Many countries around the world avoided free market capitalism due to many reasons one of which is that it leads to wealth inequality. Is it really that case?
Well, the truth is, where there is wealth, there is inequality. Inequality is a real problem and it cannot be eliminated. A society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. Just take a look at China during the era (1949-1976) when it was still under socialist leader Mao Zedong. Despite having the most equal distribution of wealth back then, China did not prosper subsequently.

This is not to say that having an equal distribution of wealth is a bad thing. It is just the result of free market capitalism and any attempts to interfere with the results of free market capitalism will only land the country into a socialistic state. If free market capitalism causes an inequality in the wealth distribution of the rich and the poor, is it even humane that countries around the world are trying to adopt this form of economic policy? What many people tend to neglect, is that solely looking at the wealth distribution index (also known as Gini Coefficient) provides only a vague picture of the living conditions of the poor. The living condition of a country now could be better than it was before despite the fact that it used to have a more equal distribution of wealth. Besides, what defines a bad living condition?

Moving on, arguments about the wage differences between the proletariats (Working class with no ownership of the means of production) and the bourgeoisies (Capitalists) still exists. The contention that this wage differences between the two classes will spur a massive gap in the income distribution assumes that the wage differences are unfair. But what people fail to see is the risks that these capitalists took to establish their business/production. What if the business fails? Definitely the working class doesn’t share the weight of expenses with the capitalists. Thus, if the working class doesn’t share the risks involved in setting up a business with the Capitalists, what stipulates that when the business becomes successful, the working class are to earn a similar wage than the capitalists? In retrospect, would the capitalists work as hard to establish the business if eventually the working class would to draw the same wage as them? Some might say that these capitalists are greedy but who isn’t? If Henry Ford wasn’t greedy, he wouldn’t revolutionize the automobile industry which benefited many working classes. And the same goes to the many successful capitalists out there.

That is the beauty of free market capitalism. Greedy people trading with the intention that each party believes that his life will be better if he/she were to get the service/products that they are going to buy. And the best part of it is that it does not care what color or religion people are. It only cares whether they can produce something that they want.

“That’s the way the free market system distributes the fruits of economic progress among all people. That’s the secret of the enormous improvements in the conditions of the working person over the past two centuries.” – Milton Friedman, Free to Choose: A Personal Statement