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Thoughts on the Philosophy of Capitalism
August 9, 2015
G.D.O'Bradovich III
1
The defining feature of capitalism, versus socialism or communism, is struggle. The capitalist succeeds or fails without government support - interestingly, most businesses fail, which means that survival is uncommon and success is rare.
In order to survive or succeed, one must compete. Clearly, competition is difficult for most people, since most ventures fail. Generally, failures are not due to profits, per se, as every product has a markup, so there is a profit, but to cash flow, that is, money needs to be allocated within a hierarchy of values. Perhaps the greatest living expert on allocation of capital is Warren Buffet. The Gentle Reader can compare Mr. Buffet with any local business in an essay not to exceed 500 words, with focus on “good” and “poor” decisions.
As an accomplished Apprentice has observed: there are two types of people, those who over long term make good decisions...
For the capitalist to thrive, the allocation of capital, not profits or return on investment is the corner stone of survival or success. Of course, this "ability" to correctly allocate capital can be taught in the classroom, but upon graduation one can make decisions that are not optimal. The modern world preaches that all people are equal, that is, have equal abilities and are interchangeable-”everyone is replaceable” and we concede the veracity of the later statement without hesitation. That people do not have the same abilities and by extension are not equals, has no part of modern business management.
Nature, like capitalism, is unforgiving to the weak or those that are not capable of managing cash flow In Capital, we find it interesting that Karl Marx mentions product markup, depreciation and surplus capital and he is under that impression that workers are interchangeable. If workers are interchangeable because of the relentless innovations of capitalists, then we would expect to see almost no business failures during prosperous times.
We note that most businesses fail after three years and we speculate that in the first year the owner puts his money in the business (to buy it or to start it), the second year, family “invests” and in the third year friends “invest” and with no more “investors”, the venture fails.
Let us return to the exploitation of workers, I mean, the importance of the allocation of capital. Since not all workers are equal in ability, the exceptional should be compensated according. It is a quirk of the universe that yours truly is not being compensated millions of dollars for his natural athletic ability to dunk- this is not accurate since people don't pay to watch Grand Masters play chess anymore than philologists are well compensated to study changes in the meaning of words. This “flaw” is not due to the nature of the universe, but how people's abilities are valued in a given society. Scientists and inventors languish in obscurity while high profile athletics and actors thrive.
The owners or managers that do not value the individual for their ability will find themselves in a venture or industry where mediocrity is commonplace and cash flow steady, but profits are negligible. The governments that support business tells us more about the world view of that electorate than an encyclopedia entry could ever relate.
Socialist governments have goals of community, while historically, the American Union has prized individualism. Our Founding Fathers pledged their mutual support, not because thy were socialists, but so they would not “hang together”. This vision of individualism has transformed this country into one where I enjoy the benefits of laptops, Google and electricity while possessing nothing but ignorance regarding these industries.
...biting the hands that feed...
Venezuela, for all their oil, will never attain affluence due to their community support that overrides an individual's accomplishments.
While certain professors promote socialism, there are no professor unions, as they want to publish and receive recognition or their abilities, talents and achievements.
Perhaps less than one percent of people have the talent to run a business for the long term.
The more a country, industry or a venture follows the examples found in Nature, the more it thrives. Why a business that espouses strength, hierarchy and accepts wastefulness to accomplish its goals is successful is a point left to the Gentle Reader to ponder.
If capitalism is a human manifestation of the principles of nature, then socialism is a manifestation of what?
Nature is indifferent to what individuals or species survive, so capitalism recognizes that not all ventures will survive. We would expect only large corporations to survive and since this not true, human reason, and emotions, allow small business to either thrive or survive. Emotions and reason-man is an interesting animal.
If yours truly knew or thought or felt that socialism and community and the group were the “best” or most ”reasonable” or most “compassionate” route for people, that view would be expressly stated.
Since capitalism is not, strictly speaking, a human version of nature (where “I'm gonna kill the competition” is no longer a euphemism), its fulfillment is perhaps best demonstrated with reasoning consumers, whereas socialism can be be implement by and for the variable emotions of the voters.
To be human one must possess reason and emotion within a hierarchy of values. What is the integration of supposed opposites, but the emergence of the Superman?
Greed, I've been told, is wanting more than is needed-food, clothing and shelter-the lagoon provides food-we need nothing else.
I would not have know greed, but for studying Nature. Greed and waste-two side of the same coin?
For plants, thousand of seeds; for mammals, million of sperm; when only one is needed. The definition of waste, but paradoxically a necessity -overcoming chance.
In order to survive or succeed, one must compete. Clearly, competition is difficult for most people, since most ventures fail. Generally, failures are not due to profits, per se, as every product has a markup, so there is a profit, but to cash flow, that is, money needs to be allocated within a hierarchy of values. Perhaps the greatest living expert on allocation of capital is Warren Buffet. The Gentle Reader can compare Mr. Buffet with any local business in an essay not to exceed 500 words, with focus on “good” and “poor” decisions.
As an accomplished Apprentice has observed: there are two types of people, those who over long term make good decisions...
For the capitalist to thrive, the allocation of capital, not profits or return on investment is the corner stone of survival or success. Of course, this "ability" to correctly allocate capital can be taught in the classroom, but upon graduation one can make decisions that are not optimal. The modern world preaches that all people are equal, that is, have equal abilities and are interchangeable-”everyone is replaceable” and we concede the veracity of the later statement without hesitation. That people do not have the same abilities and by extension are not equals, has no part of modern business management.
Nature, like capitalism, is unforgiving to the weak or those that are not capable of managing cash flow In Capital, we find it interesting that Karl Marx mentions product markup, depreciation and surplus capital and he is under that impression that workers are interchangeable. If workers are interchangeable because of the relentless innovations of capitalists, then we would expect to see almost no business failures during prosperous times.
We note that most businesses fail after three years and we speculate that in the first year the owner puts his money in the business (to buy it or to start it), the second year, family “invests” and in the third year friends “invest” and with no more “investors”, the venture fails.
Let us return to the exploitation of workers, I mean, the importance of the allocation of capital. Since not all workers are equal in ability, the exceptional should be compensated according. It is a quirk of the universe that yours truly is not being compensated millions of dollars for his natural athletic ability to dunk- this is not accurate since people don't pay to watch Grand Masters play chess anymore than philologists are well compensated to study changes in the meaning of words. This “flaw” is not due to the nature of the universe, but how people's abilities are valued in a given society. Scientists and inventors languish in obscurity while high profile athletics and actors thrive.
The owners or managers that do not value the individual for their ability will find themselves in a venture or industry where mediocrity is commonplace and cash flow steady, but profits are negligible. The governments that support business tells us more about the world view of that electorate than an encyclopedia entry could ever relate.
Socialist governments have goals of community, while historically, the American Union has prized individualism. Our Founding Fathers pledged their mutual support, not because thy were socialists, but so they would not “hang together”. This vision of individualism has transformed this country into one where I enjoy the benefits of laptops, Google and electricity while possessing nothing but ignorance regarding these industries.
...biting the hands that feed...
Venezuela, for all their oil, will never attain affluence due to their community support that overrides an individual's accomplishments.
While certain professors promote socialism, there are no professor unions, as they want to publish and receive recognition or their abilities, talents and achievements.
Perhaps less than one percent of people have the talent to run a business for the long term.
The more a country, industry or a venture follows the examples found in Nature, the more it thrives. Why a business that espouses strength, hierarchy and accepts wastefulness to accomplish its goals is successful is a point left to the Gentle Reader to ponder.
If capitalism is a human manifestation of the principles of nature, then socialism is a manifestation of what?
Nature is indifferent to what individuals or species survive, so capitalism recognizes that not all ventures will survive. We would expect only large corporations to survive and since this not true, human reason, and emotions, allow small business to either thrive or survive. Emotions and reason-man is an interesting animal.
If yours truly knew or thought or felt that socialism and community and the group were the “best” or most ”reasonable” or most “compassionate” route for people, that view would be expressly stated.
Since capitalism is not, strictly speaking, a human version of nature (where “I'm gonna kill the competition” is no longer a euphemism), its fulfillment is perhaps best demonstrated with reasoning consumers, whereas socialism can be be implement by and for the variable emotions of the voters.
To be human one must possess reason and emotion within a hierarchy of values. What is the integration of supposed opposites, but the emergence of the Superman?
Greed, I've been told, is wanting more than is needed-food, clothing and shelter-the lagoon provides food-we need nothing else.
I would not have know greed, but for studying Nature. Greed and waste-two side of the same coin?
For plants, thousand of seeds; for mammals, million of sperm; when only one is needed. The definition of waste, but paradoxically a necessity -overcoming chance.