Imagine a paradise wherein everyone is well-educated, well-informed, well-off, financially independent and otherwise in no need of assistance from anyone. Fantastic. Unfortunately, that scenario could never exist because then there would be no economy. There would be no one around to do the shit jobs that no one wants to do and which represent the backbone of the economy. Because the people who do the shittiest and hardest jobs are not well-educated, well-informed, well-off nor financially independent.
Self-interest has no natural limits
Unfortunately, all too often, the first group of people are in denial about the symbiotic nature of their co-existence with the second group. Hence they have a bad habit of rationalizing exploitation as being "just" or fully deserved as the side effect of private sector success which is always earned and never unjustified, no matter how it is achieved. If companies or entire industries have to be dismantled and shipped overseas in the process, so be it. If the entire fucking economy gets shipped overseas, so be it.
Unfortunately, all too often, the first group of people are in denial about the symbiotic nature of their co-existence with the second group. Hence they have a bad habit of rationalizing exploitation as being "just" or fully deserved as the side effect of private sector success which is always earned and never unjustified, no matter how it is achieved. If companies or entire industries have to be dismantled and shipped overseas in the process, so be it. If the entire fucking economy gets shipped overseas, so be it.
Ideally, the most capable people wouldn't rationalize exploitation
Ideally, we would live in an altruistic society wherein the first group of people acknowledge and more accurately are extremely grateful for the contributions made by the "heavy lifters", and therefore the first group of people expend great effort to find the best mechanisms - market-based or otherwise - for ensuring that the second group of people are protected from extreme poverty. That's not "Socialism", that's just commonsense and decency. But of course, that would make way too much fucking sense.
Ideally, we would live in an altruistic society wherein the first group of people acknowledge and more accurately are extremely grateful for the contributions made by the "heavy lifters", and therefore the first group of people expend great effort to find the best mechanisms - market-based or otherwise - for ensuring that the second group of people are protected from extreme poverty. That's not "Socialism", that's just commonsense and decency. But of course, that would make way too much fucking sense.
Politics devolves into taking sides
So, instead of all of that, what we end up with is a lawyer-managed political system that starts out with balanced representation for both sets of people. Government social programs are created as a poorly-managed proxy for a well-functioning economy. Inevitably of course, the first group of people being far smarter and better organized than the second group, find a million ways to subvert the system and turn it into a one-sided crony Fascist system to the benefit of an ever-dwindling minority. Social programs devolve into foodstamps, until those get cut as well.
So, instead of all of that, what we end up with is a lawyer-managed political system that starts out with balanced representation for both sets of people. Government social programs are created as a poorly-managed proxy for a well-functioning economy. Inevitably of course, the first group of people being far smarter and better organized than the second group, find a million ways to subvert the system and turn it into a one-sided crony Fascist system to the benefit of an ever-dwindling minority. Social programs devolve into foodstamps, until those get cut as well.
Voila.
Anarchy. Riots. Revolution. Rinse and Repeat.
It doesn't have to be this way, but the cult of self-interest always leads back to the exact same dead end.
That's just the way it is.
That's just the way it is.
