> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Marvin Long, Jr.
[snip]
> The reason you're stating and restating the obvious is that you're
> countering an argument that nobody made. Neither Friedman's essay nor
> Gautam nor I have argued that wealth is evidence of moral superiority.
Friedman absolutely did so. He wrote, "American power and wealth flow
directly from a deep spiritual source." It is a simple cause and effect --
the cause is spiritual strength and the effect is wealth and power. Or, if
you will, the reward for America's virtue of spiritual strength is wealth
and power. I don't see any failure of logic in reading it the other way
around, that wealth and power are the reward for spiritual strength.
The only way I can see this as anything other than unjustified arrogance
would be if he said that spiritual strength -- and thus its rewards -- is an
undeserved gift. But I don't see any hint of such an attitude in the piece.
Spiritual strength is, indeed, a gift, not something to show off and lord
over others.
Nick
