Capitalism makes it possible for most Americans, even the poorest among us, to live like the kings of old. The kings of world empires could only dream about the staggering material advances brought about by capitalism. Actually, they couldn’t dream about it since they did not have the categories to formulate dreams about cell phones, digital music stored on a disc, air conditioning, automobiles, satellites , grocery stores, airplanes, and advances in medicine.

The list is endless and continues to grow at a staggering rate.

Most poor societies are poor because of a lack of economic freedom and an abundance political suppression.

Of course, individual initiative plays a significant role

The following is an interview that Glenn Beck had with Jon Huntsman, Sr.

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Billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr. says he is sometimes accused of being a “greedy, awful capitalist” who is “raping the earth.” How does the 77-year-old self-made man respond to such accusations?

“Somebody the other day wrote me a letter and they said, ‘Jon, you’re in the petrochemical business and we’re environmentalists and we can’t understand, because we know the petrochemicals give cancer,’” Huntsman said on Glenn Beck’s radio program. “And so the president of our Huntsman Cancer Institute said, ‘How should I answer it?’ And I said, ‘Just make a list. Start with paint, toothpaste, shoes, clothing, cars, automobiles, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals…’”

“The capsules that you have to eat your medicine,” Beck added. “That’s petrochemicals.”

Huntsman asked the aggrieved individual which petrochemical-dependent products they would like to live without.

“Just make a list and say, ‘Could you live without these factors?’ And they find we make 12,000 different products that go into 120,000 different end uses. Without the petrochemical industry, virtually everything we see, feel, wear, and touch [would be different] — and particularly in medical supplies, particularly in automobiles. We now make composites for airplanes. Instead of metals, we have lightweight plastics so you can fly cheaply and get better gasoline mileage.”

Beck said he visited an interactive museum demonstrating all the products that require petrochemicals, and he said they are in “everything.”

Read the rest of the story at The Blaze.