Giving thanks... for capitalism

[Little-Acorn]

We still hear the whines and fears of liberals who believe that an entire nation full of people working mostly for their own good, can never coalesce to form a nation where the good of all is overall increased steadily, day after day, year after year.

Available evidence indicates otherwise. 200 years' worth.

A timely reprint, slightly updated.

----------------------------------

Jeff Jacoby
Giving thanks for Capitalism

by Jeff Jacoby
Nov. 27, 2003

Today, in millions of homes across the nation, God will be thanked for many gifts — for the feast on the table and the company of loved ones, for health and good fortune in the year gone by, for peace at home in a time of war, for the incalculable privilege of having been born — or having become — American.

But it probably won't occur to too many of us to give thanks for the fact that the local supermarket had plenty of turkey for sale this week. Even the devout aren't likely to thank God for airline schedules that made it possible for some of those loved ones to fly home for Thanksgiving. Or for the arrival of "Twilight Saga, Part 2" at the local movie theater in time for the holiday weekend. Or for that great cranberry-apple pie recipe in the food section of the newspaper.

Those things we take more or less for granted. It hardly takes a miracle to explain why grocery stores stock up on turkey before Thanksgiving, or why Hollywood releases big movies in time for big holidays. That's what they do. Where is God in that?

And yet, isn't there something wondrous — something almost inexplicable — in the way your Thanksgiving weekend is made possible by the skill and labor of vast numbers of total strangers?

To bring that turkey to the dining room table, for example, required the efforts of thousands of people — the poultry farmers who raised the birds, of course, but also the feed distributors who supplied their nourishment and the truckers who brought it to the farm, not to mention the architect who designed the hatchery, the workmen who built it, and the technicians who keep it running. The bird had to be slaughtered and defeathered and inspected and transported and unloaded and wrapped and priced and displayed. The people who accomplished those tasks were supported in turn by armies of other people accomplishing other tasks — from refining the gasoline that fueled the trucks to manufacturing the plastic in which the meat was wrapped.

The activities of countless far-flung men and women over the course of many months had to be intricately choreographed and precisely timed, so that when you showed up to buy a fresh Thanksgiving turkey, there would be one — or more likely, a couple dozen — waiting. The level of coordination required to pull it off is mind-boggling. But what is even more mind-boggling is this: No one coordinated it.

No turkey czar sat in a command post somewhere, consulting a master plan. No one rode herd on all those people, forcing them to cooperate for your benefit. And yet they did cooperate. When you arrived at the supermarket, your turkey was there. You didn't have to do anything but show up to buy it. If that isn't a miracle, what should we call it?

Adam Smith called it "the invisible hand" — the mysterious power that leads innumerable people, each working for his own gain, to promote ends that benefit many. Out of the seeming chaos of millions of uncoordinated private transactions emerges the spontaneous order of the market. Free human beings freely interact, and the result is an array of goods and services more immense than the human mind can comprehend. No dictator, no bureaucracy, no supercomputer plans it in advance. Indeed, the more an economy is planned, the more it is plagued by shortages, dislocation, and failure.

It is commonplace to speak of seeing God's signature in the intricacy of a spider's web or the animation of a beehive. But they pale in comparison to the kaleidoscopic energy and productivity of the free market. If it is a blessing from Heaven when seeds are transformed into grain, how much more of a blessing is it when our private, voluntary exchanges are transformed — without our ever intending it — into prosperity, innovation, and growth?

The social order of freedom, like the wealth and the progress it makes possible, is an extraordinary gift from above. On this Thanksgiving Day and every day, may we be grateful.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

A great little engine but you don't yet the engine steer the car.

Another incoherent one-line post with no discernible connection to the thread.

(yawn)

Capitalism is not for the pitchfolks, which is why you fail to understand it.

Actually, capitalism is for everyone. It's the one system that abhors aristocracy and promises opportunity and the chance for great wealth and success for those willing to work, to risk, and to dream. It's clearly YOU who doesn't understand its nature.

I understand its nature perfectly, which is why I'm a capitalist and know it must be regulated, among other things.

It's the level of regulation you support that means you aren't one.

You are incorrect, as usual. Like any child, capitalism needs a parent.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

A pragmatic approach is always best, it's foolish to adhere blindly to one extreme economic dogma or another. And economic regulatory policy is warranted, necessary, and Constitutional.

Indeed, and well said.

 

[Flopper]

We still hear the whines and fears of liberals who believe that an entire nation full of people working mostly for their own good, can never coalesce to form a nation where the good of all is overall increased steadily, day after day, year after year.

Available evidence indicates otherwise. 200 years' worth.

A timely reprint, slightly updated.

----------------------------------

Jeff Jacoby
Giving thanks for Capitalism

by Jeff Jacoby
Nov. 27, 2003

Today, in millions of homes across the nation, God will be thanked for many gifts — for the feast on the table and the company of loved ones, for health and good fortune in the year gone by, for peace at home in a time of war, for the incalculable privilege of having been born — or having become — American.

But it probably won't occur to too many of us to give thanks for the fact that the local supermarket had plenty of turkey for sale this week. Even the devout aren't likely to thank God for airline schedules that made it possible for some of those loved ones to fly home for Thanksgiving. Or for the arrival of "Twilight Saga, Part 2" at the local movie theater in time for the holiday weekend. Or for that great cranberry-apple pie recipe in the food section of the newspaper.

Those things we take more or less for granted. It hardly takes a miracle to explain why grocery stores stock up on turkey before Thanksgiving, or why Hollywood releases big movies in time for big holidays. That's what they do. Where is God in that?

And yet, isn't there something wondrous — something almost inexplicable — in the way your Thanksgiving weekend is made possible by the skill and labor of vast numbers of total strangers?

To bring that turkey to the dining room table, for example, required the efforts of thousands of people — the poultry farmers who raised the birds, of course, but also the feed distributors who supplied their nourishment and the truckers who brought it to the farm, not to mention the architect who designed the hatchery, the workmen who built it, and the technicians who keep it running. The bird had to be slaughtered and defeathered and inspected and transported and unloaded and wrapped and priced and displayed. The people who accomplished those tasks were supported in turn by armies of other people accomplishing other tasks — from refining the gasoline that fueled the trucks to manufacturing the plastic in which the meat was wrapped.

The activities of countless far-flung men and women over the course of many months had to be intricately choreographed and precisely timed, so that when you showed up to buy a fresh Thanksgiving turkey, there would be one — or more likely, a couple dozen — waiting. The level of coordination required to pull it off is mind-boggling. But what is even more mind-boggling is this: No one coordinated it.

No turkey czar sat in a command post somewhere, consulting a master plan. No one rode herd on all those people, forcing them to cooperate for your benefit. And yet they did cooperate. When you arrived at the supermarket, your turkey was there. You didn't have to do anything but show up to buy it. If that isn't a miracle, what should we call it?

Adam Smith called it "the invisible hand" — the mysterious power that leads innumerable people, each working for his own gain, to promote ends that benefit many. Out of the seeming chaos of millions of uncoordinated private transactions emerges the spontaneous order of the market. Free human beings freely interact, and the result is an array of goods and services more immense than the human mind can comprehend. No dictator, no bureaucracy, no supercomputer plans it in advance. Indeed, the more an economy is planned, the more it is plagued by shortages, dislocation, and failure.

It is commonplace to speak of seeing God's signature in the intricacy of a spider's web or the animation of a beehive. But they pale in comparison to the kaleidoscopic energy and productivity of the free market. If it is a blessing from Heaven when seeds are transformed into grain, how much more of a blessing is it when our private, voluntary exchanges are transformed — without our ever intending it — into prosperity, innovation, and growth?

The social order of freedom, like the wealth and the progress it makes possible, is an extraordinary gift from above. On this Thanksgiving Day and every day, may we be grateful.

The reality is that neither liberals nor conservatives believe in pure capitalism. A pure laissez-faire capitalist society does not exist today, has never existed, and probably never will.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

We still hear the whines and fears of liberals who believe that an entire nation full of people working mostly for their own good, can never coalesce to form a nation where the good of all is overall increased steadily, day after day, year after year.

Available evidence indicates otherwise. 200 years' worth.

A timely reprint, slightly updated.

----------------------------------

Jeff Jacoby
Giving thanks for Capitalism

by Jeff Jacoby
Nov. 27, 2003

Today, in millions of homes across the nation, God will be thanked for many gifts — for the feast on the table and the company of loved ones, for health and good fortune in the year gone by, for peace at home in a time of war, for the incalculable privilege of having been born — or having become — American.

But it probably won't occur to too many of us to give thanks for the fact that the local supermarket had plenty of turkey for sale this week. Even the devout aren't likely to thank God for airline schedules that made it possible for some of those loved ones to fly home for Thanksgiving. Or for the arrival of "Twilight Saga, Part 2" at the local movie theater in time for the holiday weekend. Or for that great cranberry-apple pie recipe in the food section of the newspaper.

Those things we take more or less for granted. It hardly takes a miracle to explain why grocery stores stock up on turkey before Thanksgiving, or why Hollywood releases big movies in time for big holidays. That's what they do. Where is God in that?

And yet, isn't there something wondrous — something almost inexplicable — in the way your Thanksgiving weekend is made possible by the skill and labor of vast numbers of total strangers?

To bring that turkey to the dining room table, for example, required the efforts of thousands of people — the poultry farmers who raised the birds, of course, but also the feed distributors who supplied their nourishment and the truckers who brought it to the farm, not to mention the architect who designed the hatchery, the workmen who built it, and the technicians who keep it running. The bird had to be slaughtered and defeathered and inspected and transported and unloaded and wrapped and priced and displayed. The people who accomplished those tasks were supported in turn by armies of other people accomplishing other tasks — from refining the gasoline that fueled the trucks to manufacturing the plastic in which the meat was wrapped.

The activities of countless far-flung men and women over the course of many months had to be intricately choreographed and precisely timed, so that when you showed up to buy a fresh Thanksgiving turkey, there would be one — or more likely, a couple dozen — waiting. The level of coordination required to pull it off is mind-boggling. But what is even more mind-boggling is this: No one coordinated it.

No turkey czar sat in a command post somewhere, consulting a master plan. No one rode herd on all those people, forcing them to cooperate for your benefit. And yet they did cooperate. When you arrived at the supermarket, your turkey was there. You didn't have to do anything but show up to buy it. If that isn't a miracle, what should we call it?

Adam Smith called it "the invisible hand" — the mysterious power that leads innumerable people, each working for his own gain, to promote ends that benefit many. Out of the seeming chaos of millions of uncoordinated private transactions emerges the spontaneous order of the market. Free human beings freely interact, and the result is an array of goods and services more immense than the human mind can comprehend. No dictator, no bureaucracy, no supercomputer plans it in advance. Indeed, the more an economy is planned, the more it is plagued by shortages, dislocation, and failure.

It is commonplace to speak of seeing God's signature in the intricacy of a spider's web or the animation of a beehive. But they pale in comparison to the kaleidoscopic energy and productivity of the free market. If it is a blessing from Heaven when seeds are transformed into grain, how much more of a blessing is it when our private, voluntary exchanges are transformed — without our ever intending it — into prosperity, innovation, and growth?

The social order of freedom, like the wealth and the progress it makes possible, is an extraordinary gift from above. On this Thanksgiving Day and every day, may we be grateful.

The reality is that neither liberals nor conservatives believe in pure capitalism. A pure laissez-faire capitalist society does not exist today, has never existed, and probably never will.

It's impossible. Capitalism doesn't work in a vacuum, which is why such a thing isn't possible. An amoral system without controls would eat itself in no time, like pure Democracy.

 

[Little-Acorn]

The reality is that neither liberals nor conservatives believe in pure capitalism. A pure laissez-faire capitalist society does not exist today, has never existed, and probably never will.

Which has nothing to do, of course, with whether it will work.

Back to the subject:
Liberals desperate to discredit the fact that capitalist economies deliver more prosperity and safety than any other kind, will occasionally throw up a fake argument pretending to "refute" an assertion no one has made, such as "capitalism with zero govt involvement will never work".

Obviously government has a role to play in a good capitalist economy: Policing fraud, coercion, kneecapping etc., as well as adjudicating disputes between parties. If our government would devote one-tenth the resources to that, as they presently do to coerce citizens, commit its own fraud, and trying to control the people, our country would be both more prosperous and safer (safer from both normal criminals, and from overly intrusive government).

Liberals, of course, work hard to go the other way: Expensing government even more, spreading its intrusion into even more of the people's affairs where it is neither needed nor constitutional.

The election of a few weeks ago will provide a first step toward tearing down the huge, intrusive edifice that is our present government. Whether Republicans grab it and run with it, or simply keep trying to be liberal-lites (as the did after the 1994 election), remains to be seen.

The people spoke clearly in that election: They don't want the huge, intrusive government the Democrats have been steadily imposing.

Will the Republicans listen? Or just try to "get along" again?

 

[dblack]

Another incoherent one-line post with no discernible connection to the thread.

(yawn)

Capitalism is not for the pitchfolks, which is why you fail to understand it.

Actually, capitalism is for everyone. It's the one system that abhors aristocracy and promises opportunity and the chance for great wealth and success for those willing to work, to risk, and to dream. It's clearly YOU who doesn't understand its nature.

I understand its nature perfectly, which is why I'm a capitalist and know it must be regulated, among other things.

It's the level of regulation you support that means you aren't one.

You are incorrect, as usual. Like any child, capitalism needs a parent.

That pretty much nails statists, forever wanting to submit to government as children. PaintTheCeiling.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

Capitalism is not for the pitchfolks, which is why you fail to understand it.

Actually, capitalism is for everyone. It's the one system that abhors aristocracy and promises opportunity and the chance for great wealth and success for those willing to work, to risk, and to dream. It's clearly YOU who doesn't understand its nature.

I understand its nature perfectly, which is why I'm a capitalist and know it must be regulated, among other things.

It's the level of regulation you support that means you aren't one.

You are incorrect, as usual. Like any child, capitalism needs a parent.

That pretty much nails statists, forever wanting to submit to government as children. PaintTheCeiling.

Government is a tool, and in this case a compromise. Children, meaning you, don't know how to use tools or compromise. That's why you reject the obvious, obvious to adults that is...

 

[dblack]

How unsurprising that PMH doesn't grok Capitalism.

That's because I understand it, both the good and the bad. I am a Capitalist, among other things.

You're not a capitalist, but you are a liar and an overall pathetic specimen of a human being.

Oh but I am a Capitalist ....

Uh-huh. Kinda like Jakey is a "Republican". Suck a tailpipe, dinkwad.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

How unsurprising that PMH doesn't grok Capitalism.

That's because I understand it, both the good and the bad. I am a Capitalist, among other things.

You're not a capitalist, but you are a liar and an overall pathetic specimen of a human being.

Oh but I am a Capitalist ....

Uh-huh. Kinda like Jakey is a "Republican". Suck a tailpipe, dinkwad.

Hey asswipre, suck yourself, that's what dogs do.

 

[Little-Acorn]

Uh-huh. Kinda like Jakey is a "Republican". Suck a tailpipe, dinkwad.

Please don't feed the trolls.

 

[Conservative65]

Actually, capitalism is for everyone. It's the one system that abhors aristocracy and promises opportunity and the chance for great wealth and success for those willing to work, to risk, and to dream. It's clearly YOU who doesn't understand its nature.

I understand its nature perfectly, which is why I'm a capitalist and know it must be regulated, among other things.

It's the level of regulation you support that means you aren't one.

You are incorrect, as usual. Like any child, capitalism needs a parent.

That pretty much nails statists, forever wanting to submit to government as children. PaintTheCeiling.

Government is a tool, and in this case a compromise. Children, meaning you, don't know how to use tools or compromise. That's why you reject the obvious, obvious to adults that is...

You are the tool. I don't compromise principles. That you do shows you have none.

 

[Flopper]

The reality is that neither liberals nor conservatives believe in pure capitalism. A pure laissez-faire capitalist society does not exist today, has never existed, and probably never will.

Which has nothing to do, of course, with whether it will work.

Back to the subject:
Liberals desperate to discredit the fact that capitalist economies deliver more prosperity and safety than any other kind, will occasionally throw up a fake argument pretending to "refute" an assertion no one has made, such as "capitalism with zero govt involvement will never work".

Obviously government has a role to play in a good capitalist economy: Policing fraud, coercion, kneecapping etc., as well as adjudicating disputes between parties. If our government would devote one-tenth the resources to that, as they presently do to coerce citizens, commit its own fraud, and trying to control the people, our country would be both more prosperous and safer (safer from both normal criminals, and from overly intrusive government).

Liberals, of course, work hard to go the other way: Expensing government even more, spreading its intrusion into even more of the people's affairs where it is neither needed nor constitutional.

The election of a few weeks ago will provide a first step toward tearing down the huge, intrusive edifice that is our present government. Whether Republicans grab it and run with it, or simply keep trying to be liberal-lites (as the did after the 1994 election), remains to be seen.

The people spoke clearly in that election: They don't want the huge, intrusive government the Democrats have been steadily imposing.

Will the Republicans listen? Or just try to "get along" again?

Your statement that "capitalist economies deliver more prosperity and safety than any other kind" is pretty obvious since out of 196 nations on earth there exist only a handful of real socialist states, China, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, and a half dozen developing nations. With the exception of North Korea and Cuba, all these nations have rapidly developing free markets. Regulated capitalism has become the economic standard of the world.

 

[Toro]

Thank you capitalism for allowing all of us to not be dirt poor, living hand-to-mouth in a subsistence agriculture economy.

 

[konradv]

Capitalism does steer itself. I believe Adam Smith referred to it as "the invisible hand". Conversely, the problem with a centralized system like Communism was always that attempts to "manage" an economy from the top by decree always failed because there was no way to anticipate what an economy would do.

You're a fool for believing in the invisible hand. It's a myth those who really control the economy are only too happy to have you believe, so you'll fight the battle against regulation for them.

I take it you never got around to taking economics in college, Konradv?

I have. That's where you should have found out what I'm talking about. People who like to talk about the "invisible hand" are really talking about the "hidden hand" of people who would rig the system for their own benefit

 

[PaintMyHouse]

I understand its nature perfectly, which is why I'm a capitalist and know it must be regulated, among other things.

It's the level of regulation you support that means you aren't one.

You are incorrect, as usual. Like any child, capitalism needs a parent.

That pretty much nails statists, forever wanting to submit to government as children. PaintTheCeiling.

Government is a tool, and in this case a compromise. Children, meaning you, don't know how to use tools or compromise. That's why you reject the obvious, obvious to adults that is...

You are the tool. I don't compromise principles. That you do shows you have none.

Really? Does your small government also include banning abortion and gay marriage? I bet that it does.

Politics is the art of compromise, and healthy capitalism both good government and good regulation. Learn it.

 

[kaz]

A great little engine but you don't yet the engine steer the car.

You making your own decisions is no way to steer your car, government using force to make your decisions for you is. Keep posting, Junior, that's the only way to get through to people who don't get it what idiocy liberalism is.

 

[kaz]

It's the level of regulation you support that means you aren't one.

You are incorrect, as usual. Like any child, capitalism needs a parent.

That pretty much nails statists, forever wanting to submit to government as children. PaintTheCeiling.

Government is a tool, and in this case a compromise. Children, meaning you, don't know how to use tools or compromise. That's why you reject the obvious, obvious to adults that is...

You are the tool. I don't compromise principles. That you do shows you have none.

Really? Does your small government also include banning abortion and gay marriage? I bet that it does.

Politics is the art of compromise, and healthy capitalism both good government and good regulation. Learn it.

Liar, you don't advocate liberals "compromise," only Republicans. Your only question is how much will they give you by choice and how much do you take by force.

 

[kaz]

I take it you never got around to taking economics in college, Konradv?

I have. That's where you should have found out what I'm talking about. People who like to talk about the "invisible hand" are really talking about the "hidden hand" of people who would rig the system for their own benefit

Like politicians?

 

[bripat9643]

Another incoherent one-line post with no discernible connection to the thread.

(yawn)

Capitalism is not for the pitchfolks, which is why you fail to understand it.

Actually, capitalism is for everyone. It's the one system that abhors aristocracy and promises opportunity and the chance for great wealth and success for those willing to work, to risk, and to dream. It's clearly YOU who doesn't understand its nature.

I understand its nature perfectly, which is why I'm a capitalist and know it must be regulated, among other things.

It's the level of regulation you support that means you aren't one.

You are incorrect, as usual. Like any child, capitalism needs a parent.

He's absolutely correct, and capitalism is not a child. You certainly aren't qualified to be the parent. The problem with government regulation is that the cure is worse than the disease.