Is system of free enterprise above criticism?

It's not easy being a presidential candidate.

Just ask Mitt Romney who was targeted this week as a heartless guy who likes firing people and was called a vulture capitalist — and that's by people in his own political party.

The charges concern Romney's earlier career running a venture capital operation called Bain Capital. Basically, the goal of Bain was to find and acquire distressed companies that could be either turned around and made more profitable or sold off for a profit.

Critics claim this involved laying off workers and putting long-term companies out of business to make a big profit.

Romney says they did their best to help struggling companies and as a private equity company also formed new businesses and created thousands of jobs.

How one sees this kind of venture capitalism depends on your place in the equation.

If you are a worker for a company that is taken over and put out of business, then you aren't going to have a very positive view. That is where much of the criticism of Romney's tenure at Bain Capital is focused.

On the other hand, many are defending venture capitalism as simply part of the free enterprise system in which there are always winners and losers.

In fact, Jon Huntsman — one of Romney's challengers in the presidential nomination race — came to his defense, referring to the process as “creative destruction ... which has always been part of capitalism.”

Free enterprise is a good thing. It is the foundation of our country. There is a reason that even communist nations have moved toward free enterprise. It works. It brings prosperity.

Free enterprise or capitalism works because it provides the ability for people with ambition to improve their lot in life. If you know what you are doing and work hard at it, the opportunity exists to prosper and even become wealthy. It is an enticing incentive and the core of our free society.

But the reality is that there is also the opportunity to fail. Businesses come and go all the time. It truly is survival of the fittest — or perhaps the most aggressive or even meanest — in free enterprise.

The question is whether even in the fiercely fought world of free enterprise there are lines that should not be crossed. Are there boundaries to capitalistic conduct?

Defenders of Romney seem to be saying no to that question. Everything is acceptable if it is free enterprise. Capitalism is above criticism.

I'm not convinced that is true. If it was, then business schools wouldn't have classes in business ethics.

At one time, business monopolies were acceptable in our country, the bastion of free enterprise. But it was decided that was an unfair practice and we now have laws against monopolistic behavior. We also have laws against unfair treatment of workers and requirements to meet contractual obligations. Capitalism is not without constraints.

I think many people hope for fair play and decency even when the banner of free enterprise is flying.

Defenders of Mitt Romney say those attacking his work at Bain Capital are actually attacking the free enterprise system.

But are they really? Maybe his critics are just trying to explore the boundaries of what is ethical conduct in the business world.

It is an issue many of us will have to decide for ourselves in the months ahead as the presidential election heats up.

Terry Ross is director of the Yuma Sun's News and Information Center. Email: tross@yumasun.com. Telephone: 539-6870. Facebook: facebook.com/YSTerryRoss. Twitter: twitter.com/@YSTerryRoss.