is this darwinism?

Nov 18 07:39 UTC 2003

 In Defense of Capitalism    Monday November 17, 3:26 pm ET
  By Jonathan Hoenig
 
 These days, a capitalist is routinely thought of as a  a
 dangerous, conniving hustler who'd do almost anything for a dol-
 lar. Capitalism is something that needs to be tamed or con-
 trolled, a notion reinforced by publicity-hungry regulators
 (read: Eliot Spitzer) who exploit the public's bloodlust for re-
 venge over stock-market declines. It's a mischaracterization born
 from the Enron and WorldCom scandals, two isolated incidents that
 became a trend(y) piece in the New York Times, thus a scapegoat
 for a sagging stock market and ultimately a condemnation of an
 entire way of life.
 
 Yet nothing could be further from the truth. After all, the exe-
 cutive who cooks a company's books and defrauds investors isn't a
 capitalist, but a thief. Although its critics would have you be-
 lieve otherwise, capitalism isn't a license for anarchy, crim-
 inality or simply doing whatever you please.
 
 So why don't I skip the philosophy lesson and just stick to stock
 tips? Well, because a successful trader is one who isn't only
 confident in his ability but in the moral foundation by which he
 conducts  his affairs. Despite grandstanding regulators and
 scandal-hungry media, the truth is that a capitalist isn't a
 crook, but a profoundly moral and just element of society. I'm
 comfortable saying that. Are you? Alas, few are.
 
 Under capitalism, each person's life is his or her own, not the
 property of the state, the public nor the "common good." As capi-
 talists, we are neither slaves nor masters, but traders whose re-
 lationships are voluntary and to mutual benefit. And while we are
 free to pursue happiness, we aren't guaranteed to find it nor
 permitted to sacrifice other individual's rights in order to ob-
 tain it
 
 Nor is it random that income at the poverty level in America is
 still significantly higher than the average wage in China, where
 the per-capita GDP is a mere $4,400, compared with $37,600 in the
 U.S.
 
 And there's a reason why people typically live 10% longer in
 America than in communist North Korea, where the average male
 dies at 68, an age we in the States now consider the prime of
 life, not the end of it.
 
 How are such immense differences explained? Is the water in Wash-
 ington, D.C., so different than that of Pyongyang? Does the sun
 never shine in Beijing? Are Americans born with magic powers that
 Iranians don't possess? Of course not.
 
 The reason is capitalism. And indeed, when pressed, even the
 diehard socialists would have to agree that capitalism works.
 From vaccines to video games, the quality of life and abundance
 of wealth created by a competitive, free-market economy simply
 can't be denied.
 
 IT'S NO ACCIDENT that the infant mortality rate in Iran is more
 than six times worse than in the U.S.
 
 But what most people don't realize, or most likely just don't
 care to admit, is that unbridled, laissez-faire capitalism isn't
 just efficient, it's right. Capitalism is the only social system
 in history based exclusively on the concept of individual rights,
 which our country's framers put forth as "life, liberty and the
 pursuit of happiness." Capitalism isn't just it's just.
 
 Open your ears people, because something frightening is happening
 here. Most Americans are able to appreciate capitalism's practi-
 cality, but few, most notably our elected and upcoming crop of
 political leaders, are able to enunciate its profound morality as
 a system that protects the largest minority group in the indivi-
 dual. If that doesn't worry you, then it should.
 
 Maybe that's why I'm looking abroad these days. I believe coun-
 tries in Latin America and Eastern Europe, for example, where
 capitalism is a more recent development, have the biggest poten-
 tial for dramatic change from it's beneficial effects. Because
 while the U.S. is the birthplace of free-market capitalism, we
 most certainly don't have a monopoly on its adoption.
 
 Jonathan Hoenig is portfolio manager at Capitalistpig Asset
 Management, a Chicago-based hedge fund.
 

response 2 of 7:

Nov 18 15:26 UTC 2003

In the uk it's quite common - and apparently quite legal - for crooks who have
set up shady businesses which fail (usually with said crook walking away with
untold fortunes from client's money and pension funds) to set up another
company just as soon as they can get funding, even without changing the name
(much) - for example, changing from "Protex Industries Ltd." to "Protect
Industries, PLC"

response 4 of 7:

Nov 18 16:13 UTC 2003

I suppose i better add that the names in #2 are to the best of my knowledge
fictional and are in no way intended to represent or identify any current or
past company or organization.

response 6 of 7:

Nov 20 08:29 UTC 2003

mcnally, i agree taht teh shot on spitzer is a cheap shot.
  
teh sec isn't spending the money they have for regulaton adn sptizer
is filling part of teh void.
  
btw, it seems yu msiinterpreted the scandals .. teh scandals *lead* to
articles that became 'trendy.' it was not tendiness that led to 
teh scandals.
 
spitezer however does find a the miniscule and exaggerate it like
a chicken little.
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