Stick to the point. We agree that capitalist parasitism has to go. That doesn't mean that we should or would tolerate socialist parasitism -- or plain shirking and goofing off. It's as irrelevant to my point to say that it's bad that people should become rich by speculation or exploitation of labor. I agree. My point. however, is that even if we get rid of that sort of parasitism, we would encourage another sort of parasitism if we delinked contribution from reward, making it a matter of indifference to anyone whether they bothered to work. I flat out don't think that it answers this problem to say that people would just want to do their best out of a spirit of camaraderie and socialist solidarity. Some would. And they would resent the hell out the goof-offs -- even if they were only, say 10% of the population -- who didn't. It;s hard to believe that people who don't get this point have ever worked in a real job or lived in a family. This is a constant issue. Back to my billables now. I do it for the dough.
--- Carl Remick <carlremick at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >From: andie nachgeborenen
> <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com>
> >
> >... Well, I'm a Calvinist workaholic, a character
> type of
> >which you disapprove. But we know that free rider
> >problems are real and pervasive. Why do you persist
> in
> >think that if you turn everything into a public
> good
> >that we don't have public goods problems?
>
> [I know how busy you Calvinist workaholics are,
> counsellor, so I won't waste
> more of your billable time than necessary. I will
> simply note that the
> party below is *my* idea of a free-rider. If this
> guy profiteering from
> other people's misery isn't a social parasite I
> don't know who would
> qualify.]
>
> Making a Fortune by Wagering That Drug Prices Tend
> to Rise
>
> By STEPHANIE SAUL
> Published: January 26, 2005
>
> Stewart Rahr's new $45 million East Hampton estate,
> the most expensive house
> ever purchased in New York State,
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