Melissa Reddick

I personally believe that if you want a society full of people who are fulfilled and free, there must be ways for them to contribute their natural and chosen gifts to society. Ways that allow us to express ourselves and benefit others so that we can make a living. A system that allows us to see the value of what we offer, and receive equal exchange so we can have fun, explore the world, do what we want with our time and money.

Capitalism seems to be the best thing in which to do that. I am grateful for Capitalism.

Capitalism is a system where we get to determine who we are, rather than be told. We get to experiment to see what we enjoy and what we have to offer. We are not assigned value based on gender, race, age, inherent qualities we don’t get to change. We get to learn the value of what we have to share. We get to hope that we can provide the kind of value that allows us to live the life of our dreams. Or our heart’s desires, whichever one we are driven by.

Democracy allows us the freedom to speak for ourselves. It gives us the ability to share what we have learned from contributing to society in order to influence that which makes it better or worse. We get to experience the result of our choices.

Communism, socialism, demanding the government gives you what you want without offering anything in return. It comes with a price. What kind of society can be built on people who take but only give what they want to? Giving, and having your contributions matter is what makes Capitalism Capitalism.

I used to, at one point, think socialism was the way. When I was star struck by the humanitarian aspect of things like “I don’t want to pay my doctors for taking care of my broken bones, they should just do it for free”. Now, I want doctors to get paid very well for what they do. I would rather be able to pay the best doctors in the world out of my own pocket.

I am grateful for the sacrifices that have been made to keep the United States of America as free and as safe as possible. By free I mean freedom to know who you are and share that. I want to preserve that. Protect it. Nurture it and allow it to grow.