"Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, [emphasis mine] including property rights, in which all property is privately owned." [Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal, "Theory And History, 1. What Is Capitalism?"]
"'Rights' are a moral concept [emphasis mine]—the concept that provides a logical transition from the principles guiding an individual's actions to the principles guiding his relationship with others—the concept that preserves and protects individual morality in a social context—the link between the moral code of a man and the legal code of a society, between ethics and politics. Individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law.
"....
"The most profoundly revolutionary achievement of the United States of America was the subordination of society to moral law.
"The principle of man's individual rights represented the extension of morality into the social system—as a limitation on the power of the state, as man's protection against the brute force of the collective, as the subordination of might to right. The United States was the first moral society in history.
"....
"The United States regarded man as an end in himself, and society as a means to the peaceful, orderly, voluntary co-existence of individuals. All previous systems had held that man's life belongs to society, that society can dispose of him in any way it pleases, and that any freedom he enjoys is his only by favor, by the permission of society, which may be revoked at any time. The United States held that man's life is his by right (which means: by moral principle and by his nature), that a right is the property of an individual, that society as such has no rights, and that the only moral purpose of a government is the protection of individual rights.
"A 'right' is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man's freedom of action in a social context. There is only one fundamental right (all the others are its consequences or corollaries): a man's right to his own life." [Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal, "Appendix: Man's Rights"]
I become very impatient by those who presume to defend Capitalism as thought it needed some other "moral" basis; this kind of defense is worse than a direct attack. The American Capitalist system is the most moral system in history and all its faults are in those aspects which have compromises the principles of individual liberty and property rights on which it is based.
Hank
Worth repeating.
L
Excellent post.
I would add that the only weakness of the American capitalist system is man himself. As with any system, it is only man that can bring weakness, corruption, and the destabilization that follows... No system involving man can ever be completely secure, unless it excludes the weak, the greedy, the corrupt, etc.
Having said that, capitalism itself is an inherently secure system by design.