MensRea
says
It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense,not only in proportion to their revenue,but something more
beeg487
wonders
if that should be done across the board as well for things like grades, neighborhoods, specialty stores, I mean it's just fair and not that
beeg487
wonders
unreasonable
MensRea
says
www.plurk.com/user/beeg4... you realize that Adam Smith said this?
MensRea
says
"not very unreasonable."But for free-market orthodox, this should be a reminder that the position held wrt to free markets is, to me,radical
beeg487
says
no I didn't realize Adam Smith said that, I just really don't like the idea that the government chooses where the money goes. Most people
beeg487
says
that have money that I know are very generous with it to help others
beeg487
says
I'm going to have to go back and read Adam Smith again so I don't stick a foot in my mouth
MensRea
says
but you don't trust the government... I don't trust greedy corporations. So... is that an impasse?
MensRea
says
ultimately when times get too tough, that is not true. I don't need to tell you to look at 3rd world countries. But that's what happens
beeg487
says
good point, but I think each situation is different. There are some companies I trust and some gov't officials I trust, you just can't trust
beeg487
says
them all
MensRea
says
survival of the richest
MensRea
says
exactly.
MensRea
says
so...what's the answer?
beeg487
says
I've seen what happens in countries where there isn't a 1st world as I lived in Chile during the transition from Pinochet to elected gov't
MensRea
says
a mixture of what we've had since 1930's... it's about as good as we can hope. ALbeit replete with imperfections
beeg487
says
I don't have one, I think it has to be phrased properly and watched like a hawk but the question is who's best to watch?
MensRea
says
but pinochet was a puppet of the free-market Univ of Chicago mentality and there were systemic "disappearances"
MensRea
says
No thanks
MensRea
says
be back soon. have to get my kids at the Y
beeg487
says
ok, Pinochet was horrible in my opinion by the way, but they haven
beeg487
says
haven't been in good times since either
MensRea
says
true... but it's also that their government was prevented by barriers set in place as well as the high debt load
MensRea
says
the IMF and the World Bank keep them hostage. Debt is like the world's crack... and the third world is like a junkie
MensRea
says
Now... suddenly the US is going through the same issue. What will it mean to our civil liberties?
MensRea
says
judah
says
Adam Smith wrote the first work of modern economics, but there are very few fields where the first work is still considered the best.
MensRea
says
true www.plurk.com/user/judah however, I'd suggest that this demonstrates that Smith inherently recognized a shared burden
judah
says
Smith was a moral philosopher first, so this is no big surprise.
MensRea
says
precisely. However, we've forgotten that in order to sustain a free-market, we need a moral component that has been lacking for some time.
judah
says
we live in a different time. There is no sense of noblesse oblige, assuming there ever was.
MensRea
says
very true which is why the very unregulated market lead to very risk endeavors that were equivalent to a bad vegas odds game
judah
says
all of which was very human behavior. At each step, people were aware that they bore only part of the risk.