Rebutal to Kathrine Mangu-Ward TED Talk - "What capitalism gets right - and governments get wrong"9/4/2022 TED2022 - Katherine Mangu-Ward - Editor in Chief of “Reason” magazine.
"What capitalism gets right — and governments get wrong" Dear Katherine, I recently listened with interest to your TED Talk on What capitalism gets right — and governments get wrong. https://www.ted.com/speakers/katherine_mangu_ward Like you, I like Capitalism. There is no greater engine of creativity and industriousness. However, I would like Capitalism a LOT more if it had a moral compass and was much less predatory and extractive. I invite you to join me in a thought experiment where we imagine a world driven by “Capitalism with a moral compass”. Such a world would be much more self-regulating and as a result there would be a dramatic decrease in the amount of Government regulation required, and thus a related dramatic decrease in the size and cost of Government. If the cost of Government is significantly less, then perhaps taxes could be reduced for everyone including businesses. Yes, both poverty and literacy have improved dramatically. And many other indicators of wellbeing have similarly improved. However, you attribute this entirely to Capitalism. You have shown that there is a “correlation” between the rise of modern Capitalism and these improvements, but you have not demonstrated a sole “causal” relationship. You ignore the fact that many of these improvements came through hard fought government programs and laws. Indeed, Capitalism often fought against many of these programs and laws. Through the creativity and innovations of Capitalism, we have a world today which is capable of feeding everyone. And yet we have a world in which we have great hunger and starvation. If we imagine a world driven by Capitalism with a moral compass, there would be very little hunger or starvation today. We would have a world where corporations pay a fair living wage and try to minimize the long term environmental impact of everything they do. Instead, we have a world of economic slaves. America is the richest country in the world, and yet 50% of the population live from paycheck to paycheck and have virtually no retirement savings. In many parts of the world, it is even worse than America. We should be ashamed of a system that has produced these outcomes. Modern Capitalism played a leading role in creating a world in which climate change is a threat to humanity’s very existence. Governments have tried to regulate industry to benefit the environment, but Modern Capitalism has fought it every step of the way - successfully more often than not. Now we have a world that is going to face trillions of dollars of climate change driven damage to property, infrastructure, and to the very lives of people. And who has to step in to rescue people facing unimaginable tragedies due to climate change? Government - the very beast that modern Capitalism hates the most. In a world driven by Capitalism with a moral compass, corporate profits might be down a bit and the wealthy a little less wealthy, although I suspect the opposite would be true in the long run. We should be striving for a world in which everyone can be wealthier and healthier and happier. And this includes a healthy environment. The world CAN be a much better place than it is currently. Let’s focus on making that happen. Let’s focus on creating a Capitalism that can do that. More of the same is NOT the answer. Thanks for listening. Julian Sale [email protected]
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