In praise of greed

John Hood, stage manager at the non-profit Art Pope Puppetshow, is at his free-market best today with a selective nod in the direction of accepting reality.

The reality here is that most people act with regard to their self-interest most of the time. They work in order to feed, clothe, house, and otherwise take care of themselves and their families. They’ll also gladly give of their time and money to causes they deem worthy, but that’s not their primary motivation to work, save, and invest.

Fortunately, another reality to accept is that intentions don’t determine results. When governments use coercion to force people to act contrary to their personal choices, the results are often disappointing regardless of how well-intended the government program may have been. And in a market economy, individuals freely transacting business to mutual advantage tend to advance the common interest by promoting innovation, lower prices, better service, and economic opportunity.

How can you disagree with that? Individuals freely transacting business to mutual advantage. Of course in some cases, that mutual advantage means you're a kid who doesn't get the crap beat out of you. Sounds like heaven to me.

Of course, who really gives a shit about these particular kids. They're brown-skinned and they live in some other country. Plus they seem really happy to have their jobs. And the cost of their slave labor is totally factored into our ability to buy cheap shoes at Walmart.

That's reality, folks. Just accept it. Then you too can be a free-market fundamentalist with a clean conscience, knowing that you're just another greedy human being doing what human beings have always done.