In a recent column, Seattle Times writer Jon Talton laments the rise of the stock market and argues that socialism would better serve young people than the advances we’ve seen under free-market capitalism. He fails to note, however, that half of American households are invested in the stock market and directly benefit when the market rises, mostly in the form of larger retirement savings.

He also fails to see that the stock market is simply a barometer of a nation’s economic health. When the market rises it is an indication that the whole country is doing better.

But the shocker quote in his column is, “The pre-1980 American system worked pretty well.” Let’s look at the pre-1980 economy. In the 1970s the United States had high inflation, high unemployment, gasoline rationing, high marginal tax rates and a high regulatory burden, all at the same time.

Talton seems to have forgotten what free market capitalism has created since the 1970s, especially after President Reagan cut the tax burden and ended thousands of socialist regulations that stifled people’s natural creativity. Here’s a partial list:

Smart phones, digital imaging, low-cost air travel, HD television and DVR, on-demand and steaming programing, MRI diagnostics, laser surgery, gene technology, new antibiotics and vaccines, flash drives, geo location and mapping, text messaging, hybrid cars, electric cars, improved auto safety, 24-hour shopping, 24-hour banking, affordable home delivery, online education, low consumer inflation, low consumer interest rates, 3-D printing, e-mail, e-readers, portable computing, cloud networking, wireless technology, and more.

The free market cannot solve all of society’s ills. But then it is not meant to. Governing systems, personal responsibility, family structure, religious faith and ethical values all play a role in the life of a community.

Capitalism is not imposed by top-down by elites like socialism is. It is an organic system designed to meet people’s physical needs, with government in the role of setting fair rules. Free market capitalism is an ethical framework of voluntary exchange which allows people the widest opportunity to make the best of their talents and abilities to improve their lives and the lives of others.

Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries one country after another rejected communism, fascism and other socialist systems and adopted free market capitalist systems. Even today’s communist government in China sees capitalism as the only road out of poverty. Over the last several decades capitalism has done more to lift more people out of poverty than any other economic system in the history of the world.

For that reason alone, let alone for its moral and civic benefits, capitalism and free-market economics should be celebrated, not condemned, and policymakers should work to help even more people share in the benefits of a rising stock market.