Is Capitalism Purely Transactional?

What about the poets?

One of the central criticisms of capitalism is that it is in some sense “anti-spiritual.” That it’s “only” about profits and making money. Where are the artists and poets? What about grandma or the children?

Reflecting this view in his new book, Capitalism and Its Critics (Cassidy, 2025), Staff writer for the New Yorker John Cassidy writes:

“Over the centuries, the central indictment of capitalism has remained remarkably consistent: that it is soulless, exploitative, inequitable, unstable and destructive, yet also all-conquering and overwhelming.”

Tell us how you really feel!

As I pondered the question posed by my title for this article—is capitalism purely transactional—I noticed the Copilot AI prompt in Microsoft Word, something I typically swat away like an annoying fly, but it occurred to me: what if I ask the title question of Copilot? I’ve used ChatGPT a tiny bit in my work, but mostly not thought about AI beyond hoping it helps some tech company stock investments. I had about a paragraph written when I proposed Copilot the question: Is Capitalism Purely Transactional?

I found the result fascinating. Number one, it wrote a pretty good paper—though it was somewhat one dimensional and lacked a little “soul.” Probably good for an “A” in a high school English class.

As I reviewed it, however, it still largely broke capitalism down to being transactional in nature¹, even when it was talking about moving “beyond transactional interactions.” Besides unnecessarily trying to rationalize capitalism on “social good” grounds, it cited that capitalism creates wealth and that creates opportunity to do other things, such as artists. This is undeniably true, but does it cause capitalism to stir the spirit or feed the soul?

Do More Spiritual People Embrace Capitalism?

Writing for the Acton Institute in his article, Why spiritual people are more likely to embrace capitalism than materialists², Jonathan Miltimore noted that “spiritual cultures will thrive under capitalism, because they will embrace a powerful idea: Work is spiritual….A materialist culture, on the other hand, will be more likely to reject capitalism because it will be more likely to ignore or reject the spiritual fruit work offers, and instead focus on inequalities in material outcome.”

Commenting in the same article on Michael Novak’s book, The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Miltimore observed:

“These [capitalism favoring] cultures, Novak argued, possessed certain commonalities that made them more likely to engage in capitalism successfully and responsibly. Among the commonalities cited by Novak were “a certain rigor and austerity, an almost Stoic sense of sobriety and responsibility, and a certain disdain for corruption…Perhaps this is why Novak believed that capitalism, paradoxically, was a system suited for spiritual societies, not materialistic ones. “The only long-lasting foundation for a capitalist society is a moral, spiritual, and religious one.” he wrote.””

Miltimore also notes that authors Theodore Roosevelt Malloch and Whitney MacMillan, writing in their book Common Sense Business, concluded that (paraphrased):

“… some cultures will favor capitalism and practice it better than others. A spiritual culture—Confucian, Protestant, etc.—is more likely to favor capitalism because it finds deep and lasting value in work, a value that goes beyond the material fruit it yields.”

A materialist culture, on the other hand, will be more likely to reject capitalism because it will be more likely to ignore or reject the spiritual fruit work offers, and instead focus on inequalities in material outcome—a fascinating statement. Socialism truly is only transactional and material. Grandma needs food and we will move and manipulate, as a higher governmental power, all the human subject cogs to provide that and equalize outcomes.

We of course know from experience that all the great famines and mass murders happen under socialism, but what is its enduring appeal if it lacks in spiritual, soul fulfilling substance? I would assert that, at root, what all people want is certainty and security. Where is their next meal coming from? Where will they sleep tonight? What will happen when they want to retire? Our very nature requires that we be free to take self-interested, goal-directed action to meet these needs, but the siren song of socialism promises the opportunity to ignore this reality. Somehow, whether you work and achieve or not, your needs will be magically met.

Certainty and security are in and of themselves pretty transactional. We all have different risk tolerances and personality profiles, but in the end the answer to these questions is on our minds, whether we know it or not. Even more fundamentally, all biological organisms have two fundamental imperatives: survive and multiply. Survival is the transactional piece, but even multiplying, as much as we humans enjoy it and care about our families, is deeply affected and driven by the answer to the questions of certainty and security.

So what’s the “why” that goes beyond where we lay our head down at night? Where’s the spirit?

Human beings are not automatons. We have independent thought and free will. Unlike the lower animals, we have the opportunity to decide what we value and why. We get to choose if we view that opportunity as a burden, or as heroic beings charting our path through life. Are we victims or heroes? Is necessary achievement an albatross? Or is a soaring spirit that flies above and beyond simple materialistic needs?

I believe that’s where the spirit comes from and why socialism ends so dismally while capitalism yields a certain brightness, dreams of potential, and the possibility of a “shining city on a hill.”

As I wrote this piece, I recalled a draft I wrote some decades ago of a short story for a writing class. I managed to pull a handwritten passage from it from an old spiral notebook. It began as follows:

George Strong stood at the edge of the pit, hands on his hips, feet spread apart, a determined smile playing on his lips. The foundation was being dug for a high-rise. His high-rise. He appraised the project with the authority of a man confident in his ability. His dark eyes sparkled with the same intensity of the work going on below him. The yellow Caterpillar equipment dutifully carved out the base for the structure to be built, moving the dark rich earth into more productive formations, some to be used here, some to be dumped into dirt haulers and used to create elsewhere. In the forty stories that would rise above this foundation, thousands would be able to work in safety and comfort because of the efforts of a relative few. George nodded his head in silent approval of his people’s skill and ability. It was a good day.

It may not be great prose (I’ll let you be the judge of that), but it captures the “sense of life,” the art and beauty, of productive achievement.

Unlike socialism, capitalism isn’t just about transactions and material things. It’s about the human spirit made real, whether molded out of dirt and steel by a builder or marble or paint pigments by an artist. It’s about dreams and aspirations made possible by freedom and self-determination. Your mind is your only tool for understanding and prospering in the world around you. It can only have wings if you set it free.

A Sense of Life

Every individual’s “sense of life” is an integration of all of his or her subconscious views of themselves and the world around them. Do they believe the world is knowable, understandable, conquerable? Or are they nihilistic, believing the world unknowable and unconquerable, caught in a kind of “half life” between existence and non-existence? The latter will live a drab, gray non-existence, bereft of hope and spirit, inclined to destruction of themselves and those around them. The former will have a vibrant sense of the world and what is possible for them as a person and the people around them. Their spirit will be stronger. Their society’s spirit will be stronger. They will ask less and give more through their life, their abilities, and their goals.

The fight for capitalism, for freedom, isn’t a fight for transactions, it’s a fight for the mind of man. It’s a fight for freeing the human spirit to live, love, grow, and achieve.

Freedom, and its social expression capitalism, are spirit first. They make life possible and meaningful. They fulfill the transactional element because our nature requires it, but they make life livable because they are based on a sense of life that fuels the spirit with possibilities.

Capitalism is spirit. Capitalism is mere existence brought fully to life.

1. From the AI Generated Article: Is Capitalism Purely Transactional?

An Exploration of the Multidimensional Nature of Capitalism

Beyond Transactional Interactions

However, to label capitalism as purely transactional would be an oversimplification. Capitalism has fostered environments where creativity and innovation flourish. The tech industry is a prime example, where entrepreneurial spirit has given birth to revolutionary ideas and products that have transformed everyday life.

Moreover, capitalism has enabled a diversity of artistic expression by providing artists with the means to monetize their work. Platforms like Patreon, Kickstarter, and various streaming services have allowed artists to reach wider audiences and secure funding without relying on traditional patronage systems. This suggests that capitalism, while transactional, can also support and expand the realm of creative and spiritual endeavors.

2. J. Miltimore, Why spiritual people are more likely to embrace capitalism than materialists | Acton Institute, Acton Institute, 2018