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> We first need a healthy, educated, engaged, and safe population. All else follows. The requirement is economic freedom, from which everything follows.
by WalterBright 2mo ago
> We first need a healthy, educated, engaged, and safe population. All else follows.
The requirement is economic freedom, from which everything follows.
- wyre 2mo agoIn what way? There is nothing inherent about economic freedom that leads to a healthy, educated, engaged, and safe population, in the same way there is nothing inherent about a healthy, smart, and safe population that leads to economic freedom. The US is one of the most economically free places in the world, and always has been, yet obesity is at all time highs, gen Z is the first generation to score less on standardized tests than the generation before them, and civilians killed by law enforcement is at an all time high. Economic freedom is a very important pillar to a healthy and thriving society, but acting like it is a panacea is wrong. Economic freedom at it's extreme will only lead to a weakening of the middle class and consolidation of wealth among those holding the most wealth.
- WalterBright 2mo agoFree markets mean the only way to make money legally is to provide a product or service that other people want to buy. And people want to be healthy, educated, engaged and safe. In other words, it takes advantage of the inherently selfish nature of people to make others better off. > obesity is at all time highs Obesity is a choice. I know people won't like me writing that. I know it is very hard to lose weight. It's still a choice, though. I don't see how making people less free would change that. > gen Z is the first generation to score less on standardized tests than the generation before them The government is the primary institution that provides education, not the free market. > civilians killed by law enforcement is at an all time high I don't see how that is a result of economic freedom. > Economic freedom at it's extreme will only lead to a weakening of the middle class The US was much more economically free in the 1800s than now, and the middle class became the dominant class, by far. > consolidation of wealth among those holding the most wealth. Wealthy people get that way in a free market by creating products and services that other people want. In other words, they do not "consolidate" wealth, they create it.
- raptured-banal- 2mo ago[flagged]
- wyre 2mo agoWhat's a bummer is that Walter is a smart and talented engineer, yet has a very stubborn and out of touch economic perspective that is at least half a century expired. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Bright https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Bright
- stackghost 2mo agoJust like Kyrie Irving is a talented basketball player but also a catastrophically-deluded flat-earther, it's just as possible for gifted software engineers to have flawed reasoning about the economy.
- WalterBright 2mo ago> it's just as possible for gifted software engineers to have flawed reasoning about the economy. Are you sure your reasoning is flawless? Free markets correspond with prosperity, in case after case.
- stackghost 2mo agoA truly free market is also free of regulation and embraces predatory actions by monopolists. Think being paid in company scrip instead of dollars. Think a single food supply monopoly with patented seeds you can be prosecuted for propagating, and harmful additives in food because it's cheaper. Think better education inaccessible for those nincompoops who weren't born into wealth. Serves them right for choosing to be born poor, amirite? Some amount of regulation is required if you want a just, healthy, society, with economic mobility. People say they want 100% free markets but they don't really comprehend what that looks like.
- 2mo ago