Jeff Bezos is right about capitalism, wrong about taxes

In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.

Socialism will always find an audience because it appeals to base envy and resentment. Ginning up a mob to be mad at “oligarchs,” “Wall Street barons,” “kulaks,” or “billionaires” is cheap and easy.

So, it was refreshing to hear Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the fourth richest man on the planet, offer unadulterated praise of the moral and economic superiority of capitalism in his recent interview with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.

You could practically hear progressives gasping when Bezos claimed that “the value to society and civilization from my for-profit companies will be much, much larger than the good that I do with my charitable giving.”

As we’ve seen,