The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Economic, and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire
The Capitalist Manifesto : The Historic, Economic and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire is a book by Objectivist philosopher Andrew Bernstein, published in 2005. The book argues that capitalism in its pure form has never existed and that it is the most moral and practical social system possible.
Bernstein writes that he has "written for the rational mind, whether the reader is a professional intellectual or an intelligent layman" and claims to make "the case for individual rights and freedom in terms intelligible to all rational men."
Bernstein has written a novel celebrating individual excellence in the context of sports, Heart of a Pagan.
Overview
Part One: History
- Chapter One: What is Capitalism?
- Chapter Two: The Pre-Capitalist Political-Economic Systems
- Chapter Three: The Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution
- Chapter Four: The Industrial Revolution Brings Advance
- Chapter Five: The Inventive Period
Part Two: Philosophy
- Chapter Six: The Nature of the Good
- Chapter Seven: The Mind as Man’s Instrument of Survival
- Chapter Eight: Capitalism as the Embodiment of Rational Philosophical Principles
Part Three: Polemics
- Chapter Nine: War and Imperialism
- Chapter Ten: Slavery
Part Four: Economics
- Chapter Eleven: The Great Laboratory
- Chapter Twelve: Capitalism as the Economic System of the Mind
- Chapter Thirteen: Refuting the Economic Fallacies About Capitalism
Quote
"The key to explaining capitalism's unparalleled economic success is dual: to show that it alone is the system that guarantees individual liberties, and to demonstrate that political liberty is an indispensable requirement of man's life on earth."