Schumpeter's Prophecy as Battle Cry

"A half century ago, the great Harvard scholar Joseph A. Schumpeter predicted that capitalism, because of its very success in raising the standard of living to unprecedented heights, would weaken the institutions necessary for its survival, giving way to a centralized, socialized bureaucracy of intellectuals which would exploit the productive capacity created by private enterprise"

"In his seminal work, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, the Austrian-American economist and social theorist pessimistically predicted that the leaders of the free market would allow themselves to be converted to a creed hostile to their own existence because they would be unable to articulate a moral basis for free enterprise. In Washington, I became convinced that Schumpeter was right. America’s leading colleges and universities—the training ground for America’s leaders—were increasingly pro-socialist, pro-government regulation, and anti-capitalist in their philosophy, direction, and mission"

"Much more unsettling and disappointing was the general reaction of the business community. Perhaps like me before my Washington experience, some business leaders were too preoccupied with their immediate concerns to pay much attention to the intellectual assault on everything that makes their freedom and prosperity possible. Others, however, simply did not have the stomach to fight for it. Many, sadly, had lost their faith and hope in the competitive free-enterprise system. In the face of an enemy assault, they were willing simply to capitulate. They yearned to be accepted as “socially responsible” and feared they would be labeled “insensitive” or “conservative.” I was appalled and felt betrayed by those who should have been my philosophical brethren."