Greed Is Not a Postive Foce

I’m sure some of you (however many of “you” there are that read my blog) may have missed last week’s events on Comedy Central, and I’m certainly late in posting about it. But, here’s a brief summary. After Jon Stewart of the Daily Show cracked a bunch of jokes about CNBC, one of their hosts(Jim Cramer, of CNBC’s Mad Money) took offense. After a back and forth all week, Jim Cramer actually appeared on the Daily Show. What happened actually kind of surprised me. The show was not very funny, and Jon Stewart was pretty aggressive. You can watch section one here (and from there find the other sections).

Of course, there is plenty to blog about in this encounter (and there have been many blogs written about it, including fivethirtyeight’s take here, or the Nation’s take here). For me, there was one particular part that really stood out. Stewart criticizes the promotion of get-rich-easily ideas, commenting that our money comes from hard work. Cramer objects at first, but Stewart notes there is even a show called “Fast Money” on CNBC. Finally, Cramer admits the truth. “There is a market for it,” he says. Stewart quickly quips, “There is market for cocaine and hookers.”

This relates back to my earlier post about efficiency. The point is, a free market system can supply demands very easily and efficiently. But, it does a horrible job of supplying what is actually needed. The profit motive, which supposedly makes it so great, also distorts who we try to sell to and what we sell. So, here’s what happens (as I understand it). 1) Even if something is negative or damaging, we will supply it if we can make money off it. 2) We work to create ridiculous desires in the wealthy, so we can get then satisfy them and get their money. At the same time we may ignore the obvious life-or-death needs of the poor because they have no money to give to us in return.

I do not necessarily think that a market capitalist system is inherently not viable, but one thing is clear to me. Greed is not a positive force for production. Of course, I believe that people want to and should be fairly compensated for their work. I am not saying people should work for nothing. But this is not being greedy, it is being just. Greed, on the other hand, means (to me) “money above all else.” So sure, greed drives production of a lot of good things. It also drives the production of many harmful things and the proliferation of unnecessary and ridiculous things (which, in the long run are also harmful), and it lacks the long-term vision necessary for actual progress. Therefore, if we want to have a capitalist system that works, we need to have strong regulation and direction, providing limits on what we can do for money as well as additional incentives for the good things we need that do not make a lot of money.

As I am finishing this conclusion, I suddenly have the sensation that what I am saying is so very obvious, and it is sort of pretentious of me to talk as if I am sharing some new idea here. I certainly do not mean to be pretentious, so if this is obvious, then I’m sorry.

Happy Pi Day (But Beware the Ides of March)

I have other more serious posts in my mind, but here's a silly little update. Yes, I am a little nerdy, but we are celebrating pi day today (3-14), by making pies and watching the movie Pi. It's the first time I have celebrated this, but this does play nicely into a family tradition (at least in the past few years) of also celebrating the Ides of March. Celebrating for us actually just means watching our Ides of March video that we made a few years ago. Watch and enjoy (but still beware).

Thoughts on Efficiency

I suppose it is time I try to write something a bit more serious and perhaps even thought provoking. I posted an article several months back roughly outlining a vision for a possible alternative to the current capitalist system. Not many people responded, but I've been thinking about one friend's response for a while now. Here is an excerpt:

"Much as I feel capitalism is a vicious and pitiless system, I still find I can't agree with the arguments presented because:
1. I believe that man in his fallen state is inherently selfish and greedy.
2. I still believe my 5th grade teacher who told me that division of labor is a good thing because of the efficiencies involved. . .

The reason capitalism works is because it rewards the inherent greediness in man and uses it to drive production. "

I have especially thought about the division of labor aspect, and the idea of efficiency. There is no denying that capitalism is an extremely efficient system. However, I think there are some problems with efficiency. First of all, we are producing so much, so efficiently that we are efficiently destroying our world. The problem gets more complicated, because the capitalist system requires consumption in order to continue functioning. When consumption goes down, people lose jobs. And higher efficiency may mean that the same amount of production yields fewer jobs in the first place. So, we are stuck in the middle of needing to produce and consume more in order to keep the system running and keep people employed, and needing to produce and consume less in order to continue living on the planet.

As my friend admits, "Capitalism is a vicious and pitiless system." My question then becomes, "What's so inherently great about efficiency anyway?" The way I see it, we need two things: 1) Increase the amount of jobs with livable wages and 2) consume less. In short, we need to be less efficient.

The other points I would sum up like this:
1. Humanity is naturally bad.
2. Capitalism rewards people for being bad.
3. This makes us produce (and therefore consume) more.

As a Christian, I feel compelled to reject as unsustainable a system that is vicious and pitiless, rewards people for going against the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven, and encourages the destruction of our planet and the violation of human rights. Perhaps the article's vision for an alternative is not a completely viable option. Even if it isn't, I cannot bring myself to accept the realities of capitalism as the best we can come up with.

We are destroying our world. Is efficiency really that necessary?