Richmond County Daily Journal | Free markets and the spirit of giving - Robert Higgs:
December 20, 2016 - "Christmas will soon be here, and preparations for this holiday are proceeding apace.... Notice how much effort and expense are going into giving to and bringing joy to others. Notice, too, how much of the spending people do during this season would be impossible except for the affluence made possible by the remaining elements of the market society that the government, to date, has failed to destroy completely.
"The free-market society is often criticized or condemned root and branch for its alleged dependence on the unsavory human trait of greed ... but self-interest is quite different from greed and indeed often consists of the very opposite. People in general have an interest in, for example, earning more income, and a major reason for this desire is that they wish to have the wherewithal to give to or take care of others more effectively — their own families first of all in most cases, but hardly their own families exclusively....
"The amounts of money, time, and effort that people devote to making others happier or better off — amounts vividly on display during the holiday season — belie the slander of a free market’s dependence on greed. But such transfers also occur throughout the year and amount to an enormous proportion of all the uses to which people in free-market societies put their wealth.
"In contrast, the alleged compassion and caring for the unfortunate that many have supposed support socialism are scarcely to be seen.... [S]ocialism does not so much eliminate the greed that exists in a population as it alters the forms in which the greed can be directed and expressed.... Leaders of socialist societies have a habit of living lavishly amid the squalor of the system they control and despoil — Mao, Castro, and Chavez provide ready examples. Ordinary people in socialist societies, being deprived of free-market outlets for the pursuit of their self-interest must instead strive to better themselves and those for whom they care by struggling for political power....
"So, at this time of the year, let us remind ourselves not only of the love and compassion that Christmas calls forth, but also of the systemic economic underpinnings that permit people to express their love and compassion so effectively. The love of family, friends, and others is the greatest blessing, but the opportunity to live in a free-market society — even one as hogtied as ours — is also a great blessing."
Read more: https://yourdailyjournal.com/opinion/columns/57390/free-markets-and-the-spirit-of-giving
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December 20, 2016 - "Christmas will soon be here, and preparations for this holiday are proceeding apace.... Notice how much effort and expense are going into giving to and bringing joy to others. Notice, too, how much of the spending people do during this season would be impossible except for the affluence made possible by the remaining elements of the market society that the government, to date, has failed to destroy completely.
"The free-market society is often criticized or condemned root and branch for its alleged dependence on the unsavory human trait of greed ... but self-interest is quite different from greed and indeed often consists of the very opposite. People in general have an interest in, for example, earning more income, and a major reason for this desire is that they wish to have the wherewithal to give to or take care of others more effectively — their own families first of all in most cases, but hardly their own families exclusively....
"The amounts of money, time, and effort that people devote to making others happier or better off — amounts vividly on display during the holiday season — belie the slander of a free market’s dependence on greed. But such transfers also occur throughout the year and amount to an enormous proportion of all the uses to which people in free-market societies put their wealth.
"In contrast, the alleged compassion and caring for the unfortunate that many have supposed support socialism are scarcely to be seen.... [S]ocialism does not so much eliminate the greed that exists in a population as it alters the forms in which the greed can be directed and expressed.... Leaders of socialist societies have a habit of living lavishly amid the squalor of the system they control and despoil — Mao, Castro, and Chavez provide ready examples. Ordinary people in socialist societies, being deprived of free-market outlets for the pursuit of their self-interest must instead strive to better themselves and those for whom they care by struggling for political power....
"So, at this time of the year, let us remind ourselves not only of the love and compassion that Christmas calls forth, but also of the systemic economic underpinnings that permit people to express their love and compassion so effectively. The love of family, friends, and others is the greatest blessing, but the opportunity to live in a free-market society — even one as hogtied as ours — is also a great blessing."
Read more: https://yourdailyjournal.com/opinion/columns/57390/free-markets-and-the-spirit-of-giving
'via Blog this'
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