Capitalism shouldn’t be controversial. I’m an African entrepreneur, and the free market saves lives

Capitalism gets a bad rap these days. Millions of Americans—Democrat and Republican—are frustrated with the U.S. economy, and many blame the free market.

Some claim the free market benefits “elites” at the expense of the working class. Others blame capitalism for the rise of the far-right. The headlines are everywhere: “Capitalism is broken.” “Capitalism went off the rails.”

It’s simply not true. At the heart of capitalism is the entrepreneurial spirit. Unhindered by the government, the free market empowers an entrepreneur to start a business. It empowers a small business owner to open their first location and hire their first employee. And it empowers that job creator to expand, creating more jobs, financial security, and the economic prosperity that comes with work.

The government doesn’t launch a small business. No bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. can make a small business thrive when most don’t survive. That falls on the entrepreneur, and the entrepreneurial spirit is interwoven in the very fabric of America.

The “free market” is not just some talking point. It’s not a campaign slogan; it means everything to the U.S. economy. There are more than 33 million small businesses in the United States—99.9 percent of all U.S. firms. And they account for nearly two-thirds of newly created jobs. Small businesses also translate to 99.7 percent of all U.S. firms with paid employees and 97.3 percent of all exporters.

There is no U.S. economy without entrepreneurship and small business. Talk of “billionaires” and “trillionaires” may dominate presidential debates, but the numbers don’t lie about the free market’s true beneficiaries.

I have benefited firsthand, and I’m certainly not a Gates or a Bezos. I was born in a Senegalese fishing village south of Dakar and came to the United States in search of the American Dream. I eventually started a cosmetics manufacturing company, producing lip balm in Mékhé, Senegal and building out a team of hard-working employees who have achieved financial independence for themselves. Many are women, despite the fact that women traditionally stay home in Mékhé while the men go off to fish or farm.

These are real people benefitting from small business—once poor, now prosperous. From America to Senegal, entrepreneurship also begets more entrepreneurship. I try to help other local businesses in the spirit of collaboration, leaning on their products and services which in turn leads to more job creation. For instance, each of my products comes in a hand-sewn leather bag made by CAWAAN, a family-run Senegalese company that has produced handmade leather goods for five generations.

The Senegalese government does not make lip balm or handbags. If anything, the government is a hindrance, just like taxes and regulations often undermine America’s own entrepreneurs. To legally bring skincare ingredients into Senegal for production, I cope with import tariffs of 45 to 70 percent. I am forced to pay more than $4,400 in annual duties just to import goods into Senegal, and yet my team navigates the obstacles.

My story is one of many and many. Around the world, there are countless entrepreneurs struggling, succeeding, and everything in between on behalf of themselves, their families, employees, job-seekers, clients, and customers.

The new documentary She Rises Up tells these stories, focusing primarily on female entrepreneurs who are defying all odds and embracing the free market to change their lives. There is Peru’s Gladys Yupanqui, who founded a mini-market and is now looking to expand. Then there is Sri Lanka’s Selyna Peiris, who is expanding a textile company founded by her mother.

And the stories go on. Do capitalism’s critics ever tell them? Do they acknowledge the drop in global extreme poverty from 90 percent in the 1800s (pre-capitalism) to 10 percent today? Do they ever celebrate the lives saved by the free market?

In the United States, how quick are capitalism’s critics to recognize the tens of millions of small businesses or the tens of millions of working Americans who depend on them? Do you ever hear about U.S. poverty hitting historic lows? I’m still waiting. Apparently, blaming billionaires is more fulfilling.

Capitalism only breaks when the government tries to “fix” it. There is no better economic system for America, and there never will be.

Magatte Wade is founder of Skin Is Skin, a cosmetics company based in Africa. She is author of the new book The Heart of a Cheetah, and shares her experiences in the newly released documentary film She Rises Up. For tickets to upcoming screenings in Southern California on August 2 and 3, click here.