Re: Down With Capitalism!

Redmond — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 19:21:48 GMT

Happy TG

You guys mght enjoy this!

http://rayharvey.org/index.php/2010/11/the-real-history-of-thanksgiving/

An Excerpt

In his book, Mr. Bethel notes what some few insightful economists have been saying for a long time: lack of work and “industrie” go hand-in-hand with lack of property rights.

Or as Philip Alexander Bruce said, in an article about these very Jamestown settlers:

“[They] did not have even a modified interest in the soil … Everything produced by them went into the [public] store, in which they had no ownership.”

Thus, all grew idle and most, in the end, refused to work at all.

“The absence of property rights – and of the work-reward nexus that such rights create – completely destroyed the work ethic of the settlers” (Thomas Dilorenzo, How Capitalism Saved America).

Frustrated, flummoxed, flailing, the British government, which had financed the colonization, sent in 1611 a man named Sir Thomas Dale to serve as “High Marshal of the Virginian Colony.” Listen closely to what Mr. Dale observed; it is astounding and yet perfectly predictable:

“Dale noted that although most of the settlers had starved to death, the remaining ones were spending much of their time playing games in the streets, and he immediately identified the problem: the system of communal ownership” (Ibid).

It was then that the High Marshal Sir Thomas Dale gave every man three acres of land for each to own unto himself. He simultaneously did away with pooling into a communal treasury. Private property, in other words, was officially enacted and public ownership abolished.

Immediately the colony began to prosper.

The notorious “free-rider problem,” endemic to socialism of every strain, vanished as each person became his own master – as each person bore the full brunt of inaction and non-productivity. At the same time, every person had incentive to work harder since harder work meant greater prosperity and a direct benefit to each from that labor.

One of the fundamental flaws of socialism of every stripe is that it assumes that people will work just as hard or harder for others as they will work for themselves. This is untrue. It’s untrue because it is contrary not only to human nature but also to the nature of life. Jamestown shows us a historical illustration of this writ large.

Re: Down With Capitalism!

liberty student — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:44:41 GMT

Happy Thanksgiving fellas and ladies.

Re: Down With Capitalism!

BrianAnderson — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:32:58 GMT

Wrote my own here as well even though it's short :) thanks for posting these!

Re: Down With Capitalism!

Prateek Sanjay — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:55:59 GMT

I think the British, French, and Dutch should have their own Thanksgiving for having kicked the future Americans out of their country.

Down With Capitalism!

krazy kaju — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:25:45 GMT

Just kidding!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Lest anyone forget, the true meaning of Thanksgiving is about how free markets saved the Pilgrims from almost certain starvation. So please enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner and make sure you start a fight with one of your relatives about free markets and capitalism. (; And if you need to brush up on Thanksgiving history, here's a small reading/watching list:

A Tale of Two Colonies (Yes, it's on the frontpage!)

The Pilgrims and Property

The True Story of Thanksgiving... by Rush Limbaugh (lol)

The Great Thanksgiving Hoax

So please, enjoy your turkey, and please have a great Thanksgiving. (:

General

Re: Down With Capitalism!

Re: Down With Capitalism!

Re: Down With Capitalism!

Re: Down With Capitalism!

Down With Capitalism!