To clarify: What drives the hostility toward the operation of markets that are relatively free of government interference? I don't mean those whose hostility derives from the uneven outcomes that are due to the interference of the political class, but those whose resentment is directed at the process of profit, loss and competition itself.

Before I go further, maybe it would be valuable to unpack what most of us mean when we say "capitalism," or "the free market." What is usually meant by "the free market" by most who speak about it in good faith is nothing more than a series of voluntary exchanges. Entrepreneurs create a product or service, and the consumer decides whether to make an exchange. The inherent voluntarism isn't unique to the economic sphere; it permeates a free society. Exchange being a natural extension of the voluntarism inherent in a free society, it makes up just a part of everything contained in the daily human action of a semi-free society. Regulation, taxation and prohibition hamper this process by placing a wedge between individuals who would otherwise engage in trade.

So what aspect of the market process attracts so much resentment among all of us at one time or another? We all benefit from the innovation of the market process, but we take it for granted because that process is hidden from our daily lives. We see the fresh produce in winter; we see technology advancing and take it as a fact of life. But when the market disrupts the lives of some group, we demand action, not knowing that the form that action will take will be poison to the very system that has made possible our standard of living, indeed, civilization itself.

Is profit 'just'? Is loss 'unjust'?

How does one define "justice" in a market economy? If I produce a product that everyone wants, and I supply that product in exchange for money, I will quickly become rich. If I produce a product that no one wants, can I be described as having been the victim of an "injustice"? If I produce a product that customers prefer to another producer, and that producer goes out of business, is he a victim of an injustice perpetrated by me? By the customers? Can these situations even be discussed in terms of justice or injustice? I say no. It may seem obvious when spelled out in the abstract, but it runs counter to daily experience, in conversations with coworkers and the continuous anti-market opinions from mainstream outlets, and it runs counter to our nature when we experience firsthand the unpredictable flux of the market.