A Friday Hodgepodge

1. "The Term 'State Capitalism' Wrongly Equates Freedom With Dictatorship," by Sam Weaver (New Ideal):

Although people today mainly associate fascism with racism and nationalism, [Ayn] Rand's point is that there is also a characteristically fascist type of control over the economy. In spite of still calling themselves "communist," the Chinese government exercises this same type of fascist control over many of its officially private businesses. And Trump's use of tariffs and regulation to control American businesses are an ominous step in America's journey toward the same destination.

1450 words/5 minutes

2. "How Do You Validate Aspirational Thoughts?," by Jean Moroney (Thinking Directions):

If you believe the aspirational idea is true, it's motivating to repeat it as an affirmation each day. Consciously reminding yourself of the belief refreshes your desire for the end and your confidence that you can take the necessary steps to reach it. By bringing the aspirational end to the forefront of awareness, you also see the opportunities for moving toward it -- today -- even if it is a long-range goal.

On the other hand, if you don't believe it's true, focusing on the aspirational thought will trigger objections and discouragement. And maybe frustration if you've been working toward it and failing, or guilt if you set a goal but haven't put in the effort. That will kill your interest in even thinking about the end.

2200 words/8 minutes

3. "How About a Genuine America-First Policy?," by Peter Schwartz (PeterSchwartz.com):

The movement Trump launched claims that his policies will "make America great again." Here, too, there is a prior question that demands an answer: What made America great in the first place? And it's the same answer: freedom.

America's exceptionalism rested on the premise that each individual has rights, and that the task of government is not to rule him but to protect those rights, by leaving him free. In the 18th century, a world dominated by despotic monarchies, this was a radical view. America was founded not simply on the idea that the people ought to elect their government representatives, but on the more fundamental idea that the individual has inalienable rights -- rights that may not be violated even by the wishes of a majority.

780 words/3 minutes

4. "What If Robots Take All the Jobs?," by Harry Binswanger (Value for Value):

Even with science-fictional super-robots, there will still be money changing hands and a price-system, just as now. You will still be paid for working -- in the field of your comparative advantage.

New kinds of jobs will appear, as they always have when technology advances. Ironically, most of the jobs people are afraid of losing -- such as programming jobs or truck-driving jobs -- were themselves created by technological advances. There used to be an American saying: "Adapt or die." Having the same kind of job as your father and grandfather did is not the American dream.

What new types of job will be created? I can no more project that than a man in 1956 could have projected that today there would be jobs in something called "social media"; or that money can be made by driving for Uber and by renting out living space through AirBnB.

1100 words/4 minutes

-- CAV

"If you want to know the real meaning of work, read Frederick Douglass's account of his first time working as a free man.
    "After escaping slavery, his first job was loading coal onto ships. It was new, hard, dirty work. Here's how he describes it:

"'I was now my own master. It was a happy moment, the rapture of which can be understood only by those who have been slaves. It was the first work, the reward of which was to be entirely my own.
"'There was no Master standing ready, the moment I earned the money, to rob me of it. I worked that day with a pleasure I had never before experienced. I was at work for myself and my newly-married wife. It was to me the starting-point of a new existence.'

"Dirty, backbreaking work—and he describes it as rapture, pleasure, a new existence. 

    "Next time you struggle to find meaning in whatever it is you do for paid work, think of Frederick Douglass."

~ Gena Gorlin, quoting Frederick Douglass from his Autobiographical Writings

Suazanne Lucas makes short work of explaining why free is quite often the wrong price for a promotional campaign, not to mention many other things:

The Mets made a nice gesture to compensate for the schedule change, but it didn't benefit the right people. The right people are the ones who want to come. Because the free tickets were quickly claimed, we can assume that many people would have liked to attend but couldn't because those who didn't value the tickets snapped them up, just in case.

This isn't unique to baseball games. I provide online training to HR professionals. When it's free, I can count on a 50 percent attendance rate. When people have to pay to attend, the attendance rate is 90 percent or higher.

The same goes for selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace. If I post something for free, I'll get numerous responses, and some people will go so far as to set a time to come pick up the object, only to no-show.

What you always want in transactions is a little bit of "friction" to attract the people who are truly interested in whatever you have to sell. Even if that thing is a job. [bold added]

The Facebook Marketplace example is interesting. My wife and I were considering selling off some old furniture recently, after having found nicer pieces for not much on a similar platform -- but we decided to donate instead because the price we'd likely fetch wouldn't justify the hassle of having to store the items at home and deal with the logistics of talking to potential buyers and then arranging to have the furniture moved.

I can only imagine having to deal with the deluge of people who'd take the items for free. That hassle is what the charity is relieving us of, and is quite an acceptable payment for getting the old furniture off our hands.

-- CAV

The post What People Get Wrong About Evil and the Iran War appeared first on New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism.

 

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