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Capitalism Essay

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By definition, Capitalism is an economic system controlled chiefly by individuals and private companies instead of by the government. In this system, individuals and companies own and direct most of the resources used to produce goods and services, including land and other natural resources labor, and “capital”. “Capital” includes factories and equipment and sometimes the money used in businesses (Friedman, 5).
Capitalism stresses private economic decisions. People are free to decide how they will earn and spend their income. Companies may choose which goods and services to produce and how much to charge for them. They also compete with one another to sell products. Nations whose economies are based on capitalism include the United …show more content…

But even more than that, we commemorate the birth of Americans as free men. At a single stroke, the Declaration of Independence and its ideas set America free from England, and set Americans free from their own government. The Founding Fathers instituted America's government to protect the freedom of its citizens, and to secure their rights to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

These rights were created to secure freedom of thought and action for all Americans. Freedom of thought is the freedom of an individual to use his mind: to educate and inform himself; to make his own judgments; to reach his own conclusions; to set his decisions; to hold his beliefs; to choose the whole course of his life. Freedom of action is the freedom of an individual to act on his own judgment: to pursue his/her values; to strive for his/her goals; to work and to keep the product of his/her work; to associate and trade with others; to act for the attainment of his/her inner happiness.
The implementation of individual rights had revolutionary effects. The freedom and progress that followed were unprecedented. Individuals, free from government interference, pursued their happiness restlessly and produced tremendous amounts of wealth in the process. Individuals took responsibility for their lives: for their education, their health care, their jobs, their

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