I'd like to know which "some here" declared the end to capitalism?
-------- On Sep 17, 9:06 pm, VT Sean Lewis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is seductive self justification for greed. > > I hear this from 'christians' who say God wants them to be Rich, > yet these same chritians live in gated communities and > send their kids to private schools and want all foreigners > to be rounded up. > > Greed, hate, and zenophobia all rolled up in self deception. > This is just another version of the same old same old. > > On Sep 17, 11:53 pm, Gaar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > I think it important to remember just what it means, to some... > > >http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000056.html > > > ...I believe that there are three elements just three that we mix > > in just the right ratio to perform our national alchemy. Look around > > you at the rest of the world. Those who use none of these ingredients > > are disasters, basket cases, failed states where misery and poverty > > crush the life out of what is almost an indomitable human drive to > > create, to nurture, and to prosper. > > > Almost indomitable. There are governments, theories, and people that > > have managed it after many years of hard and dedicated work. > > > We together have wasted enough time talking about these failed ideas, > > these various and sundry kleptocracies, these stinking, wretched > > failures. We know what they are and we know what they look like. Today > > we are hunting success. > > > One of the three, any one, buys you a respite. Not a huge one, > > perhaps, but a glimmer of hope. Two, and life begins to become > > livable. Grey, perhaps. Uninspired. But livable. > > > Pull all three together and you have a society worth living in. Pull > > all three together in just the right way, and you have a reactor, a > > fire-breathing creativity engine that unlocks in each of us the very > > best people we can become. > > > Stop guessing. Sorry, but it s not God, Guts and Guns. The Arabs have > > God, the Russians have Guts and the Colombians have Guns you want to > > live there? > > > We re going to take a moment to look at each one of the three, each > > element in this national Trinity of success and prosperity. > > > These three pillars have several things in common. Their first and > > greatest strength is that they are self-correcting. They require > > optimism remember that: that s critical. They are beyond flexible: > > they are supple. No, even more they are fluid. And yet each has > > strict rules that must be rigidly obeyed for the reactor to produce > > full power. This combination of a rigid internal structure, coupled > > with astonishing flexibility, is what gives them, like a human > > acrobat, mind-boggling capabilities that leave us gaping in awe at the > > results. > > > Two are pretty easy to understand. One isn t. So let s be sensible and > > do the hard work first. > > > The first of these three pillars has several names: private property, > > the free market, enlightened self-interest but the first essential > > element of the American Trinity, and the hardest to come to grips > > with, is Capitalism. > > > Capitalism just galls some people. They just. Can t. Stand it. > > > Now I have thought about this one long and hard, and no matter how I > > look at it, I come to the same striking conclusion, and that is this: > > > Where you stand on the political spectrum, what you think of rich and > > poor people, and what you think about rich and poor nations and how > > they should act in the world, comes down, in my mind, to one single > > issue, and one only: Can wealth be created, or can it only be > > redistributed? > > > If you believe, as I do, that wealth can be manufactured out of thin > > air, then there is no limit to the amount of wealth you can amass. And > > since you are creating it out of thin air, there is no moral onus on > > making money you work hard to create it and have stolen from no one. > > There is an expression for this: you earned it. > > > Indeed, since charity depends on excess wealth, excess capacity, the > > more you make for yourself the better off everyone else is. You can > > even throw charity out the window if you are so hard-hearted; the fact > > remains that you will spend that money to get the things you want, and > > the more you have the more you can spend. That money goes to other > > people. This interchange is called the economy, and rich societies > > are rich because they understand in their bones the centerpiece of > > Capitalist thinking: Wealth can be created from thin air by human > > ingenuity and hard work. > > > Now people on the left have, in their guts, a revulsion towards the > > rich and the wealthy, because whenever they see wealth they naturally > > assume that it was stolen from people without any the poor. That > > rich man in the private jet has taken the wealth from all the poor > > people and is therefore a criminal. > > > If you think about all of the protestors you see on TV, whether they > > be against US imperialism , or globalization, or corporations, or > > claim to be champions of the Poor, both here at home and for poor > > nations in the world all of this anger and seething resentment, all > > of this bitterness and invective, can be attributed, when all is said > > and done, to having chosen to believe that there is only so much > > wealth in the world, and that rich people and rich nations gain and > > maintain wealth by stealing prosperity from the weak. > > > This is so idiotic, so demonstrably false, that you really have to > > wonder why we are having this discussion. All of the money owed to > > rich nations by the poor money that was lent to them to lift them > > from poverty, and then squandered on palaces for dictators and > > Socialist prestige projects like International Airports in the middle > > of nowhere -- all this money totaled together, is a small percentage > > of the wealth generated by rich countries in a single year. The idea > > that the United States can steal 10 trillion dollars a year from dirt- > > poor nations that don t produce anything of value is absolutely > > insane, and yet, and yet, we hear it again and again and again from > > the professionally outraged who must be obtuse beyond human > > understanding to keep making such an absurd lie the basis of their > > entire philosophy. > > > If we can prove that our core tenet is correct, that wealth is limited > > only by imagination and the desire to work hard, then not only does > > the left s economic theory come crashing down like a Statue of > > Lenin their entire view of US power has to be fatally flawed, as well. > > Because if we make enough wealth to be able to buy our oil at prices > > set by the seller consult reality for confirmation of this annoying > > fact then perhaps we are not in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to > > steal oil from poor Arabs. There must be some other reason for it. > > Something completely unintelligible and unknowable: national security, > > perhaps, or simple disgust with torture and repression and terrorism. > > Things like that. > > > Get this through your heads, you socialist ninnies! There is not a > > big, limited pot of wealth that is filled with the Magic Sweat of > > Authentic Third World Laborers, that America uses its military to > > steal from when we run out of wealth here at home. > > > Here s something even the dimmest hippy protester / poet should be > > able to wrap his mind around: > > > You buy a legal pad: $1.29 > > You steal a Bic pen from the counter at Kinko s: free. > > You write the script for Weekend at Bernies 3: Bernie s Revenge!: > > free. > > You hire someone to type it: $30.00 > > You have Kinko s print 5 copies: $62.20 > > You mail the 5 copies: $7.82 > > 5 idiots in Hollywood love the idea: free > > They enter a bidding war: free > > You get a check for: one million dollars! > > > So let s see that $1,000,000, minus the $101.30 in expenses uh that > > means You, the village idiot, have just raised the Gross Domestic > > Product by, uh, one million freaking dollars, and have made a personal > > profit of $999,898 dollars and 69 cents. > > > Where did the $999,898.69 come from? It came from thin air! You > > created it, out of nothing. You added value to the stock of paper and > > ink you started with. From the monumental talent you possess, the gift > > of intellect, the pen that made Shakespeare weep with envy, you have > > created WB3. You ve given millions of people two hours of side- > > splitting hilarity, for which they will part with $8.00 and you have > > created wealth. What s more, when you go and blow it all on the > > pointless material crap that makes life so much fun, you ll be > > bringing in a little extra for the Sea-Doo distributor, the BMW > > dealer, the girls at Cheetahs in Las Vegas, and all the others. Not to > > mention putting I dunno maybe half a million freaking dollars into > > welfare, Social Security, Medicare, the National Endowment for the > > Arts and the world s first fusion-powered, laser-armed, flying stealth > > submarine, the USS George W. Bush. > > > You did not have to steal $999,898.69 from a farmer in Angola. > > > And in just the same way as your finished screenplay is worth more > > than the total cost of the paper and ink you needed to write it, so > > too is my 2000 Ford Escort ZX2 worth more than the hunk of iron ore, > > the silica for the glass, the chemicals for the plastic and tires, and > > the cost of the factory, the electricity to run the factory, and the > > salary of the people who build the car. That car, like that > > screenplay, has greater value than the raw materials that comprise it. > > Through human ingenuity, value is added. Wealth is created from thin > > air. > > > More relative wealth is created from building a Learjet than making a > > pencil, but then again, there are a lot more pencils than Learjets. > > Any time we make either, or any of the millions of things in between, > > we create wealth. From thin air. We did not go and take the money at > > bayonet point from some campesino trying to scratch out a living > > somewhere, and if I hear that lie again from those > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
