Why Economics, Choice and Tolerance are inseparable

by Alex Merced

Originally Posted in the Libertarian Center for Tolerance

Often times people define issues into two categories, economic and social, as if there is no influence these have on each other. I contend a world with a more robust competitive economy would also be a world of greater tolerance. Many social and caste divides are born out of economic scarcity, out of a demand for a reason to justify taking more of the economic pie for “us” and leave less for “them” because the sentiment is that there isn’t enough for everyone. If anything history I think shows pretty clearly is that wealth is more abundant when more of us cooperate and compete with each other to provide value (aka the FREE market) instead of competing over limiting market access to others (protectionism/regulated markets/no markets). Although these divisions over time get ingrained in the culture of these arbitrary groups and can lead to generations of resentment, hostility, and sometimes violence which is why a focus on robust free market policy is an imperative for wealth building but also social cohesion (if you are prosperous your less likely to resent other people for being prosperous, or try to prevent them from being so).

So essentially economic performance will make people more tolerant of each other, which in turn improves economic scale. So essentially any discussion of promoting tolerance can’t be separated from peoples quality of life (which is partly determined by the wealth, and in other part determined by internal factors which often come from peoples ability to pursue their interests and attain property). As peoples quality of life drops whether from losing their economic (wealth) and autonomous (choice) means to pursue their ends (goals) they begin to look for scapegoats to blame.

Bottom line: A libertarian world view which focuses on empowering peoples economic opportunities and individual choices, is the formula to having a more tolerant socially cohesive society.