The Promise of Free Enterprise | 5 Minute Videos | PragerU

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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. ? Watch our content ad-free on our app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 Donate to PragerU: https://l.prageru.com/4jiAT85 Follow PragerU: Instagram ➡️ (https://www.instagram.com/prageru/) X ➡️ (https://twitter.com/prageru) Facebook ➡️ (https://www.facebook.com/prageru/) TikTok ➡️ (https://www.tiktok.com/@prageru) 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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