Human nature and capitalism

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Sunday, December 12. 2010

Human nature and capitalism

Excellent summary of the topic at The American by Arthur Brooks and Peter Wehner.

Perhaps I like it because it confirms my line of thinking, but says it better than I can. They begin:

The model of human nature one embraces will guide and shape everything else, from the economic system one prefers to the political system one supports.

At the core of every social, political, and economic system is a picture of human nature (to paraphrase 20th-century columnist Walter Lippmann). The suppositions we begin with—the ways in which that picture is developed—determine the lives we lead, the institutions we build, and the civilizations we create. They are the foundation stone.

It's one of the biggest topics on earth. Good job, guys.

Posted by The Barrister in Politics, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 12:17 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

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Thanks for the link. I agree with it. And I will probably use it in discussions with my college-age kids.

However, I think it ignores a real problem with Capitalism -- commonly called rent-seeking or Corporatism. I think that many people who dislike Capitalism are reacting to the statist-alliance kind, not the free-market kind.

#1 Engineer Bob on 2010-12-12 13:45 (Reply)

Engineer Bob ... You say that many people who dislike Capitalism are reacting to the statist-alliance kind, not the free market kind. The free market kind is the only kind I recognize as real capitalism. That's why I've decided to call it the free market. When the left liberal group notices that more of us are doing this, they'll try to tag it with comething pejorative like statism. And then we'll have to find still another term for free market behavior.

I swear that the present Administration has a clutch of rogue semanticists hidden in the White House basement whose sole job is to obscure clarity of expression -- like changing the easily understood term Global War on Terror to Overseas Contingency Operation.

Bloody twits. Hayakawa would be appalled.

Marianne

#2 Marianne Matthews on 2010-12-12 21:01 (Reply)

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Sunday, December 12. 2010

Human nature and capitalism