05-09-2017, 03:18 PM
(05-09-2017, 03:01 PM)Galen Wrote: The two of you are missing the point as usual. The general rise in living standards of the nineteenth-century that lasted well into the twentieth century was a consequence of laisse-faire economics. Now that we have pretty much had crony capitalism, a consequence of big government, for about the last thirty years it seems that living standards are decreasing. You might want to spend some time contemplating the economic freedom index and the effects of the loss of economic freedom.
No, that is part and parcel of the issue, but only part. Yes, laisse faire allowed the few to prosper to an exceeding degree, and the byproduct of that was economic development. So? The vast majority suffered for it, and, by your standards, should never have expected to receive any recompense for using their bodies as industrial fodder to create the industries you cite. Life can never be all take and no give (or the opposite for the less fortunate many). If it is, what's the purpose of the society that this kind of thinking creates?
Remember, we had slavery at one time, and it allowed the South to prosper too. Prior to the end of that evil practice the South was the economic engine of the nation. Is that justification for continuing slavery? After all, everyone of consequence was free to pursue his goals.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.