Jenaer and I seem to always get into political arguments, and I'd like to reply to one we had just the other day.
We were arguing about the economy, a new topic for us, and he said something that made me a bit curious. He said something to the effect of "we should stop progressing, put caps on company production and innovation, and spread the wealth because if we allow everything to continue as it is, we'll run out of space." Something like that.
Interestingly enough, these ideas are the exact ones that Ayn Rand fought against in her book, Atlas Shrugged. I read this over the summer and loved it, even though it took a while to get into the verbose language and 1100 pages.
Atlas Shrugged basically explained the economy to me. Quick synopsis: The government decides that the business owners are greedy because they make a lot of money, so they impose a bunch of really complicated laws to punish smart people for being successful. Then the smart people get together and form their own society where you have to earn the wealth you receive. What a radical idea, right?
Wrong. I don't understand why people think that large business owners that successfully keep their businesses afloat are greedy. They're just proud of their accomplishment, and are rewarded accordingly with their profits. We should not punish the innovative or the competitive; if anything, we should use them as models for society.
What Jenaer and the people who agree with him are pushing for is punishing the intellectuals and rewarding the laymen. If someone is only worth minimum wage, pay them minimum wage. Don't let them assume that they deserve any more.
Take responsibility and accountability for your own production and worth. If I'm better at my job that person A, I should get paid more. If I'm worse at my job or not as valuable as person A, I should get paid less. In this situation, I should find another job, or, better yet, get better at my job.
Socialism is "any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." Translation: Everyone is treated like they're worth the same.
Communism is "a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed." Translation: Everyone gets what they want whether they've earned it or not.
Does anyone else see how bad this is? How backwards?
Interestingly enough, these ideas are the exact ones that Ayn Rand fought against in her book, Atlas Shrugged. I read this over the summer and loved it, even though it took a while to get into the verbose language and 1100 pages.
Atlas Shrugged basically explained the economy to me. Quick synopsis: The government decides that the business owners are greedy because they make a lot of money, so they impose a bunch of really complicated laws to punish smart people for being successful. Then the smart people get together and form their own society where you have to earn the wealth you receive. What a radical idea, right?
Wrong. I don't understand why people think that large business owners that successfully keep their businesses afloat are greedy. They're just proud of their accomplishment, and are rewarded accordingly with their profits. We should not punish the innovative or the competitive; if anything, we should use them as models for society.
What Jenaer and the people who agree with him are pushing for is punishing the intellectuals and rewarding the laymen. If someone is only worth minimum wage, pay them minimum wage. Don't let them assume that they deserve any more.
Take responsibility and accountability for your own production and worth. If I'm better at my job that person A, I should get paid more. If I'm worse at my job or not as valuable as person A, I should get paid less. In this situation, I should find another job, or, better yet, get better at my job.
Socialism is "any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." Translation: Everyone is treated like they're worth the same.
Communism is "a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed." Translation: Everyone gets what they want whether they've earned it or not.
Does anyone else see how bad this is? How backwards?
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