(April 12, 2011 at 4:14 am)theVOID Wrote: "Free marketism" now? That's like the creationists and "Darwinism". I do not "worship" free markets, I believe that Free Markets and the rule of law are the most efficient model both Economically and Morally.
I think I should chime in here and say there are ways in which some of my attitudes as a former-libertarian were very much like a religion.
I believed that tax cuts for the top 1% would create prosperity for everyone. I believed that Reagan was right when he said "government is the problem". I believed regulations could be cut back and the free efficient markets would effectively regulate themselves. I was aware that Ayn Rand wrote terrible fiction with characters that were platforms on which she voiced her ideas but still felt the ideas were sound.
I've gone back and read "Atlas Shrugged" the same way an ex-Christian might read the Bible and wondered how I ever put any stock in any of this crap. Expressed as a religion, Rand was the prophet, government the devil, St. Ronnie was Jesus, market forces the god and prosperity for all the promise of salvation.
I feel like I have a much more sober and balanced view today. Businesses create wealth if properly directed. Their profit maximization model helps to eliminate waste and maximize production, making the most of scarce resources. That's what it does but that's ALL it does. It will not care about the environment. It will not hire more people just because you gave them a tax cut. It will cut corners wherever it can even at human cost. And sometimes corporations can be short sighted, going for quick profits at the expense of the long term.
Government has a role. Businesses create the wealth, government regulation keeps them honest. Neither one is good or evil. There's a balance here.
Society's wealth is not just created by the top 1% but by a strong middle class as well. What makes the 3rd world distinct from more advanced countries is the lack of a middle class.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
