- Joined
- Jul 19, 2012
- Messages
- 14,185
- Reaction score
- 8,767
- Location
- Houston
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian
To paraphrase Aaron Clary: Ever notice how there are people who believe totally illogical things? Like government workers who demand a raise even though they already receive wages that are 30% higher than comparable private sector jobs, or students who protest globalization, or environmentalists who claim that the emissions caused by suburban lawns will burn the planet up with global warming.
Why do they say these things? Because they refuse to acknowledge reality and because they are lazy.
There is a real world that we all live in. We are all limited by its contingencies.
In order for society to survive its members must produce, buy and sell a myriad of goods and services.
It is human nature to want to get more for less.
These undeniable realities force us to have an economic system based on reality. That is to say, based on what people are really like, not what we might want them to be like.
It is for this reason that capitalism is the most efficient and productive economic system. Any attempt to depart from that has been a failure.
And in fact capitalism exists in one form or another in all societies. In free societies it exists openly. Where it is forbidden it exists as a black market. Capitalism will emerge wherever people have goods and services and the ability to interact with each other.
But capitalism has one great weakness: it gives people too much free time and in many cases frees them from anxiety about want and poverty to the extent that they are free to take up all sorts of silly and counterproductive notions such as these:
Capitalism shields people to the extent that they take it for granted. Capitalism is so successful that it provides resources such that large portions of the population are freed from any necessity producing anything of real value. In other words, academia, the public sector, NGOs, non-profits, etc.
Of course these entities are constantly engaged in some cause or crusade or another. But the reasons given for this effort are never the real reasons. The real reason is to give these people some measure of self worth. To provide them with a rationale that they are doing something for society.
That's why this nut is so hard to crack. With these people heading the culture we will never reach a state when the environment isn't 100% on the verge of destruction, where racism is no longer a problem, where school funding is adequate. This is why you have rich people who inherited their wealth going on political crusades and have rich saudis flying planes into skyscrapers. This why you can have a feminist professor claim that she is independent when in reality she is the trophy wife of the public sector. And why we have people who crusade against the very thing that enables them to live a worry free life -- capitalism.
eace
Why do they say these things? Because they refuse to acknowledge reality and because they are lazy.
There is a real world that we all live in. We are all limited by its contingencies.
In order for society to survive its members must produce, buy and sell a myriad of goods and services.
It is human nature to want to get more for less.
These undeniable realities force us to have an economic system based on reality. That is to say, based on what people are really like, not what we might want them to be like.
It is for this reason that capitalism is the most efficient and productive economic system. Any attempt to depart from that has been a failure.
And in fact capitalism exists in one form or another in all societies. In free societies it exists openly. Where it is forbidden it exists as a black market. Capitalism will emerge wherever people have goods and services and the ability to interact with each other.
But capitalism has one great weakness: it gives people too much free time and in many cases frees them from anxiety about want and poverty to the extent that they are free to take up all sorts of silly and counterproductive notions such as these:
- Global warming is caused by automobiles.
- You are fat because McDonald's made you that way.
- You are poor and your life sucks because of racist, sexist white men.
- People who drive big expensive cars endanger those of us who drive a Euro-spec.
Capitalism shields people to the extent that they take it for granted. Capitalism is so successful that it provides resources such that large portions of the population are freed from any necessity producing anything of real value. In other words, academia, the public sector, NGOs, non-profits, etc.
Of course these entities are constantly engaged in some cause or crusade or another. But the reasons given for this effort are never the real reasons. The real reason is to give these people some measure of self worth. To provide them with a rationale that they are doing something for society.
That's why this nut is so hard to crack. With these people heading the culture we will never reach a state when the environment isn't 100% on the verge of destruction, where racism is no longer a problem, where school funding is adequate. This is why you have rich people who inherited their wealth going on political crusades and have rich saudis flying planes into skyscrapers. This why you can have a feminist professor claim that she is independent when in reality she is the trophy wife of the public sector. And why we have people who crusade against the very thing that enables them to live a worry free life -- capitalism.
eace
