whom the bottom line of every social contract is the escape clause. But awareness of this danger should not lead us to lose sight of a fundamental fact: many of the moral advantages and conceptions of selfhood that those in capitalist societies take for granted are due in no small part to capitalism itself.
Jerry Muller is professor of history at the Catholic University of America, Washington.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, Institute for Human Sciences
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.