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“I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.”
― Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
― Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
“No government of the left has done as much for the poor as capitalism has. Even when it comes to the redistribution of income, the left talks the talk but the free market walks the walk.
What do the poor most need? They need to stop being poor. And how can that be done, on a mass scale, except by an economy that creates vastly more wealth? Yet the political left has long had a remarkable lack of interest in how wealth is created. As far as they are concerned, wealth exists somehow and the only interesting question is how to redistribute it.”
― Controversial Essays
What do the poor most need? They need to stop being poor. And how can that be done, on a mass scale, except by an economy that creates vastly more wealth? Yet the political left has long had a remarkable lack of interest in how wealth is created. As far as they are concerned, wealth exists somehow and the only interesting question is how to redistribute it.”
― Controversial Essays
“Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.”
― The Thomas Sowell Reader
― The Thomas Sowell Reader
“Competition does a much more effective job than government at protecting consumers.”
― Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays
― Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays
“Most officially “poor” Americans today have things that middle-class Americans of an earlier time could only dream about—including color TV, videocassette recorders, microwave ovens, and their own cars. Moreover, half of all poor households have air-conditioning.
Leftist redistribution of income could never accomplish that, because there are simply not enough rich people for their wealth to have such a dramatic effect on the living standards of the poor, even if it was all confiscated and redistributed. Moreover, many attempts at redistributing wealth in various countries around the world have ended up redistributing poverty.
After all, rich people can see the political handwriting on the wall, and can often take their money and leave the country, long before a government program can get started to confiscate it. They are also likely to take with them skills and entrepreneurial experience that are even harder to replace than the money.”
― Controversial Essays
Leftist redistribution of income could never accomplish that, because there are simply not enough rich people for their wealth to have such a dramatic effect on the living standards of the poor, even if it was all confiscated and redistributed. Moreover, many attempts at redistributing wealth in various countries around the world have ended up redistributing poverty.
After all, rich people can see the political handwriting on the wall, and can often take their money and leave the country, long before a government program can get started to confiscate it. They are also likely to take with them skills and entrepreneurial experience that are even harder to replace than the money.”
― Controversial Essays
Matt’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Matt’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1 book
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47 friends
0 books
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49 friends
38 books
|
97 friends
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Lists liked by Matt
