These types of thoughts have been very appealing to me lately, especially in a political sense. Since, I haven't had time to post any of my own attempts at thought-provoking-ness lately, maybe these folks will fill the space better than I would.
"An assumption deeply integral to capitalism...[is that there's] not enough to go around: not enough love, not enough time, not enough appointments at the food-stamps office, not enough food stamps, not enough money, not enough seats on the subway. It's pervasive. We learn mistrust of each other, bone deep: everything is skin off somebody's nose." - Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But...the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'" - Martin Luther King Jr.
"If those who owe us nothing gave us nothing, how poor we would be." - Antonio Porchia
(quotes taken from The Sun - Issue 374, February 2007, pg 48)
3 comments:
The first quotation is exactly wrong in my view if it is a critique of capitalism itself, and not just a criticism of our poor view of the world in a materialistic society. I can see the latter. The first is, in my belief, a common misconception of naive liberals. That is if the person quoted is saying that there is only so much in the pie and those who get rich must take from others and make them poor. Now that I think about it, I don't think that's what she's saying. But if so...I disagree.
Capitalism sees the market as dynamic, not static. It sees the opportunity for everyone to benefit by hard work, not just a few. It sees the wealth of nations not as a fixed amount where some must be exploited to give others ever more and more. It is not a situation where one man must have 99 and then only 1 is left. It is a situation where if a man works hard and is successful, he then employs others who can in turn be successful, therefore growing the net worth of the entire world. It is not necessary to exploit the poor, or anyone in order for people to gain wealth. That is a common misconception propagated by socialist and communists and those who are interested in incrementalism that direction (see the Democratic Party and to a slightly lesser extent, the GOP), using the power of the police state to impose universal health care and other such Utopian mythologies, that end up doing more harm than good, especially to those for whom the benefits were intended.
I sound more fired up about this than I am, by the way.
I would say of capitalism what Churchill said of Democracy: (paraphrasing) that it is the worst system of economics in the world, except for all the others.
The second two quotes were good, I thought.
I just thought someone needed to tell the previous commenter that he is not the only right blogger, and if he is, then he shouldn't judge other bloggers.
That guy seemed very confused.
Also, I thought that was an excellent response to your previous anonymous poster.
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