If you have not read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand you might want to take a look at her economic scenario by reading the book. It is prophetic in how it describes the economic challenges our country faces today. My last reading helped me better understand the Occupy Wall Street movement too. This movement is a blatantly anti-capitalist group.

According to many academics, Occupy Wall Street finds their inspiration from the philosophy of anarchy.  Anarchists do not believe in a strong central government. Although many anarchists appeared happy with the election of a liberal president, they quickly became annoyed when the redistribution of wealth didn’t happen fast enough.

The rhetoric we hear most often from the Occupy movement appears to match the public sentiment described by Rand in the pages of Atlas Shrugged. In her book every profitable railroad (based in the 1930’s) or steel company was taxed or regulated out of business so the entrepreneurs set up a private state in Colorado outside the control of the federal bureaucracy.

Entrepreneurs were the real heroes according to Ayn Rand. Entrepreneurs lay the foundation for real freedom and choice. Government only helps with enforcing basic rules of law and does not get in the way. Entrepreneurs spread their wealth among those who are the most gifted and willing to risk their time, wealth, and reputation to grow the venture. And yes, those people that help them become rich and prosperous too.  Capitalism helps our economy grow.

How should our system work? Anarchists have a hard time describing their utopia because it does not sound good to most people. Chaos with clans ruling themselves? Anarchists claim it has never been tried “in the right way”. What about the cultural revolution in China or the establishment of Leninism in the old USSR? Wasn’t that a reordering of property rights and the rule of law?

On the other hand, entrepreneurs create jobs. Entrepreneurs are driven to fulfill consumer and business needs and benefit via profits.

Yes, the capitalist system is driven by the profit motive. Ideally, government provides both legal and police protection of private property but “gets out of the way of innovation and progress”. Capitalism may not be ideal, but there is no better system that has proven to work. Anarchy or Utopian societies did not work successfully on a large scale–period.

Capitalism is the engine that powers innovation and change according to Joseph Schumpeter. The reason businesses are willing to invest their savings into new ventures and hire people is make more more money (as evil as that sounds). Without government, entrepreneurs must police and protect of their own real and intellectual property.  That protection can be expensive and increase risk significantly.

Anarchists claim property rights are evil and prevent the “fair ” distribution of wealth, even if it is intellectual property or a patent.

One example of the difference between economic systems is job creation. Entrepreneurs create job opportunities for much less than the government ever could. Liberals believe government should create jobs because they can do it in a “fair” way.

As I understand it, Occupy Wall Street is all about choking off the sources of investment capital that fuel entrepreneurs and less a viable alternative to capitalism. Ayn Rand would be smiling if she could see our economic chaos today. She would not be happy to see the sympathy the Occupy Wall Street folks receive, but happy to see her predictions as played out in Atlas Shrugged nothing less than prophetic.