This quiz http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/index.html ( courtsey Aseem) make me a social libertarian and an economic leftist ! Now I consider myself an economic right wing person. I have always been pro-capitalism. I have always thought that socialism stiffles man's incentive and initiative. There are a few people who can work just for duty's sake but most of us work for the rewards.
The reason I write "have been" and not "am" for being pro-market etc above is that thesedays I am not so sure. Is a free-market economy necessarily better than socialism ? In a free market economy everyone works hard with the rewards in sight. It seems to be the ultimate meritocracy and a system that follows natural justice. The fittest (smartest, hardworking) will be most successful and properous. But here comes the issue. Capitalism gives a free reign to human greed.
Capitalism would be a pretty good system in a fair playing ground. But the recent spade of corporate scandals tell a different story. Are the multi-million dolar salaries and perks of high corporate officials justified ? I was reading some articles somewhere which stated that the salary of the richest 500 people in the US was equal to the bottom 5 million ! Some would argue that who gets what is decided by the market based on his/her abilities. But remember, this is capitalism, human greed is running amok and there is no stopping it. Look around, rackets are running rampant. Who cares about ehtics here? Boards person are CEOs yes men, allowing the CEOs to decide their own pay. The policy makers and the law enforcers are all human after all and they get their share from the system of greed allwoing the rich and powerful to become richer and more powerful.
A racket I read about recently, the class action racket- lawyers funding campaigns of public officials and in turn influening the public fund's ( as big as calpers) managers to invoke class action lawsuits on public companies billing as high as 10000 $ per hour ! Of course no one objects and the price is ultimately paid by the shareholders.
The problem boils down to ethics. The irony is a free market can never be free ! It itself destroys the fairness in the market and gives rise to a new hegemony of the rich who represent the new age feudal lords and control the economy, the politics and the society.
Whats up with me ? Why am I ranting about all this old ghisa pita stuff today?
Well all I can say is "I rant, therefore I am" :)
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2 comments:
I have already committed the sin of calling Ayn Rand mad !
You correctly say that the theory of govt enforcing law does normally not hold good. I am going a step further and am claiming that raw capitalism will eventually proactively inevitably corrupt the govt. in subtle ways if not overtly.
Well made point about socially disadvantaged people. Again the issue of corruption in the use of resources allocated to them crops in.
Uggh, I just took this quiz, and I'm straight dead in the center, now all this quiz is saying is I'm indecisive. What a waste of time that was? I could have said I was indecisive without taking the time off at midnight to take this damn quiz.
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