This is my attempt to explain the nature of money, Capitalism (free exchange), and their only alternatives.
The quote at the end is from a speech in Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand (recommended). I strongly recommend reading the full speech here:
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=1826
I also recommend these links:
http://bastiat.org/ (particularly The Law)
http://www.capitalism.org/faq
Duration : 0:2:16
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Why is everyone …
Why is everyone here bashing greed? What’s wrong with wanting something, and being completely willing to get it? I’m with Gordon Gekko – Greed…is good.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Wonderful Video. …
Wonderful Video. Truly inspiring. Laissez Faire has not yet died in the hearts and minds of everyone.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
The Federal Reserve …
The Federal Reserve may be “Independent” of the federal government, however, every position is filled with a government appointment. For example, Ben Burnanke was appointed by the Federal Government.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
what’s dangerous …
what’s dangerous and funny at the same time is american private enterprise owns our government. it’s getting hard to tell the two apart.
the nra, ama, insurance, wall street, oil, drugs, etc. capitalism has no rules… other than ones they impose. fill the government with business people and what do you get?
boom then bust, boom then bust, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
according to daddy war bucks, rules are socialism and that’s evil to profit and compensation.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Government didn’t …
Government didn’t force business to be greedy. In fact, we’re lucky here in the US that the gov. has always been smaller than business. I think it was the other way around. Big business caused government to be corrupt most of the time. Thomas Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, the founding fathers didn’t encourage private greed. Jefferson warned of an “aristocracy of manufacturers” who would enjoy privileges and $ far beyond the scope of regular citizens. He believed in the farmers (yeoman) democracy
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
well no, i didn’t …
well no, i didn’t know the federal reserve was a private enterprise.
you know… the reserve is the bedrock culprit for libertarians concerning our current financial crisis. that the gov’t forced private enterprise to become greedy rotten crooks. which ultimately brought capitalism to it’s knees.
so if what your saying is true, their whole argument is based in fallacy.
yeah i’ve never liked, “freedom isn’t free”, it’s a vague cliche. i like to say “freedom” is about $3 a gallon.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Did you know that …
Did you know that the Federal Reserve is a private company? It’s not federally owned.
Business elites pay the majority of any politicians campaign funding. Normal folk are too in debt to pick candidates. The politicians are just a front. They give you the illusion of control and democracy. They’re so in the pockets of big business it’s not even funny. Hell, most of them had, and will have, careers in big business when they’re not in office. Same country clubs, yachts, dinner parties, operas etc
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
“Natural …
“Natural consequences”. Sounds like positivism to me. Wouldn’t you say that politicians would pay “natural consequences” if they were to be crooked? I mean, people wouldn’t re-elect them. They’re accountable at the ballot box, while business is accountable in the marketplace. That’s why we need an honest media to expose them when they do get corrupt (business and politicians). It’s too bad that business elites own all the media and they bought out our politicians long ago. They’re all pals.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
That quote is from …
That quote is from 1984. The “Ministry of Truth” put it everywhere in Orwell’s story. It sounds frighteningly like “freedom isn’t free”. The great part about corporate propaganda is that it’s profitable. And people even create it themselves. You believe it too. At least I think you fall for that stuff. Universalizing the values of the rich and powerful. Making their interests look like they are for the good of society, when in fact, their interests are against the interests of most citizens.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
i agree, 500 isn’t …
i agree, 500 isn’t enough. especially when you have to repeat things. i’ll say it a 3rd time, the fundamental “assertion” by you, that “free trade” doesn’t affect anyone but the people involved in the trade, is pure capitalist bunk. every act by anyone makes an impact on someone else’s life. cutting a tree, dumping oil in a sewer, buying a credit card, etc. that’s what capitalists just don’t get. you can’t have unabated capitalism with 6 billion people, it’s impractical and insane.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
What direct quotes …
What direct quotes from me? By assertions, I’m referring to your assertion that the bailout is somehow preventing the crisis from becoming worse.
The purpose of my video was not to outline any economic facts, but rather to outline the moral nature of freedom versus coercion in the sphere of economics.
500 characters is far too few to impart an economic education. For that, google Lew Rockwell and Ludvig von Mises.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
what do you mean my …
what do you mean my “assertions”? i’m discussing direct quotes from you. you know, the video. btw, you really don’t address any economic facts either, so what are you talking about? this video’s like a 40’s propaganda film for WWII.
you people need some more material.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
You don’t have to …
You don’t have to research yourself, that’s where consumer advocacy firms come in. For example, “Good Housekeeping” used to serve this purpose before FDR decided we needed federal agencies to do it for us through threat of violence instead of through persuasion.
The US went from creditor to debtor largely because of the Fed’s monetary policy. I encourage you to do some reading over at mises (dot) org and lewrockwell (dot) com (an anarchist site, no less) to get the details of how this works.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Your assertions are …
Your assertions are not based on any sort of economic facts and reflect a complete lack of understanding of how economics work. I’m not your economics teacher so I won’t go into it in detail, but briefly, firms that are allowed to fail will not drag the entire economy down, but instead will lead to rebirth in the economy. What allows them to drag it all down is to keep them afloat artificially.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
I put it in quotes …
I put it in quotes because it’s a quote from the book. You did convey it, however, by insisting that free exchange (freedom) creates slavery.
Slavery was not an invention of Capitalism. Slavery had existed since the dawn of Man. Indeed, it was the more Capitalist countries (though none of the purely so) that eradicated slavery first.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
why did you put ” …
why did you put “freedom is slavery” in quotes? i certainly didn’t say that, or even convey it. you completely miss the point. slavery was a product of pure capitalism.
you say in the vid, “trade that each of us finds beneficial, trade that is the concern ONLY of those involved in the trade”. but this is almost NEVER true. every trade has consequences to everything around them. directly or indirectly. it was government “intervention”, that put an end to slavery. not free trade!
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
yep, they bring …
yep, they bring back ayn rand like some libertarian prophet. she had a couple interesting views, but just like libertarian ideology, it’s radically impractical for a democratic government.
meanwhile exxon-mobile made more money than any company ever in the entire existence of man. their products pollute the land, air, and water, and on top of that they’re spending millions to block, delay, and confuse all attempts to save the planet. they’ll sacrifice everything to stay rich.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
you libertarians …
you libertarians can’t see the forest for the trees. stop blaming the government for corporate melt downs. it’s top heavy greed. even alan greenspan has admitted “supply and demand” is not enough to fix everything, let alone anything. corporations are too big to fail! you want them to take down the whole economy with them? because that’s what will happen. they have trillions of dollars in capitalist ventures that will sink the whole boat. it’s what the bailout is preventing!!!
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
If some jerk off …
If some jerk off wants to sell me something that’s poisonous and I don’t know it’s poisonous, I’m not going to wait for the “free-market” to punish that company. In fact, I want to be protected. I want clean streams and air. I want good products that aren’t falsely advertised.
I don’t have time to research every product I buy. Nor does anyone else really. Do you know what Consumer Capitalism is? Can you explain how the US went from the largest CREDITOR nation to the largest DEBTOR NATION?
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
i.e. If you spend …
i.e. If you spend more money then you have, you go broke, so you learn to economize before you do, or someone who knows better takes the place of your business. But when you government intervenes, they can prop up a firm that is making foolish decisions, thereby giving them no reason to correct their mistakes, leading to the destruction of capital, which eventually leads to economic ruin for everyone. As I said, this whole thing was predicted by free-market economists, not caused by them.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
It’s not that …
It’s not that businesses are always rational, it’s that when they ARE irrational, they pay the natural consequences. Only government can temporarily suspend reality by shielding businesses from the consequences of their bad decisions, thereby perpetuating the irrationality. But that suspension is only temporary, and the crash will be all the worse in the end. A free market naturally disciplines the irresponsible.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Sure, big …
Sure, big businessmen are always rational. And government is always irrational. Those are some fairly huge generalizations my friend. And they are easily disproven. Then again, the religion of “moneytheism” will blind even the best and the brightest to how abusive big business has been to the individual liberties of US citizens. How much debt do you have? What kind of interest rates do you pay on that?
“They got ya by the balls”
-George Carlin
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Yeah right, this is …
Yeah right, this is the BS propaganda that’s been around since the 1950s. Most reasonably intelligent people realized that it was bullshit. All LIES. Capitalism demands obedience to those with capital.
That 1950s propaganda crap is resurfacing again. Just so my local factory can be deregulated to pollute my drinking supply. Or the coal burning plant can dump more soot in the air.
All in the name of the almighty buck. It’s like God to these people. Jesus was a capitalist? No he was Socialist.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Deregulation did …
Deregulation did not cause our problems. Our current problems are the predictable (and indeed, libertarians DID predict it) result of our interventionist policies and the Fed’s monetary policy. In other words, the Fed and the government’s policies encouraged mal-investments (and in some cases, DEMANDED them). The current bailouts are just more of the same, making businesses exempt from the consequences of their bad decisions. Get the government out and the problem would have fixed itself.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 am
Listen to yourself. …
Listen to yourself. You sound like a page from 1984. “Freedom is slavery,” and all.