A Response

This is response to a post by Kevin over on Smallest Minority. The quotes are from his post or from the comments after the post.

Thanks for bringing this debate out front. I'd like to start my response with a fundamental error in judgement of myself that I think all of you have made. I guess it's understandable considering that any slight wavering away from canon here means socialism-failure-death-destruction.

Fundamentally, I have no problem with capitalism. I have no problem with CEOs making more money than their employees. Back in the day of say...George Romney (father of Mitt)...CEO salaries were just fine. Mr. Romney drew a salary of 250K at American Motors. Adjusted for inflation today, that is a couple of million. Still OK in my mind. Now, we have CEOs making much more than that and, in many cases, getting fired and leaving with hundreds of millions of dollars. Quite simply, this is sadly unfair.

What I would like to see in our culture is more companies like this one:

http://www.hermanmiller.com/

This would be an example of participative management. All of the employees feel invested in the company, regardless of their salaries, and thus, are intrinsically motivated. Their company is a huge success because of, not in spite of, collectivism. And that's the real problem here. We don't have enough people in this country that are intrinsically motivated. They are extrinsically motivated and, as a result, our culture produces people lacking in inspiration and motivation.

Your example from comments, Kevin, is appropriate here. If you divided up the pot amongst rich people and poor people, you say the poor would still be poor and the rich would still be rich. This shows a fundamental, almost Galton-esque attitude towards hereditary genius. I disagree. I think there are some rich people who haven't a clue how to run a business and some poor people who would shine at it. I do agree, though, that for able bodied individuals there should never be any sort of entitlement.

"for taking the time to explain things to the clueless among us. I just rack the shotgun."

And you wonder why gun rights folks get a bad name. Mainly this quote is important because it implies that I am clueless or lacking in intelligence. I'm not. Intelligence is the capacity for goal-directed and adaptive behavior. It involves the abilities to profit from experience, solve problems, and reason effectively. I would also add that serious individual reflection plays a large role in intelligence. With the possible exception of Bilgemen, for everyone on this blog, it seems (correct me, please, if I am wrong), that the experience is this:

1. Everyone is afforded equal chance in this country. (I could barely write this sentence without laughing btw)

2. Those that don't make it are all lazy and want to thieve from my wallet.

3. All rich people made their money honestly and through hard work and should be given the worship and adoration they deserve. (Also having trouble not laughing)

4. Anyone critical of rich people are leftists filled with envy who would all seize control and throw our country into a boiling pit of sewage.

My experience has been, with the parents of school children that I see every day, that our society is built for division. The bottom line is the poor people don't have any ladders to climb out. They don't have a choice, Kevin. They really don't. I see it. You don't. Until you move beyond the limited, albeit valid, experience you have had until now (i.e. the lazy beer drinkers with the 52 inch plasma TV), you will never understand this inequality and how bad it has become.

To be clear, BOTH political parties are to blame for this. The "rich fucking republicans" maintain control of their money with their armies of accountants and lawyers. So much for individual effort and responsibilities, eh? Many liberals and Dems want people to stay on the government tit, ensuring continued support for their machine. In the end, everyone gets what they want: no ladders out. That's why I support someone like Barack Obama. This is what he wants to do: destroy the current system and build ladders. I agree, though, he needs to get to the specifics.

There are always going to be people that think that the distribution of wealth is unfair. I agree with you to a certain extent on this point. But my example of Joe Smith is still valid. Joe gets a right to free legal defense, not as good as rich person might get, but he still gets one. So why not a financial defense? A defense from all of the companies who everyday are trying to increase their profits and doing so by fucking over Joe.

"That freedom, that immense human idea, is what has made America what it is. It is responsible for the vast wealth we have made here. It has drawn the best minds from every culture around the world, fired their imaginations, and it has made people rich."

That may have been true at one time. That America is gone. It has been replaced by Blackwater and Haliburton. I wonder what Orwell would think of these companies. What do you think he would think, hmm? Anyway, I wish that America would come back because I miss it. Our society is becoming more oligarchic every day. We are not good capitalists anymore. We are bad ones. Don't take that to mean that I want to be good socialists or communists. We have let the corporations of our country whir out of control and have allowed the people that run them to manage our lives by essentially having company reps installed in our government. These are the people that control the media, Kevin, not the fantasy of the "liberal elite."

"An inalienable right to "pursue happiness" means freedom."

More and more each day, this right is being taken away. The fundamental difference between you and I, Kevin, is who each of us thinks is responsible.