{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/opinion-thank-capitalism-and-free-markets-for-human-flourishing", "Opinion: Thank Capitalism and Free Markets for Human Flourishing", "2026-09-14", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "John R. Curtis", "C001114", "www.curtis.senate.gov", "curtis", "https://www.curtis.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "America should not abandon the economic system that has lifted billions from poverty and driven unprecedented human progress\n\nWASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) authored an opinion piece in The Washington Post highlighting the extraordinary gains in prosperity, health, and quality of life made possible by capitalism and free enterprise.\n\n\u201cTo what do we owe this phenomenal progress? Capitalism. It\u2019s the only system in which individuals have the freedom to own their land, homes and businesses\u2014and to be paid for their talent, labor and innovation,\u201d Senator Curtis wrote. \u201cJust one century into America\u2019s experiment in capitalist free enterprise, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels\u2014capitalism\u2019s most prominent critics\u2014could not help but admit that the system had driven more productivity \u2018than have all preceding generations together.\u2019 There is a clear link between economic freedom and standards of living, financial resources and personal health.\u201d\n\n\u201cFree enterprise made America a \u2018shining city on a hill\u2019\u2014a heritage the country will surely lose if it abandons its zeal for the only economic system capable of making upward mobility and prosperity possible for all,\u201d Senator Curtis continued.\n\nIn the piece, Senator Curtis points to dramatic improvements in human well-being over the past several decades. More than one billion people were lifted out of extreme poverty between 1990 and 2015, while global child mortality has fallen 60 percent since 1990. In the United States, inflation-adjusted household income increased from roughly $59,000 in 1970 to nearly $84,000 in 2024.\n\nSenator Curtis also reflects on his own experience in Taiwan, where he first lived as a missionary in 1979 and returned earlier this year as the co-lead of a Congressional delegation. He argues that Taiwan\u2019s transformation from a poor, agrarian society into an economic powerhouse demonstrates the ability of market-oriented capitalism to improve lives and create opportunity.\n\nAmid recent electoral victories by members of the Democratic Socialists of America, Curtis argues that leaders have a responsibility to better explain why free enterprise has been such a powerful force for technological, economic, and medical advancement, and why preserving economic freedom is essential to expanding opportunity for future generations.\n\n\u201cThe oxcart had a good run,\u201d Senator Curtis concluded. \u201cAmerica should not hitch itself back onto it.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-15T09:50:21Z", "2026-09-15T09:52:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/opinion-thank-capitalism-and-free-markets-for-human-flourishing"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7588330190628767, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}