Adam Smith Quote (sure to piss off Republicans!) --->

[napkinz]

https://www.facebook.com/ConservativesAreDestroyingOurFuture


edit: Facebook responses ...

"He also said things about how governments should regulate, so that nothing grows large enough to control its market. Also that basing government and laws around property rights would lead to the collapse of the market in general."

"The rich in the US respond to that statement by contributing nothing and taking as much as they can get, legally or otherwise."

"In the cultural anthropology field, that is what is known as a 'leveling mechanism.'"

"If that's a true quote, today's corporate America will be screaming 'Blasphemous I say, blasphemous!'

"It's from Wealth of Nations. It's a real quote."

"He wasn't expecting the rich to start the Tea Party to successfully campaign against what should be common sense."

[immoderate]

1. This is why one of my Libertarian friends refers to Adam Smith as a socialist.

--imm

[treestar]

13. OMG

[Berlum]

2. Republicons have no problem turning their back on the message of JC, while pretending otherwise

so I doubt they will have any problems turning their back on good old Mr. Invisible Hand. Hypocrisy is a core Republicon "Family Value."

[47of74]

7. It's the hypocrisy that boils my water

That's the one thing that makes me so goddamn mad is the hypocrisy that the reich wing pigs spew.

[AAO]

12. If there was no lying, nor the resultant hypocrisy, these problems wouldn't exist.

Lying. Lying eye to eye, or eye to camera, it's the same thing. Liars should be ostracized by everyone.

[ashling]

25. They hear "invisible hand"

and think "Holy Ghost"

[Benton D Struckcheon]

3. Adam Smith is seriously misunderstood.

There's a lot more there than just The Invisible Hand. Most of it is a well argued spiel against allowing business interests to have their way in politics.

[malthaussen]

22. Adam Smith would be seriously pissed off at how misunderstood he is.

... Well, at least as pissed off as Adam Smith ever got. He was uncomfortable enough with the "hidden hand" thing that if he knew what would be made of it, he'd probably do something drastic... like raise his voice.

He'd probably be pissed off that nobody ever heard of Theory of Moral Sentiments, too.

-- Mal

[rustbeltvoice]

4. If one continues to completion, reductio ad absurdum:

We are living with vulture, mercenary, and locust capitalism.

Now, the idea is the profit motive. To maximize profit, one reduces the cost of production, and increases the price. This will generate money. Taken to extreme: give nothing, receive everything.

You see the ethical problem?

[grilled onions]

5. The business "elephant"

While one is smiling at you with paycheck for you(in his tusks/teeth) another elephant is helping himself to your wallet with his trunk.

[humbled_opinion]

6. Rich is subjective

Who are "The Rich"..... If I have a job and you don't am I richer than you are, even if I am barely making it? If I get in debt is that my fault? Is the poverty level fair? What is a living wage? What about cost of living in various areas how do you make that fair? How does "taxing the rich solve anything? The government is completely inefficient with the tax dollars that it currently collects how is giving the government more money going to fix that? If the rich actually paid their fair share then they wouldn't be so rich anymore, would they? What is a fair share? Don't the business owners just pass increased operating expenses including taxes back down to the consumers? Who determines the fair share? Are the rich signing up for Obamacare, or are they going to have their own private care by doctors who refuse to accept the Obamacare payments?

Note: When I speak to the rightwingers at my job, these are the types of questions they hit me up with, I have long tried to understand why some people who are making about $18.00 an hour not a great deal of money in our city, and have been working at this job for over 15 years will stick up for Repub policies that favor the rich and will complain that they pay too much in taxes at their pay scale already.

I agree that the top 1 percent hold the vast majority of wealth in this country and it isn't fair, not a single repub has a problem with that but I also barely hear any Democratic politicians that are championing programs that will actually redistribute some of that wealth. Most of the corporations and super rich hide their wealth, move their wealth and hire expensive accounts not to mention collect corporate welfare to shield themselves, yes it sucks and in the end it is the middleclass worker that ultimately pays for all of it. I really appreciate how Elizabeth Warren talks but will she be able to create programs to address this weatlh disparity? How?

[daleanime]

8. Considering the growing income/wealth divide.....

it's only subjective if you don't want to worry about it. But before complaining about the actions/inactions of others I have to admit that I'm kind of curious about how you would begin to address the issue.

[humbled_opinion]

15. Simple solution

Everyone has living expenses the only problem is that those that have money get to pay the same amount for everything that those without money pay the same so therefore if you make 500K per year at your job and you show up to buy a gallon of gas it will cost you say $25 per gallon me on the other hand will pay $2.50.... Your milk $30.00 per gallon mine $3.00... Your electric bill WOW mine not so WOW.... I call it reverse welfare.

[daleanime]

16. So every ones income/wealth would be published......

and business would have to charge a sliding tax rate? Actually seems over complicated to me.


Why don't we charge the same rate for all incomes, paychecks, capital gains, etc.... Not a flat rate, just the same one we use for paychecks. We also remove the social security cap, tax every dollar. Not just the first 100 or so. It's a start.

[humbled_opinion]

21. Yeah maybe a bit overcomplicated..

but my point was that politicians on our side aren't really addressing wealth disparity in any real sense. How is it fair that a 1 percenter pays the same for gasoline that I do, or milk, groceries etc? If we both go to a movie we pay the same that is just insane considering that they have about 10,000 times the amount of money that I do. How can you address climate change when the elites are flying their jets, lighting up their multi million dollar homes and cruising in their limos and we both pay the same amount for the energy. We are living in Elysium the elites just haven't moved into space yet.

Lets talk about wealth confiscation by the state. Lets talk about nationalizing the energy sector and establishing a fair price for energy.. Instead all we hear are more threats of chained CPI, cuts to family subsistence programs, raising taxes on the middleclass and poor....

[Xolodno]

9. I once posted on Facebook...

...something from Adam Smith....right after a friend posted something from Ayn Rand.

He responded and said it sounded "socialist".

I responded "The father of modern capitalism, is in your words....a socialist?!".

He heavily backtracked, with responses like "I don't know much about economics, etc."

I could have went for the kill. But I find it much better that he doesn't push stuff from Ayn Rand anymore.

[Xolodno]

10. On a side note....

Most don't know that Karl Marx's real economic criticism (The Capital), is heavily based on Adam Smiths work and the Communist Manifesto is really more philosophical.

[mountain grammy]

23. A super Christian niece once posted how much she admired Ayn Rand

several of her Christian Republican friends chimed in. I posted: "she was a devout atheist who had a rather poor opinion of any religion or religious people. Look up what she said about you."
I got an "oops, thanks Aunt Pat. I never knew." The kid's Texas born and raised, but a college grad and not stupid. I have hope for my younger nieces and nephews.

[openfield]

11. Capitalism existed before smith

Human trade of course is ancient. I hate smith getting credit for something that preceded him by centuries. Socialism, or compassion for the disadvantaged is also at least as old as Jesus Christ.

[eridani]

17. It most certainly did not. Smith is a pre-capitalist economic philospher

"Trade" has absolutely nothing to do with capitalism.

[openfield]

20. Here read this, there is much more at the link

Economic trade for profit has existed since at least the second millennium BC.[45] However, historians often trace capitalism in its modern form to the mercantilism of the 16th to the 18th Centuries.

Mercantilism

Main articles: Mercantilism and Protectionism

Mercantilism is a nationalist form of early capitalism that came into existence approximately in the late 16th century. It is characterized by the intertwining of national business interests to state-interest and imperialism, and consequently, the state apparatus is utilized to advance national business interests abroad. An example of this is colonists living in America who were only allowed to trade with and purchase goods from their respective mother countries (Britain, France, etc.). Mercantilism holds that the wealth of a nation is increased through a positive balance of trade with other nations, and corresponds to the phase of capitalist development called the Primitive accumulation of capital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism#Types_of_capitalism

[eridani]

28. Capitalism is about the ownership of the means of production, period

Mercantilism is just one form of it. Are you trying to say the hunter-gatherers swapping beads are capitialists? That's bullshit, pure and simple.

[Jim Lane]

14. I guessed wrong. I thought it would be this one.

From The Wealth of Nations:

"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."

[freshwest]

18. Adam Smith to be thrown under the bus in 3...2...1... He spoke against the Almighty Gawd of Capital!

I can see the mobs forming figuratively on Wall Street and elsewhere now....

Well, not really.

[cantbeserious]

19. Ah But, Prosperity Theology Trumps Economic Icons Every Day

eom

[mountain grammy]

24. I love economics and took many classes. Even considered majoring in it.

but I still don't understand it. Had a professor tell me once, nobody does.

[Turbineguy]

26. That goes with the concept of noblesse oblige.

Another anachronism.

[LongTomH]

27. More quotes from Adam Smith

"All for ourselves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind."

"No society can surely be flourishing and happy when part of the members are poor and miserable."

"Our merchants and master-manufacturers complain much of the bad effects of high wages in raising the price, and thereby lessening the sale of their goods both at home and abroad. They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent with regard to the pernicious effects of their own gains. They complain only of those of other people."

"The liberal reward of labor, therefore, as it is the necessary effect, so it is the natural symptom of increasing national wealth. The scanty maintenance of the laboring poor, on the other hand, is the natural symptom that things are at a stand, and their starving condition that they going backwards fast."

"The rate of profit... is naturally low in rich and high in poor countries, and it is always highest in the countries which are going fastest to ruin."

I have to admit: I got these from DU, a long time ago!

[napkinz]

29. another ...

[napkinz]

30. kick

nt