One thing that always strikes me about "economics" (which I teach occasionally) and "finance" (which I teach quite a lot) is that real understanding in both is rare and hardly anything to do with being standardly good with figures. I tend to like students who ask questions like "why the feck should he be arsed running this business, he'd be better off working in Sainsburys"? They have a grip on finance. The ones who note "you can prove anything with this shit" have a good grip on economics. Chris may have no degree, but he'll do for me - even if a disagree in part. The first problem we have with economic analysis is who is doing it, the second why they can't make out sensible stuff more or less anyone could do - the rest would be silence after we shoot some bwankers, politicians and the grossly overpaid.
On 22 Jan, 13:40, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > And yet, don't they take your money to pay to put out someone else's fire? > You pay for existing social services now. The only difference between your > Fire Department, Police Department, US Military, Department of Agriculture, > Department of the Interior, Forestry Service, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, > is that they are already there, already being paid for. What's more, you > understand the concept of Socialization for the common good, as the LDS has > funded HUGE projects that way for over a hundred years. How "voluntary" > THOSE contributions are is a matter of opinion. > > So, this really just strikes me still as a matter of philosophy, not > sociology. OK to take your money to pay for guns and firetrucks, not for > schoolbooks. > > On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 12:43 AM, Kierkecraig <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > > Poor means a lot of things to a lot of people. Until you've experienced > > the > > > factual inability to buy your baby the medicine he or she needs to get > > > better, no matter what you do, because there's nothing to pawn, no bill > > you > > > can delay, simply nothing in the bank, hell, no bank account to even > > write a > > > bad check on, then you will continue to operate from the perspective that > > > all poor people need to do is pick themselves up by their bootstraps and > > > "choose" a different life for themselves. Believe me when I say, self > > > determination only leads you to the port of Opportunity. You still have > > to > > > wait for a ship to pull in. I've been hangin here harborside for better > > than > > > a decade now. > > > Medicine for the baby, bank accounts, and all the other marvels of our > > modern world can all be accredited to free market capitalism. Should > > we forsake the project, just because not everyone benefits equally? I > > never claimed that capitalism was perfect. There is nothing perfect > > in this world we live in. Democracy is far from perfect. Capitalism > > is far from perfect. But they are the best we have. Capitalism, I > > believe is much better than socialism. Democracy, I believe, is much > > better than Communism. They aren't perfect theories, or systems, but > > they are the best. > > > I do feel for the poor, and that is why, when I can, I contribute to > > charity. Right now I can't as much as I'd like to since I'm in a > > position where it would be nice to have contributions flowing my way > > (I'm unemployed), but I will certainly do so when I get in a position > > to. Thats what being a part of humanity is all about. That is what > > it means to be "charitable." That is what it means to be virtuous. > > Having the government come in and take my money away and give it to > > someone else is not me being virtuous. It is me being pissed off. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
