Kapitalizm, ushbu kitobning kontekstida, kapitalizm nazariyalariga asoslanib jamiyatning iqtisodiy va moliyaviy ishlarini tashkil etishga mas'ul bo'lgan tizimni anglatadi. Shuni darhol ta'kidlash kerakki, kapitalizmning muvaffaqiyatsizligi uni iqtisodiy tizim sifatida qabul qilgan jamiyat yoki davlatning muvaffaqiyatsizligi va inqirozi degani emas. Jamiyatlar va davlatlar boshqa tizimlarni qabul qilishlari va kapitalizmsiz yangi muhitga moslashishlari mumkin. Biroq, iqtisodiy tizimning muvaffaqiyatsizligi yangi tizim yaratilib barqarorlashguncha davlatning va jamiyatning o'z oddiy vazifalarini bajarish hamda jamiyat va alohida shaxslarning ehtiyojlarini qondirish qobiliyatiga katta ta'sir ko'rsatadi.

Capitalism, in the context of this book, refers to the system which is responsible for organizing the economic and financial affairs of a society on the basis of theories of capitalism. As such, it should be immediately noted that the failure of capitalism does not necessarily mean the failure and collapse of the society or state which adopts capitalism as an economic system. Societies and states can adopt other systems and can adapt to a new environment without capitalism. However, the failure of the economic system will have a great impact on the ability of the state and the society to carry their normal functions and to satisfy the needs of the society and the individuals until a new system is created and stabilized.

Yana bir masala shuni aytib o'tish kerakki, davom etishdan oldin: kapitalizm turli odamlar uchun turlicha ma'noni anglatadi. Ko'plab kitoblar va manbalarda kapitalizmning turli ta'riflari va tavsiflari uchraydi. Eng keng tarqalgan ta'rif kapitalizmni "xususiy mulkchilikka asoslangan iqtisodiy tizim" deb biladi. Merriam-Webster lug'atida u "kapital tovarlarning xususiy yoki korporativ mulkchiligi, xususiy qaror bilan belgilanadigan investitsiyalar hamda narxlar, ishlab chiqarish va tovarlarni taqsimlash asosan erkin bozordagi raqobat bilan belgilanadigan iqtisodiy tizim" sifatida ta'riflanadi. Umumiyroq ma'noda kapitalizm odatda ishlab chiqarish vositalari xususiy nazorat ostida bo'lgan tizimni anglatadi; mehnat, tovarlar va kapital bozorda savdo qilinadi; foyda egalariga taqsimlanadi yoki investorlar tomonidan qayta investitsiya qilinadi; mehnat uchun esa ish haqi to'lanadi. Bu yo'nalishdagi tarafdorlar va targ'ibotchilar orasida Adam Smit, Frensis Bekon, Devid Yum, Devid Rikardo, Maks Veber, Jon Meynard Keyns, Milton Fridman va boshqa ko'plab olimlar bor. Kapitalizmga qarshi chiquvchi va uni tanqid qiluvchilar orasida esa Karl Marks, Fridrix Engels, Vladimir Lenin va boshqa ko'plab kishilar bor.

Another issue to note before we proceed is that capitalism means different things to different people. Various definitions and characterization of capitalism can be found in numerous books and references. The most widely accepted definition of capitalism is an “economic system based on private ownership.” It is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.” In the more general sense, capitalism typically refers to a system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods, and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or reinvested by the investors; and wages are paid to labor. Proponents and advocates of capitalism in this capacity include Adam Smith, Francis Bacon, David Hume, David Ricardo, Max Weber, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, and many others. Opponents and critiques of capitalism include Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, and many others.

Карл Маркс полагал, что капитализм неизбежно возникнет как один из эволюционных циклов общества, предопределённых «неизбежностью исторического материализма»32. Опираясь на ту же теорию, Маркс также считал, что капитализм в конечном счёте придёт в упадок и исчезнет, уступив место возникновению социализма и коммунизма. Эта теория была опровергнута до конца двадцатого века, когда социализм потерпел крах в Советском Союзе. Опираясь на собственную марксистскую теорию развития обществ, Фрэнсис Фукуяма пришёл к выводу, что конечной точкой идеологической эволюции человечества является либеральная демократия (включая капитализм), а не коммунизм33. Однако этот окончательный итог, по мнению Фукуямы, оказался лишь мягким и временным, когда рынки начали рушиться, банки стали терпеть крах и «определённое видение капитализма потерпело поражение», используя собственные слова Фукуямы из его статьи «The Fall of America, Inc.».

Karl Marx believed that capitalism was destined to rise as one of the evolutionary cycles of a society as dictated by “historical materialism inevitability”32. Using the same theory, Marx also believed that capitalism will eventually decay and vanish, leaving the way for the rise of socialism and communism. This theory was put to an end before the end of the twentieth century when socialism collapsed in the Soviet Union. Relying on Marx’s own theory of the development of societies, Francis Fukayama concluded that the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution was liberal democracy (including capitalism) rather than communism33. However, this final end as detected by Fukayama turned out to be only a soft and temporary one when the markets began to collapse and banks began to fail and “a certain vision of capitalism has collapsed,” using Fukayama’s own words in his article “The Fall of America, Inc.” .

Adam Smith ning "tabiiy erkinlik tizimi" haqidagi mulohazalari "Xalqlar boyligi" (1776) asarida klassik siyosiy kapitalistik iqtisodiyotning boshlanishi sifatida odatda qabul qilinadi. Smith bugungi kunda ham kapitalizm bilan kuchli bog'liq bo'lgan bir qator tushunchalarni ishlab chiqdi. U shaxsiy manfaatni ko'zlashning jamiyat uchun umumiy foyda keltirishini ta'kidlaydi, garchi bu niyat qilinmagan bo'lsa ham. Erkin tadbirkorlikni himoya qilib, Smith monopoliyalarni, bojlarni, boshqa davlat tomonidan joriy etilgan cheklovlarni tanqid qildi va bozorni resurslarni taqsimlashda eng adolatli va samarali hakam deb hisobladi. David Ricardo esa "Siyosiy iqtisod va soliqqa oid tamoyillar" (1817) asarida Smithning qarashlarini qo'llab-quvvatlab, kapitalizm nazariyalarini yanada rivojlantirdi.

Adam Smith’s reasoning for “the system of natural liberty” in The Wealth of Nations (1776) is usually taken as the beginning of classical political capitalist economy. Smith devised a set of concepts that remain strongly associated with capitalism today. He argues that the pursuit of individual self-interest unintentionally produces a collective good for society. In support of free enterprise, Smith criticized monopolies, tariffs, duties, and other state-enforced restrictions and believed that the market is the most fair and efficient arbitrator of resources. David Ricardo, in “The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation” (1817), shared Smith’s views and further developed the theories of capitalism.

Kapitalizm nazariyalarining XVIII asrning o'rtalarida paydo bo'lishi boshqa ikki hodisa — "din va davlatning ajratilishi" hamda "ma'rifat davri" bilan bir vaqtga to'g'ri keldi va ba'zi jihatdan ulardan oldin ham bo'lgan. Ushbu hodisalardan kelib chiqqan g'oyalar jamiyatda moliyaviy va iqtisodiy operatsiyalarni tashkil etish vositasi sifatida kapitalizmning rivojlanishiga katta ta'sir ko'rsatdi. Aslida, kapitalizm din va davlatning ajratilishining tabiiy natijalaridan biri sifatida paydo bo'lgan, deb ta'kidlash mumkin. Din va davlat o'rtasidagi ajratilish insonning cherkov doirasidan tashqaridagi diniy ta'limotlardan ozod bo'lishini talab qiladi. Bu erkinlik to'rt asosiy sohada namoyon bo'ladi: so'z erkinligi, mulk erkinligi, ibodat erkinligi va shaxsiy erkinlik. So'z erkinligi to'liq qo'llanilib va rivojlantirilganda, jamiyatning siyosiy tizimini belgilaydi va turli demokratiya shakllariga olib keladi. Mulk erkinligi to'liq qo'llanilib va rivojlantirilganda, jamiyatning iqtisodiy tizimini belgilaydi va turli kapitalizm shakllariga olib keladi. Qolgan ikki erkinlik shakli esa jamiyatdagi shaxs xarakterlarini belgilaydi va shakllantiradi, bu esa turli din, odat, an'ana, axloq, ахлоқ-odob va jismoniy qiyofaga olib keladi; to'liq qo'llanilib va rivojlantirilganda, ular ijtimoiy tizimning shaklini belgilaydi. Demokratiyaning siyosiy tizimi, kapitalizmning iqtisodiy tizimi va individualizmning ijtimoiy tizimi, din va davlatning ajratilishi g'oyasi bilan birgalikda to'liq va keng qamrovli mafkuraning tuzilishini tashkil etadi.

The rise of the theories of capitalism in the mid-eighteenth century coincided and in some ways was preceded by other phenomena, namely, “the separation of church and state” and the “era of Enlightenment.” Ideas derived from these phenomena had a great impact on the development of capitalism as a means of organizing the financial and economic transaction in the society. In fact, it can be argued that capitalism has emerged as one of the natural consequences of the separation of church and state. The separation between church and state dictates that man becomes free from the religious doctrines outside the scope of the church. This freedom manifests itself in four major areas, namely, the freedom of speech, the freedom of ownership, the freedom of worship, and the personal freedom. The freedom of speech, once fully utilized and developed, defines the political system of a society and leads to various forms of democracies. The freedom of ownership, once fully utilized and developed, defines the economic system of a society and leads to various forms of capitalism. The other two forms of freedom define and shape the individual characters in the society giving rise to various forms of religion, customs, traditions, morals, ethics, and physical outlook; once fully utilized and developed, they define the shape of the social system. The political system of democracy, the economic system of capitalism, and the social system of individualism, together with the idea of the separation of the church and state, forms the structure of a complete and comprehensive ideology.

Bu mafkura demokratiya mafkurasi yoki kapitalizm deb ham ataladi. Ikkalasi bir xil tuzilmani anglatadi. Mafkura tarafdorlari siyosiy erkinlik jihatini ta'kidlamoqchi bo'lganda "Demokratiya" nomidan foydalanadilar. Iroq va Afg'onistonga qarshi so'nggi urushlar va bosqinlarni oqlashga urinayotgan AQSH siyosatchilari aynan shu millatlarga "demokratiyani eksport qilish" zarurligini ta'kidladilar. Albatta, demokratiya bilan birga kapitalizm va ijtimoiy individualizm ham keladi. Hozirgi moliyaviy inqiroz va uning jamiyatga ta'sirini tushunishga urinayotgan iqtisodchilar va siyosatchilar esa "kapitalizm" nomidan foydalanadilar. Gap shundaki, "Demokratiya" va "kapitalizm" bir xil mafkuraviy tuzilmaga ishora qiladi.

This ideology is interchangeably referred to as the ideology of Democracy or capitalism. Both refer to the same structure. The proponents of the ideology use the name “Democracy” when they want to emphasize the political freedom aspect of the ideology. In trying to justify the recent wars and invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, US politicians emphasized the need to export “Democracy” to these nations. Of course, along with democracy go capitalism and the social individualism. In trying to understand the current financial crisis and their impact on the society, the economists and politicians used the name “capitalism.” The point is that “Democracy” and “capitalism” refer to the same ideological structure.

Bu mafkura dastlab Yevropa va Rossiya imperatorlari hamda shohlari dinni xalqni ekspluatatsiya qilish va ularga zulm qilish vositasi sifatida ishlatayotgan davrda paydo bo‘lgan. Ular ruhoniylarni bu ekspluatatsiya uchun qurol sifatida ishlatganlar. Bu holat ba’zi faylasuf va mutafakkirlarni dinni butunlay inkor etishga olib kelgan. Boshqalari dinni tan olgan, ammo uni xalqning kundalik hayot ishlaridan ajratish zarurligini talab qilgan. Oxir-oqibat, ko‘pchilik faylasuf va mutafakkirlarning fikri bitta g‘oyada to‘xtagan: din va hayotni, din va davlatni ajratish. Bu din nomidan hamma narsani nazorat qilishga intilgan ruhoniylar bilan dinni va ruhoniylar hokimiyatini inkor etgan faylasuf va mutafakkirlar o‘rtasidagi murosa yechimi edi. Natijada kapitalizm/demokratiya mafkurasining asosini tashkil etuvchi asosiy ta’limot — dinni hayotdan ajratish bo‘ldi. 1802-yilda Tomas Jefferson Danberi baptistlariga yozgan maktubida Amerika konstitutsiyasi cherkov va davlat o‘rtasida ajratuvchi devor qurishi kerakligini yozgan.

This ideology originally emerged when the emperors and kings of Europe and Russia were using religion as a means to exploit the peoples and transgress against them. They used the clergy as an instrument for this exploitation. This led some philosophers and thinkers to deny religion completely. Others acknowledged religion but called for its separation from the people’s daily life affairs. Eventually, the opinion of the majority of the philosophers and thinkers settled on one idea, which is the separation of religion from life and state. That was a compromise solution between the clergy who sought to control everything in the name of religion and the philosophers and thinkers, who denied religion and the authority of the clergy. Consequently, the main doctrine, which underlines the ideology of capitalism/democracy, is the separation of religion from life. In a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote that the American constitution should build a wall of separation between church and state36.

Diniy va dunyoviy hayot ishlarining (cherkov yoki dinning davlatdan ajratilishi) oqibatlarini tushunish moliyaviy inqiroz ortida turgan axloqiy va ma'naviy inqirozlarni muhokama qilishda juda zarur bo'ladi. Bu tushuncha Milton Fridmanning quyidagi xulosasi asosidagi sabablarni anglashga yordam beradi: "Aksiyadorlarning yagona umumiy manfaati foydani maksimallashtirishdir"; "Pul topishdan boshqa ijtimoiy mas'uliyatlarni bajarishga har qanday majburiyat noqonuniy soliq yoki hatto o'g'rilikdir"37. Kapitalizmning cherkovdan davlatning ajratilishidan kelib chiqqan tarixiy rivojlanishi esa, xristianlik hukmron bo'lmagan jamiyatlarda kapitalizm dinamikasini tushunishga ham imkon beradi.

Understanding the effect of the separation of church (religion) from state and the life affairs will be quite necessary when discussing the moral and ethic crises which stand behind the current financial crisis. It helps understanding the background for conclusions such as the one made by Milton Friedman: “The only common interests shareholders have is to maximize profits”; “Any commitment to fulfilling social responsibilities other than making money is an illegitimate tax, or even theft”37. The historic development of capitalism, as one that emerged from the separation of church and state, also allows one to understand the dynamics of capitalism in societies where Christianity was not the dominant religion.