If you need anything other than the clothes you wear in order to do the work needed to get a paycheck, you are dependent on “the rich” to provide the tools and equipment to get your work done.
That is the point in a 1-25-13 letter to the editor at the Wall Street Journal from Mr. Fred Anderson of Pittsburgh.
He says: (more…)
That would be capitalism.
I, for one, am thrilled to not live as my great-great-grandparents did. I’m not into subsistence agriculture, loosing half my children in their infancy, or facing a life expectancy of 30 years.
John Mackey has expanded that idea in his book, Conscious Capitalism.
Carpe Diem has a quote from the author in their post, Quotation of the day: Capitalism has lifted humanity out of the dirt and is greatest value creator in history of the world (more…)
Here’s the arrangement the Pilgrims used when they first landed:
“Although they planted household gardens almost from the start, they collectivized initial field and livestock operations. The settlers had some agricultural successes, but they were unable to grow corn in their common field. Within six months of reaching Plymouth, almost one-half of the population had perished from disease.
That’s a quote from Professor Robert Ellickson in Prof. Don Boudreaux’s article The Pilgrims’ economic progress.
A collectivized farming system didn’t work too well. Starvation was the result.
So, they changed their plans:
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Likewise for everything you ever use – millions of people working together created it not knowing what they were actually working on. Why?
“Voluntary spontaneous cooperation”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYO3tOqDISE&feature=player_embedded]
From the waitress serving lunch for the lumberjacks cutting down a cedar tree, to the miners pulling ore out of the ground, to the engine room crew on a freighter bringing the ore to the U.S. to the engineer driving the train bringing the pencil to the regional distribution center to the forklift operator loading the truck that carries stuff to restock your neighborhood store, millions of people worked together to create the pencil you will hold in your hand during tomorrow’s staff meeting.
Millions of people work together to build that smartphone you are using. No one person has the know-how to build it. Thousands of inventions were needed before making the first one.
“I, Smartphone”, from the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, is a superb visual explaining the long supply chain and incredible range of skills needed to get that phone into your hands.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Ze_wpS_o0&feature=player_embedded#t=17s]
The link if needed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Ze_wpS_o0&feature=player_embedded#t=17s
This is an update of the classic “I, Pencil”, which I mentioned here.
No one person has the skills
No one person on the planet has all the knowledge or skills necessary to make one pencil. It takes multiple millions of people contributing their specialized skills just to make one.
That story is told in “I, Pencil: My Family Tree as told to Leonard E. Read”, which you can find here.
I’ve long been aware of that article, but am embarrassed to admit I’ve never read it before today.
It is brilliant.
Here’s the core idea:
Keynes and Hayek rap again. As news reports indicate the Fed plans a half trillion dollar quantitative easing, it is a good time to revisit the Hayek and Keynes debate. If you would like a rap explanation, check this out: “Fear the Boom and Bust”. Yes, Hayek presented in rap. Econstories.tv Read more…