Grace,
For all your ability, quickness of tongue, and mind, wouldn't it be a laudable exercise (say once out of every hundred posts or so) to try and apply it not to defending the status quo/capitalism as some nirvana-like end game but rather to point out the obvious failures and offer some thought on what must be done to improve things for all people or do you only care about your own benefits obtained or earned from the current system (or the one you grew up in) and in massaging your obviously planetoid-sized ego at the expense of others?
For such a sharp lady you come off has a cold, elitist lawyer arguing on behalf of some of the worst self-interested, greedy scum to have ever walked the globe. It is almost similar to the kind of foolishness heard from the poorest of the poor in the US where racism still rears its ugly head. Instead of recognizing their common plight or condition of being poor, we have poor whites who hate poor blacks who hate poor Asians who hate poor Mexicans, blah, blah, blah, etc., etc. What are you a stooge?
Based upon what you've said in the past (i.e., you had little to start with, worked your ass off through the system, competed, succeeded, and exceeded, etc.) you convey an impression that because "you" did it through the system, the system is fine as it stands.
It is one thing to believe that competition, capitalism and a free market system is superior to another, or vis-a-vis a more collective, state or centrally controlled economic system, but your comparisons can't be made in a vacuum so how can you be so certain?
Remove the circumstances of history and human development and how valid is the empirical data? You're too confident in being right as if it is so "white and black" that only a fool could think differently (than you). How does one compare with absolute confidence the unique events of the past that encompass so many variables?
Even if everyone leaned in your direction (and everyone here on an SI (biz/econ/investing) board like this would - after all, most have benefited, have money and education or we wouldn't be here chatting, we'd likely be out working 24/7 struggling to just get by), there are a preponderance of facts that can be seen in living color, each and every day that seem equivalent to your observations and at a minimum need to be addressed. If you consider them irrelevant, a natural consequence, or are an advocate of a "survival of the fittest" mentality then you lose a lot of people right there (and there is no use in continuing). Your conviction and lack of flexibility is what pushes those that are disenfranchised or disadvantaged to choose picking up the nearest gun and blowing your friggin' head off rather than crawling away to die quietly as the inconsequential "losers" in this great world lottery.
For all the good that has come out of capitalism can you ignore the distortion or mutation that has come out of your oh so clean textbook answers? If it were you on the outside would you readily accept the idea that the "free market" will smooth out all ills over time and accept you're just unlucky and say "oh well, the next person in my situation will surely get a different result than I, so it's all okay"?
I don't know how we get from point A to point B but what we see today doesn't fill the bill and the pace of change is insufficient for anyone that is disenfranchised. It is understandable for us to want to support the status quo and believe that gradual change will come or continue to come, and a tweak here or a twist there will eventually or inevitably make for the best possible world for all. Right now, there is an awful lot that indicates that making the protection of the status quo as an objective is self-serving and a distortion of what is "right".
Right is a world where everyone is able to live their 70 odd years the way they choose with the same opportunities as everyone else. If a man or woman wants to spend it staring at a wall shoving fruit in their ears, fine. If another is going to split the atom, create world changing innovations, or write symphonies, that's fine. Every single life is equivalent. Spend it how you will. The objective of this life should not be to "compete" or to prosper at the expense of others. And, certainly not, unless all (folk) get the same fair start (and that world doesn't exist today, hopefully it will someday, though I doubt it).
You and others have a problem with what you perceive as attacks upon the "best" system ever developed. If anything, this is what we want. Let's make the best system better by viewing it critically and recognizing its failures. And, the failures are there for all to see. People everywhere (and I do mean everywhere) are inherently decent. They want to live their lives, raise their children, and enjoy their friendships. The "system" controlled by gov is not serving the people sufficiently. If it was, we wouldn't have the amount of crime that exists, or the corruption we see from our religious, political or governmental, and biz leaders (or the huge disparity in wealth). Considering capitalism and juxtaposing it with the systems in China and/or Russia, for example, isn't that clean of an argument. One didn't exist completely independent of the other no matter how much further along globalization is today than before, or whether there were blocs and areas or degrees of influence.
You seem to have the opposite chip on your shoulder to me. But our situations aren't that different. I came from nothing too. My folks divorced so I was able to get into a decent school by hardship. Coming out of one of the best accounting programs in the US I was able to get a great opportunity (Arthur Andersen) and thrive, and believe me, that opportunity wasn't available to those going to state schools (though there is absolutely no difference in the abilities of the students there from any attending the so-called "good" schools). I burned out and retired at 31. I haven't worked a "real" job since (I'm 42 now). I've been trading for the last 8 years or so and I guess this is my "biz" so to speak.
My observation from being a tax accountant with AA&Co. and working on these outrageously massive trusts for the elite is that the wealth of the world has remained basically in the hands of the same people for tens of decades. Wash, recycle, rinse. The rich get richer and the rest feed on relative crumbs. Now, of course, things have been much better comparatively in the West with our significant middle class, but the worldwide game is still essentially the same. There are billions in virtual poverty. And, the US economy isn't able to ignore the world, maintain our standard of living independently, or convince anyone that our "free-market" system has been oh so entirely free or innocent relative to the rest of the world . We have built it off the backs of a whole lot of people in every single country. All we have to do is look at ourselves to recognize that the game is not playing out like an economic textbook which you so skillfully regurgitate verbatim. The pace of change is unacceptable. The system needs to protect the least able not the strongest group from the least able.
If we could put the whole world on the same clock so that humans were all awake simultaneously and we all went out to meet each other, would we sit by and allow some to starve to death, look like concentration camp victims, while others live in mansions? We are all the same. We wouldn't settle for it or want it to be that way. But that's the way it is. Surely the poorest don't want to be poor. Clearly those that can change it aren't interested in doing so if it means giving up something. That is all the empirical data anyone needs to see or understand. Why should we believe that capitalism is a given to win the day when it can't even provide equality for every single citizen in our own country?
The desire of some across the world to want to attack globalization, capitalism and the West specifically, is because we are failing without excuse. It is one thing to say, "well, I can't help you because I don't have anything myself but later when I do I will". Well, we have had a lot for a long time and have allowed our citizens to go into other countries in the name of biz and support individuals that were amenable to our entreaties to open those markets and/or grab their resources (or comparative advantage) but not to further the interests of the people of those very countries first and foremost. The laws restricting criminal behavior within our borders have been flouted outside of it. You can find throughout the history of nearly every country on the globe activities that furthered capitalism first and the interests of their people only as a weak by-product.
The US is well on its way to becoming an unbalanced mess. The shit just hasn't hit the fan yet. Folks supporting our system with your type of closed mind (to the inadequacies) look more like stooges. It is particularly sad as you claim to have pulled yourself up from your own bootstraps. How about we agree that you are an exceedingly intelligent person, an obvious success story, and an impressive example for those without the privilege and advantage of being born to wealth. You are an exception. But our focus should be upon those without your ample gifts. Your "god-given" abilities put you in a select group. But the majority haven't been that lucky. Weak or strong, the planet goes on for billions of years. I think 70 years of equality is not too much to ask for every single man and woman born to this planet.
I used to read your posts with interest, but whether intentional or not, your tone and message nearly always produces a feeling of disgust similar to when I hear Shrub talk, for example. He's an idiot, you're not. But, the impact is quite the same.
My brush strokes are broad, and intellectual prowess long since diminished from lack of use/or abuse (because I have stopped believing things will ever change materially in this lifetime), and so my points are easy to pick apart. I just trade, play music, and f*ck off. I'm not intellectually disciplined, still drink and party a good bit <g>. Take away from this only one thing: that a person doesn't have to be as sharp as you to be right. Life is not an econ textbook. What we have as a system is far from perfect. We'll know when it is right. Everyone will have the opportunity to live a life, in good health, to raise their children, and pursue what interests them. Our leaders won't need to hide behind walls. Our people won't be targets. And, we won't have billionaires while billions struggle to get by.
It would be great to see you apply some critique to the current system and recognition of how the world got this way rather than working off the premise that we're somehow "good" and everyone else is "bad" or that our system is an unmitigated success and all others an unmitigated failure.
I wouldn't bother to try and beat me up. This response is to indicate that some don't even come close to agreeing with half of what you say. Many are probably afraid to speak up because your tongue is as sharp as glass. Believe me that isn't your best quality. Neither is the condescension you offer.
J
Mish: Last post on the subject .. if Grace drops a fairly light hammer I'll let it go without response. Not trying to cause strife on your board as I know when I'm over matched <g> but just thought it needed to be said. |
