[quote]hspder wrote:
milktruck wrote:
Its frustrating when business students preach laisse faire (sp?) capitalism without considering market failures and their origin along with value systems that, while “inefficient” when put into the neoliberal box of thinking, are morally valid and suggest that a system that condemns the masses to indentured servitude to corporate interest may not be the best for humanity or the human spirit. its not my take, but the critique is valid.
Indeed. And my main problem with Rand is precisely Laissez-faire capitalism.
There are many critiques against it. The one you mention is by far my favorite, but there are MANY others. For example, As both lasseiz-faire and free markets are largely idealised concepts, critics use similar arguments against both, focusing largely on the impracticality of any idealized theory of market economy in real world situations (essentially the same criticism of socialism by capitalism). Market failures for example, are difficult to remedy in any meaningful way without a central government taking a proactive role.
Other critics consider laissez faire as only a political veneer above a system of localist protectionism often associated with typically conservative politics, which in turn may only function in the context of economic expansionism (or economic imperialism).
Meaning: the only environment where a form of laissez-faire capitalism could survive is with a totalitarian, far-right government. In fact, one of the very few successful implementations of laissez-faire capitalism was done in Portugal by Salazar, an economist – and a fascist, who ruled the country for almost half a century under a totalitarian government. He succeeded in growing Portugal’s economy at a faster pace than ever, giving the country prosperity in spite of the lack of natural resources and the isolation, but at what cost? Yes, at the cost of liberty and lives.
Contradictory with objectivism? Precisely.
Basically, as Zap mentioned, it is amazing that ANYONE takes objectivism seriously, considering that it is a complete fantasy from any angle you see it.
You are also right when you say business students tend to still defend it; in fact I face that every day. I cannot, for ethical reasons, lash out at it in full force, but fortunately I am in a position where I can at least make them think about it. And while many leave my courses still believing in it, some will in fact stop and think about it, and realize (by themselves) how idiotic it is to believe in it as feasible – much less sustainable.
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What do you mean by ‘lash out in full force’? Your low opinion of humanity, apparent in this drivel, seems to say that humans are incapable of freedom. Your students have an ideal toward which they strive and you want them to realize how ‘idiotic’ they are.
In Atlas Shrugged, Ms. Rand describes profs like you, who love to quash the idealism of their students, turning them into ‘brilliant little cynics’.
When you proclaim that humans are unfit for freedom, you are making a self-statement. Goodbye.