VIII. REJECTING STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM: A DEFENSE OF THE MARKET

We reject “stakeholder capitalism” not because it aims too high, but because it aims without clarity, replacing the elegant mechanism of voluntary exchange with vague mandates, conflicting priorities, and central planning by another name. In attempting to please all, it serves none. In attempting to manage outcomes, it loses the moral primacy of choice and tradeoffs. It replaces accountability and responsibility with rhetoric.

We affirm the free market—not as a perfect system—but as the most moral, adaptive, and liberating framework for the flourishing of individuals and societies. It is built not on coercion, but on consent, which is sacred. It rewards innovation, punishes waste, and allows dignity through earned success. Business, uniquely, is the institution capable of creating wealth, which is the only real antidote to poverty.

We defend capitalist acts between consenting adults. We stand for economic liberty, for the rule of law, for open entry and free exit. And we hold that the moral legitimacy of enterprise arises precisely from its voluntary nature. The customer is not a “stakeholder” to be managed, but a sovereign chooser to be served. Anything less is paternalism masquerading as ethics.