Scaremongers tell us: capitalism makes us “feel lonely and empty inside.”
But Johan Norberg’s new book, The Capitalist Manifesto, points out the many ways capitalism makes life better, including making people LESS lonely.
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“Every poll we’re looking at shows that people say that they’re less lonely in the most market-oriented societies,” Norberg tells me.
The Human Freedom Index ranks countries according to how free, and market-oriented they are. Not only are people less lonely in capitalist countries, but Norberg points out that “if you increase freedom by one point, you reduce loneliness levels by six percentage points.”
But I tell Norberg, “Under capitalism, people compete. Sounds divisive. Sounds like it would pull us apart.”
“Feudalism, communism, fascism… that’s divisive. That’s all based on getting resources by taking them from somebody else. What capitalism does is that it forces us to think, ‘what does the other guy want?’” says Norberg.
That’s because, under capitalism, to sell someone something, you have to please them.
The full video above has more information about how capitalism makes our lives better.