Added Value

In a true capitalist system, an individual takes a thing (animate or inanimate) and imposes his will upon it to change it in some manner. That change may be in the form of converting a raw material to a usable product for a specific purpose; it may be combining one component with another or several others to make a desired product; it may mean a change in packaging to simply facilitate market access and enhance desirability. The individual may invest himself alone or in conjunction with others to produce a usable item. The common theme in a true capitalist venture is that the resulting product has greater value than the cost of the sum of the component products, including the labor of the individual(s) who produced the product. If it does not, then it will naturally expire.

An item's value is determined by what another is willing to trade for it. If an item's value consistently exceeds its cost, the cycle may be repeated indefinitely. When cost equals or exceeds value, the cycle stops unless artificially propped up.

Taxes, regulatory compliance costs, fines, and numerous other financial burdens must be included in the category of "cost", while they do not enhance "value" in the least. Due to the maize of regulations and multitude of taxes that must be borne by business and for which business must charge, costs to consumers are often severely inflated with no added value.

Implementation of the FAIR TAX would immediately boost the American capitalist system. (The Fair Tax, simply put, would replace the combined taxation, including income taxes, at all levels of production with a single tax levied at the point of sale to the consumer of the good or service.) Such a system would allow the market to be value driven rather than manipulated by politicians at the whim of the powerful. Businesses would once again be able to make decisions based upon production and output rather than taxes and regulation.

With such fundamental change in the financial system, Americans would respond with innovation and hard work as they have in the past. Our wonderful country, so blessed by God, would again be the model for individual liberty and prosperity. I will vote for those men and women who will strive to eliminate government imposed obstacles. I am Juan Freeman.