Opinion: Thank Capitalism and Free Markets for Human Flourishing

America should not abandon the economic system that has lifted billions from poverty and driven unprecedented human progress
WASHINGTON —U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) authored an opinion piece in The Washington Post highlighting the extraordinary gains in prosperity, health, and quality of life made possible by capitalism and free enterprise.
“To what do we owe this phenomenal progress? Capitalism. It’s the only system in which individuals have the freedom to own their land, homes and businesses—and to be paid for their talent, labor and innovation,” Senator Curtis wrote . “Just one century into America’s experiment in capitalist free enterprise, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels—capitalism’s most prominent critics—could not help but admit that the system had driven more productivity ‘than have all preceding generations together.’ There is a clear link between economic freedom and standards of living, financial resources and personal health.”
“Free enterprise made America a ‘shining city on a hill’—a heritage the country will surely lose if it abandons its zeal for the only economic system capable of making upward mobility and prosperity possible for all,” Senator Curtis continued.
In the piece, Senator Curtis points to dramatic improvements in human well-being over the past several decades. More than one billion people were lifted out of extreme poverty between 1990 and 2015, while global child mortality has fallen 60 percent since 1990. In the United States, inflation-adjusted household income increased from roughly $59,000 in 1970 to nearly $84,000 in 2024.
Senator Curtis also reflects on his own experience in Taiwan, where he first lived as a missionary in 1979 and returned earlier this year as the co-lead of a Congressional delegation. He argues that Taiwan’s transformation from a poor, agrarian society into an economic powerhouse demonstrates the ability of market-oriented capitalism to improve lives and create opportunity.
Amid recent electoral victories by members of the Democratic Socialists of America, Curtis argues that leaders have a responsibility to better explain why free enterprise has been such a powerful force for technological, economic, and medical advancement, and why preserving economic freedom is essential to expanding opportunity for future generations.
“The oxcart had a good run,” Senator Curtis concluded . “America should not hitch itself back onto it.”
The full piece is available here .