Why Capitalism and The Free Market Aren't Synonymous With Each Other.

Usually when the average person thinks of Libertarians they most likely assume that they are usually these two things.

A. Right Wing

B. Capitalist

However this certainty is not the case for every Libertarian and I would even argue that a majority of Libertarians aren't both of these things.

The reason why many people automatically assume why all Librarians are right wing, is most likely because they see the republican party as a similar party to the libertarian party that also stands for free markets, liberty and freedom.

This could not be further from the truth however because the republan party has supported many tariffs, crackdowns on immigration with agency's like ICE, and a never ending drug war which has destroyed the lives of many people but especially the lives of minorities as well as supporting never ending wars overseas.

The Libertarian party on the other hand stands for ending all tariffs, opening our borders, ending the drug war and saving many from having their lives being destroyed by years behind bars for having only ounces of marijuana, as well as stopping our endless foreign wars that has cost too much lives, time and money.

In fact many people on the right have called Libertarians "Leftists" because of this.

In my personal opinion however a good amount of leaders in the Libertarian party are radical Libertarian centrists especially ones like Jacob Hornberger for example.

However the true main point of this article is to talk about why capitalism and the free market is not synonymous, and why it is important for Libertarians to understand this.

History shows us there has been plenty of Capaitsist dictators that were certainty not in favor of a free market system.

I could talk about them however for the sake of shortening the length in this article I will talk about the best example of a capitalist non free market dictator which is Fulgencio Batista.

Batista was the US backed leader or should I say U.S backed dictator of Cuba that led from 1952-1959.

He led with a highly controlled and regulated economic system, that was riddled with corruption.

However just saying he led a system that was riddled with corruption doesn't do justice just how corrupt the Cuban government was under his control. In order deeply understand how corrupt Cuba was under Batista I suggest you read these quotes.

"Brothels flourished. A major industry grew up around them; government officials received bribes, policemen collected protection money. Prostitutes could be seen standing in doorways, strolling the streets, or leaning from windows. One report estimated that 11,500 of them worked their trade in Havana. Beyond the outskirts of the capital, beyond the slot machines, was one of the poorest, and most beautiful countries in the Western world."

— David Detzer

"I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country's policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear."

—John F. Kennedy

Fulgencio Batista murdered 20,000 Cubans in seven years and he turned Democratic Cuba into a complete police state—destroying every individual liberty. Yet our aid to his regime, and the ineptness of our policies, enabled Batista to invoke the name of the United States in support of his reign of terror. Administration spokesmen publicly praised Batista—hailed him as a staunch ally and a good friend—at a time when Batista was murdering thousands, destroying the last vestiges of freedom, and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the Cuban people, and we failed to press for free elections.

—John F. Kennedy

After reading these quotes I think it is perfectly understandable of why many Cubans were in favor of a revolution to depose Batista and save their country from Batista's tyranny.

You could even possibly argue that Castro was in fact viewed a savior to the Cuban people and did not violate the N.A.P by staring the Cuban revolution. (Before he became a dictator himself and started to brutalize his own people of course)

After the Cuban revolution The poor were permitted to move into the mansions and onto the plantations. It was an exciting time because for a while the state appeared to be a great benefactor, one that was taking from the rich and equalizing wealth.

At first this worked for solving the massive inequality that Batista's capitalist regime had created and temporally increased the standard of living in Cuba for the average person.

However in the long run there was writing on the wall that the Cuban economy was going downhill.

One of the reasons for this was because of the inhumane sanctions that the United States put on Cuba, most likely in hopes of starving the Cuban people, therefore leading to Cubans having active demonstrations against the Cuban government which might lead to a second U.S friendly Cuban revolution down the road.

However another major reason for the Cuban economy going downhill is that Unelected bureaucrats simply do not know how to run a company like a good business owner does,

And since a good amount of business owners were replaced with bureaucrats after the Cuban revolution you can see why the situation did not improve much in the long run at all.

Even if the unelected bureaucrat does temporarily successfully run a state run company or business that was previously a private one, the bureaucrat will most likely do a mediocre job instead of a excellent one like the original owner of the business or company before him.

If a state run company is the only company that sells a certain type of product or service, then there is no incentive to work harder for the customers satisfaction or the customers future purchases with that company.

On the other hand a private business owner has to make sure he keeps a majority of their customers satisfied and always works harder and smarter then their competition does.

In both Castro's and Batista's economic systems there was little to no signs of freedom or free enterprise,

And even though Batista's was a capitalist who was politicly polar opposite to Castro, it doesn't change the fact that he was still against the free market, and instead of having bureaucrats run Cuba he was in favor of criminal organizations like the mafia and corrupt police having absurd control the average Cuban citizens life.

That is why Libertarians should distinguish the words free market from capitalism and always should try to use the term free market separate from capitalism.

Until next time,

-Christopher B. Hoffer