About
Content
Store
Forum

Rebirth of Reason
War
People
Archives
Objectivism

Post to this threadMark all messages in this thread as readMark all messages in this thread as unread


Post 0

Friday, October 18, 2013 - 8:06amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
The comments to the YouTube video are insightful.

The video begs more questions than I can address at the moment.

I am curious about how much of the "wealth" is locked in "mad money" liquid cash versus "productive assets" such as stocks, etc.

People who talk about redistributing wealth act as if it is all liquid and that the people receiving it will make higher and better use of it that its current possessors.

I see no way that higher taxes on the rich will fix the underlying causes of the current national economic problems, namely fiat money and entitlement systems.

Thanks for sharing.

(Edited by Luke Setzer on 10/18, 8:53am)


Post 1

Friday, October 18, 2013 - 4:13pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
You can always start your own thread and title it "Vomit File," which is hilarious by the way! :)

Sanction: 11, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 11, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 11, No Sanction: 0
Post 2

Friday, October 18, 2013 - 4:50pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
I just tired watching the video and had to stop after the opening statement. His initial premise is hopelessly flawed from the start.As if wealth is something that's supposed to be "distributed," but not created and earned. My paycheck is "earned" by me, not "distributed" by my employer.


Almost half of my wage is "confiscated" for "distribution" by the government. This always leads to graft and corruption, which are "inefficiencies" in the economy.
More "confiscation" for more "distribution" only leads to more "inefficiencies" which destroys wealth creation by destroying incentives to create and work.


Example: 53% of children in this nation are enrolled in food assistance programs, which are forms of government "distribution." Why aren't parents keeping their own kids fed instead of relying on government "distribution" to do it?


1) Confiscation of wealth by the government has reduced the health of the economy, leading to job loss and poverty.

2) Some people like looking for an easy way to live, even if that means surviving by means purchased with stolen money by government.

Government involvement in the economy, apart from protecting individual rights, erodes the human condition by eroding man's will, thus impoverishing and reducing man's soul to the level of a neglected pet.









Sanction: 18, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 18, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 18, No Sanction: 0
Post 3

Friday, October 18, 2013 - 7:49pmSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
The main error, even bigger than the fallacy of treating quintiles as being comprised of the same people over time, is the inability or unwillingness to visualize what capitalism looks like.* This error leads to a second error as a corollary: the assumption of a static size for the "divided pie." What statism/collectivism does to societies is indeed very harmful, but the reason it continues to exist is that apologists for statism have always successfully misled the public into thinking that it is freedom/capitalism (not statism!) that caused the problems.

This guy makes the same mistake. He makes a big stink about how bad it has gotten since 1976 (i.e., in the last 37 years). It's even worse if you look at the last 5 years from today. Now, the burning question is:

Has capitalism or socialism increased? Which one? Which one has been increasing along with the acknowledged "inequality?" Capitalism or socialism?

As I state here, you can tell if it is capitalism or socialism that is increasing in a given country (you don't have to "guess") -- by looking up numbers such as (1) total tax, (2) total inflation, (3) public sector debt in relation to private sector (non-government) GDP, (4) public spending in relation to private sector (non-government) GDP, and (5) total number of pages of regulation (e.g., pages in the Federal Register, etc.). Those 5 numbers tell you whether you are practicing more capitalism, or whether you are practicing more socialism.

What has happened to those 5 numbers since 1976? For an even better picture of reality, what has happened to those 5 numbers since 1964? Capitalism is not "the problem."

Ed

*Under capitalism, the pie grows every year (double-digit growth) and the real wages of average workers increase over time. Under socialism, neither of these things are the case.


Post to this thread


User ID Password or create a free account.