Core Values and Principles of Free Enterprise

The Cline Center for Democracy at the University of Illinois is named for one of its very successful graduates, Richard G. Cline and his wife, Carole J. Cline. It has four programs, and I was only looking at the objectives of this one, the Program in Democratic Governance and Societal Welfare. The first objective is to conduct a program of research that refines our understanding of (1) the relative benefits of democracy for societal welfare, (2) how democracies can best be structured and supplemented to enhance human well-being, and (3) how best to achieve optimal institutional arrangements in diverse democratic societies.

From there I looked at how The Cline Center scholars see free enterprise and social welfare. We know what Marxists and Socialists and Progressives want (redistribution of all resources which will be under the control of government for all citizens except the party faithful, who get more; see here for definitions and explanations), but what about the rest of us, especially Christians? None of these economic systems are specifically Christian or non-Christian because all are grounded in material, not spiritual matters.

- Free enterprise conceptions of welfare are grounded in materialism, the satisfaction of material wants and needs, and the promotion of material progress. Correspondingly, the acquisition and holding of property is at the heart of this value. Also related to the materialistic foundations of free enterprise is that social welfare is conceived of in terms of improvements in the level of material well-being of individuals. Therefore, when free enterprise proponents gauge its impact on societal welfare, they examine its impact on levels of wealth, as opposed to, for example, the distribution of material wealth. Equality of opportunity is valued, not equality of condition.

A second value is individualism. Thus, a high premium is placed on a core set of individual freedoms and liberties. This core set of values includes the choice of employment; the use of various forms of property as one sees fit; and the unencumbered enjoyment of the benefits that accrue from fruits of one’s labor or utilization of one’s property. The idea of “individualism” also encompasses the value of individual initiative, entrepreneurship, and the importance of the profit motive or the individual pursuit of self-interest. Free enterprise theory maintains that it is through these mechanisms that free enterprise economies provide for societal welfare. However, to achieve these ends free economies must function in an environment of free and fair competition.