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The Promise of Free Enterprise | 5 Minute Video

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Built into the foundation of free enterprise is a promise. It’s a promise that no other economic system offers. This promise has a great deal to do with your sense of well-being, that is, your happiness. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton understood this. So does renowned social scientist, Arthur Brooks. In five minutes, he explains how happiness and free enterprise are marvelously entwined.

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Script:

When you hear the words “free enterprise,” or “capitalism” or “free markets,” what’s the first thought that comes into your head? For just about everyone it would have to do with making money.

But there’s another side to free enterprise that’s actually more important. Free enterprise matters not just because of its unparalleled material benefits, but because of its unparalleled moral benefits.

Now, this might seem counterintuitive to you, especially if you’ve been spending a lot of time hanging around college professors. For decades, so many of them have preached that free enterprise is mostly about selfishness and greed.

But after the fall of the Soviet Union, and communism was repudiated, even the left grudgingly acknowledged the utility of free enterprise — but only as a necessary evil. Sure, they said, free enterprise benefits us materially. But the cost isn’t worth it. People become too materialistic, corporations become too powerful, profits are corrupting, and there’s just too much material inequality.

Is that a fair assessment? No, it isn’t. And here’s why: free enterprise is not just materially fulfilling, it’s a moral imperative. One big reason is that only free enterprise enables us to become truly happy — because it enables us to earn our success.

Now what do I mean by this? Earned success is the satisfaction and happiness that we derive from having dreams and working hard to achieve them. This is only possible in a system where rewards are based on earning them rather than having the right connections, and where you have to please customers and not politicians.

Think about the things in your life that make you happy. It’s probably your personal relationships, your family, and maybe your job; in other words, the things that represent hard work and personal virtue and achievement. Sure, we all want nice things. But if they are just given to us, if we don’t earn them, they don’t really make us happy.

You’ve probably thought what you’d do if you won the lottery, right? We’ve all played that game. Maybe you say you’d buy a big house, a new wardrobe, or take a great trip around the world. Maybe you’d do it all!

The truth is, according to studies from researchers at the University of Michigan, you’re actually more likely to be less happy after you win than before you bought the ticket.

People who win the lottery typically buy a bunch of stuff they don’t want, get new friends, some even become alcoholics. This hardly makes for a great Powerball ad campaign, but it’s the truth.

Why is this? For the same reason that your parents probably always taught you: that money doesn’t buy happiness.

Still, critics on the left tell us that if we only had more equal incomes we’d be a happier society. That’s just not true.

Happiness is earned, not given by others. Look at entrepreneurs. People who own their own businesses rate themselves as happier than just about any other job category. And why? What’s their secret?

For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/videos/promise-free-enterprise

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Tags American Enterprise InstituteArthur Brooksbusinesscapitalismdennis pragerearneconomicsFree Markethappinessmoneyprager universityprofitsadness
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49 Comments

  2. just another capitalism ideology, social good fares on top, capitalism is limited and under social well fare, both material needs and personal need, both have reached to be happy, do not poor you as being poor make you happier, than a successful rich person with people. the dreams of capitalism as wage war to win to be rich to be powerful, and at what costs? many people are poor, physically and mentally as they only know wars and war for progress, they can not have peace or care for themselves and be enough care for those it is matters. but summary only good points recycling by capitalism ideology as "war for more , more for self, war for life, to be better, more powerful….", and side effects as the world become better materially as some points, but do not change the facts we saw each other humans as "possible slaves or enemies in the progress of capitalism".dues to wanted more money or resources, techniques others humans as natural enemies, knew it or not.

  6. I think this video misrepresents the problems with free enterprise by claiming the people that think there are problems are wrong and then just talking about how good free enterprise is.
    Unfortunately it ignores that the material gap makes it harder for those in the lower classes, especially homeless people to pursue happiness.
    Instead of making pointless statements about how “free enterprise is good, actually” why not examine the flaws and upsides and then attempt to figure out a system that would correct those flaws.
    You can still talk about the founding fathers, but like do something that is of any use to society other than painting over the bad stuff with sunshine and rainbows.

  7. Brooks wrote a great book titled, “Why Giving Matters” and uses some impressive data to back up his conclusions. One of the things he illustrates is that conservatives are far more generous than liberals and it’s not close. He also points out that America is far and away more generous than any socialist country, than any European country etc by several orders of magnitude. He shows that the more generous you are by nature the more successful you will be in life (has studies to back it up). It’s a great book and worth reading.

  14. There you have it, folks. You don't have the right to be happy, only a right to pursue your happiness.

    He's also right about giving not leading to happiness. My Grandmother gave my wife and I money for Christmas. We spent it on a nice dinner. Brought us no happiness whatsoever. We may as well have tossed that Ben Franklin U.S. Federal Reserve Note.

    You know, if Elon Musk gave me a Tesla model S, I would refuse it. It wouldn't bring me happiness.

    Just because earning something is rewarding, doesn't mean a gift does not bring happiness.

    Silly propaganda.

  16. I was blinded for most of my life to seeing socialist countries as more fair than the U.S., because of their supposed intent to spread the wealth. But lately I've opened my eyes, and seen that these countries, like Russia and China, only enslave the masses, without rights, to make money for the top few. The only fair countries are the social democracies, which are democratic and free enterprise, with regulated competition, and more social programs. And little debt. The U.S. is at the opposite pole from socialist- free enterprise with little regulation, not enough good social programs, and large debt, with big tax breaks and loopholes.

  21. him: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
    me: WE FOUGHT FOR THESE IDEALS WE SHOULDN'T SETTLE FOR LESS! THESE ARE WISE WORDS ENTERPRISING MEN QUOTE 'EM, DON'T ACT SURPRISED YOU GUYS CUZ I WROTE 'EM!

  26. Well less happy with more money… Depends on the amount and on the person having it. I know I would have been happier with one million dollars, because I would have bought a house for 100 000 and invest the rest. Yes, some people would buy a helicopter and feed caviar to their dogs, but they would have been less happy as time goes on with or without money. However, I know nobody who would have been less happy with winning 10 000 dollars.

  27. free enterprise only work when there is a true free market, a ture free market is a market where the buyer and seller has reletively equal power to bargin for price. when enterprise use the basic survival needs to exploit employees with low salary, that is not ture free enterprise.

  33. Happiness is not a moral determining factor unless you're a moral utilitarian. Thus, the morality of capitalism is not happiness, but the freedom to exchange products, ideas, and the like without coercive mediation.

  39. The original concept of the "pursuit of happiness" was the socratic principle of becoming a virtuous person, self-fulfilled, and therefore happy. Happiness was a virtue-embedded personality, virtue-embedded society, virtue-embedded nation … and there would be less crime, less racism, less discrimination, less animals, … and more economy in moderation. Instead the phrase has been misused, just like here, that happiness is the socialistic animal EMOTIONAL terms. If YOU aren't happy, then your EMOTIONS aren't being fulfilled, … and its someone else causing your unhappiness – not you (unstable psychological self-projection). And so goes the rest of the whole downfall of a nation.

  45. "It's really that simple" says our narrator, who appears to have planned his shaving regimen around the filming of this video ("Hmm, if I don't shave after Sunday, I'll have the perfect 'stubble look' for when I film the video on Tuesday afternoon"). Actually it's not anywhere near that simple, dude. I know you're in love with the "beautiful simplicity" and consistency of your philosophy, but it falls apart as soon as it meets a complex real life scenario .

  47. It is sad to me how many people don't know how good capitalism is for us all. Our children are entitled to be taken care of by their parents. We are not entitled to health care. My son now pays half his income for health insurance. He make $20K.