Global Capitalism: The Solution to World Oppression and Poverty
Hosted by The USC Objectivist Club
Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 7:00pm
USC Campus: Taper Hall of Humanitites 201
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The opponents of global capitalism overlook the key points in the debate. The capitalistic nations of Europe, North America, and Asia are by far the wealthiest societies of history--with per capita incomes in the range of at least $20,000 - $30,000 annually. But capitalism is not merely the system of prosperity: fundamentally, it is the system of individual rights and freedom.
Capitalistic nations protect their citizens' freedom of speech, of the press, and of intellectual expression. Similarly, their citizens possess economic freedom, including the right to own property, to start their own businesses, and to seek profit. By stark contrast, the pre-capitalist systems of history and the non-capitalist systems of the present are politically oppressive and economically destitute: their citizens have no rights and, consequently, little or no wealth.
What deeper principles make possible the freedom and wealth enjoyed under capitalism--and lacking in its political antipodes? How has capitalism already greatly enhanced the lives of millions of human beings in formerly impoverished Third World countries? What can the men of the free world do to further promote the spread of capitalism into the repressed nations of the globe?
About the Speaker(s)
Dr. Bernstein is a Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Marist College. He also teaches at SUNY Purchase (which selected him Outstanding Teacher for 2004), and formerly at Pace University and at Marymount College (which selected him Outstanding Teacher for 1995). Dr. Bernstein lectures regularly at American universities and appears frequently on radio talk shows. His op-eds have been published in such newspapers as The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Times, The Los Angeles Daily News, and The Houston Chronicle. Dr. Bernstein is the author of three Ayn Rand titles for CliffsNotes: Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and Anthem. He also authored Penguin's Teacher's Guide to The Fountainhead, and The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Economic and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire.
