[extropy-chat] Why I am No Longer a Libertarian Either...

Rafal Smigrodzki rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com
Fri Jul 29 06:20:05 UTC 2005


On 7/28/05, Robert Lindauer <robgobblin at aol.com> wrote:

> >Being smart helps too, but is only moderately important.  The problem is
> >ultimately that very few people work hard or have drive and discipline.  The
> >vast majority of people are comfortable and do not feel the need to work
> >hard or have discipline.
> >
> >
> 
> Or perhaps they direct their energies to other worthy goals like helping
> poor people or triathalon running or being good at playing the piano or
> something.
> 
### This is the second time you refer in this thread to triathlon and
ironman runners as somehow morally superior to millionaires, since
they channel their energy into running, rather than into the "greedy"
quest for more money.

There seems to be a strong undertone of Marxist labor theory of value
in your thoughts, where toil and effort are the basis of value. You do
not judge an action through its usefulness to other people - you think
that a millionaire who strove to make his money by building a
successful contracting business, literally putting a roof over other
people's heads, is no better than some adrenaline junkie, who burns
out his body in hundreds of miles of insane racing. The small-time
pianist, or "something", is perhaps even superior to the surgeon who
is working backbreaking hours to save lives (but, of course, the
surgeon is suspect, since he makes oodles of money).

And then the obligatory phrase about "helping the poor". How many poor
people have *you* helped today? Certainly more than the contractor who
offers them jobs and income, rather than handouts, right?

Socialists will keep returning to the same mistakes, over and over
again, until they learn Econ 101 lessons, like the fact that the
market price is the best available measure of the social utility and
social cost of an action or resource.

Rafal



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