Give the people what they want | Eastern North Carolina Now

    There is a severe lack of understanding of our free enterprise system and how it works. This is no surprise, of course, because our schools do not teach people this information. Even as an economics major, the large majority of what I have learned has come from outside of school. It is fairly obvious that our current political and economic climate is a direct result of this lack of understanding. The lives of billions of people depend on our economic system to work properly. Yet, there are so many people, who though they could not live without this system, speak as if they would like to see it changed or destroyed.

    One of the most prevalent misconceptions about our economic system is that there is a fixed pie and that one person can only get rich at the expense of another. This could not be farther from the truth. In a free enterprise system a person can only become rich by creating value or improving the lives of others. A person can only become rich by giving people what they want. In the words of the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, “The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.”

    All forms of government that stray from free-market capitalism are based on the idea that everything will be horrible if people are free to pursue ideas and things that they are passionate about. This is a total fallacy, because if it were true America would have been doomed from its inception. We never would have become the wealthiest, most prosperous nation in the world if freedom and limited government was a less effective and less efficient way of organizing a people. All the proof we really need is right in our own history. Our history which is unfortunately also becoming distorted and largely misunderstood, but I will save that for another article.

    Every form of government prior to the one formed by a group of over-taxed British colonies was some form of dictatorship with absolute, or nearly absolute, power. Government, religion and money are all technologies, and so is anything else that man has invented through the use of our incredibly creative minds. For a country to be formed with a government whose powers were limited by a constitution and the will of its people was an incredible leap in the technology of government. It was no less of a technological leap, and no less important to the existence of civilization than the creation of religion. Religion, which I strongly believe is not at odds with science, but rather was the birth of science and the search for answers to why we are here, is the technology that allowed people to manage fear along with other emotions and drives that had been limiting our abilities to create the wonderful things that we seem so perfectly designed to create. Truly civilized people have only existed for a few brief moments in human history. Yet, civilization is taken almost completely for granted. Both governments and religion have been and still are used for power and control, but it is these technologies that have created incentive for humans to learn and develop self control. Without them there would be no civilized world. There is no doubt that people are in need of an updated answer to religion and government, an answer that will eliminate many of the contradictions and double standards that exist. But to attack and destroy religion and grant new powers to an ever growing central government would be the undoing of thousands of years of human advancement.

    People who believe in socialism, communism, or any other form of big government see the world as a horribly evil place full of people who are nothing more than dangerous animals that must be controlled. There is a reason that these beliefs are so prevalent and most likely always will be. The belief that the world is a terrible place is a much easier belief to hold in the short term. It is not easier because the world is actually terrible, or because it makes a person’s life more enjoyable, but it is an easier belief to hold because it removes the person from all responsibility. If nearly everyone and everything around you is evil then none of the bad things that happen to you could possibly be your fault. If nothing is your fault then there is nothing new that you must learn about yourself, there is no need to better yourself, or to work to behave in a different way. A person with these beliefs is always the victim. I’m sure that there is no need to explain the negative affects of the victim mentality—it can be seen all around us and in every one of us. It is this mentality that blinds people to their own greed, jealousy and arrogance. But to put your faith in big government is to assume that the people in control will somehow be less dangerous, even when armed with all the power to govern everyone else. Let’s not forget that power corrupts, so even when we find people with good intentions they are no less susceptible to the drives and desires that plague us all.

    The free market is made up of everyone; we all make up the private sector. There is no difference between you and me, corporation owners, investors and CEO’s. There are people of all different walks of life who earn vastly different amounts of money in every area. There are wealthy CEOs and not-so-wealthy CEOs. There are successful investors and not-so-successful investors. In fact, whether we choose to accept it or not, we are all investors. We may be investing money or investing our time and effort, but we are all investing in something.

    Our system is built on the idea of mutual benefit. Corporations do their best to find ways to make your life easier so that you will continue to purchase their products, which allows them to continue searching for new ways to make your life easier. The success of any business is simply a measure of how well they are able to give people what they want. In this system you get to vote with your money for the success of the products and services that you like and the businesses that offer them. Not only are you constantly voting for what you like by buying things that benefit you, but the amount you get to vote is in direct relation to how well you are able to give others what they want. It is, without a doubt, the most virtuous system ever created.

    Money is not wealth; it is a symbol of the wealth you help create in this world. Need proof that money is not wealth? A study was done of fifteen lottery winners who won more than $10 million each; one person won as much as $236 million. All 15 of these people in less than five years were in the same or worse financial situation than they were before they won the money. If I remember correctly, the biggest winner was millions in debt less than two years after winning the money and described the whole ordeal as a horrible thing that he wished had never happened. Money is not wealth; wealth is something that is built through knowledge and efficiently directed effort. Real wealth is in all of the things that we do and that we create to help people improve their lives and the lives of those around them.

    Corporations and businesses are simply groups of people organized in an extraordinarily efficient manner and combined with the right technologies to produce something that people value. When you work and earn money you are creating value in the lives of others. We become wealthy in direct relation to the value we create. It should be your goal to spend your money and time on the things you value most. Of course we can create value in people’s lives with no exchange of money, so you don’t have to be rich to be truly wealthy. Napoleon Hill spent a good portion of his life studying what makes people successful, and here is his list of the twelve things that constitute real riches.

    A Positive Mental Attitude (NOTE: Positive attitude comes first), Sound Physical Health, Harmony in Human Relations, Freedom from Fear, Hope of Future Achievement, Capacity for Applied Faith, Willingness to Share Ones Blessings with Others, To Be Engaged in Labor of Love, Open Mind to All Subjects and All People, Complete Self Discipline, Wisdom to Understand People, Financial Security (NOTE: Money comes last)

    We all have different positions in one large natural system that is constrained by its environment just like all other parts of life. We are the forward-most tip of evolution, and we should all learn to behave as such. When markets are free to work we are in a natural state of forward progress. We have evolved the ability to think and reason, and we all have a great ability to act on these thoughts. If these abilities were a result of a natural process of evolution, then what could possibly be unnatural about allowing people to use the abilities that we have been blessed with by both God and nature? The most efficient way of using our natural abilities is not to give some small group of people control over “progress” and require everyone to seek approval for their ideas.

    It is where the power lies that matters, and there is only one system that leaves all power in the hands of the people. All forms of big government focus on redistribution of wealth. What they do not realize is that our system is already the most efficient way of sharing wealth. We cannot give people happiness, health, love, hope, faith, knowledge, discipline, or wisdom. All of the things that make people truly fulfilled and wealthy can only be found, they cannot be taken away from some to give to others. Wealth is not something that can ever be evenly distributed among a people, and the systems that are built on the idea that it can are fueled by greed, jealousy and arrogance. Redistribution of money only destroys the value of money. It destroys money!

    It is only a result of the right combination of faith and religious freedom, limited government and a stable monetary system that have freed most of the world from the chains of bondage. These technologies are three of the oldest and most important building blocks of society. To destroy any one of them in an attempt to create a better life for people is like trying to stop the production of electricity to improve our ability to produce advanced consumer electronics. Let’s stop trying to move backwards.
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( June 15th, 2010 @ 3:03 pm )
 
Jeffrey, BRILLIANT ARTICLE! Amen Bubba. Your first paragraph is dead on (as well as every paragraph after that). Those people who criticize the system are the very ones who benefit indirectly from it. It's a symbiotic relationship. Stifle creativity and risk-taking, and you won't see much charity.



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