Every now and then some yahoo tries to convince me that the inevitable end result of all victimhood based activism is not communism and a basically parasitic economy. They try and do this… but they fail. They fail because if you listen to anyone whining about how evil “the man” is you will inevitebly come to the point where they complain about how wrong it is to measure the value of someones effort in monetary terms.
As exhibit A I give you this silliness by Maia from the not-a-give-away-at-all blog “Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty“.
“If work was structured around people’s needs then almost everyone would be able to do at least some useful work every week. Sickness and Invalid beneficiaries exist because we throw people on the scrap heap and decide we can’t use them if they don’t meet the very specific needs of business (can work the same number of hours each week, can operate in a workplace environment without modifying that environment, can deal with stress, and so on).” – Maia whining about government cheese, or something
It makes you wonder if people like this have even the most minimal grasp of how economics actually work. Obviously they are convinced that value and money (the measure of value for exchange purposes) simply happen. They feel this because in their world it does. They never really felt compelled to create any wealth and as such they have no real concept that anyone has to create it. Their idea of wealth creation is to find a way to get the government to give them more of someone else’s earning. There is no other explanation.
Here is the simple reality. In order for your work product to be of any value economically (and thus earn you some money) you need to be capable of producing something that someone else wants to pay you for. Complaining about this simple reality is a lot like whining about gravity being “unfair”.
In Maia’s universe of course this is evil. Somehow, she feels, people should be compensated for work even if that work does not result in a product or value that the market (i.e. anyone else) values enough to pay for. Work, she feels, should be structured so that people can get paid regardless of whether or not their output is desired.
My question is simple – who is stuck actually creating the wealth that will drive the economy needed to support everyone else? Because sooner or later someone has to actually do things that people value, and create the things people need. It is only when those who are creating things (value and wealth) have worked hard enough to have an excess that the economy is capable of absorbing and supporting those who cannot contribute to it.
This is not a judgment of someone as a human being – but it is an economic reality. I have a friend who is currently unable to contribute in full measure to the economy at the moment. Fortunately he has skills that do allow him to provide services and knowledge that people find valuable enough to pay for… as his health improves he will become more and more self supporting and begin to generate excess wealth that will allow him luxuries. Until then, however, he is making use of the safety net our government provides as well as private health insurance he earned by working his ass off.
I am thrilled that this is available for him. I am thrilled that he had help when he needed it.
However I am not at all confused about the reality of how and why he can be helped this way. He can be helped (by the government, by private insurance, by his friends, by his family) only because there are people who are doing such a good job of adding value to the economy that we, as a nation, have the luxury of being able to help someone who (for whatever reason) cannot produce enough wealth to be self sufficient.
The world Maia wants would work for a while – right up until they had ridden the producers into the ground. Right up until they had eaten their way through the excess. Right up until they had no one left to break into a harness ready to drag the dead weight around.
Sooner or later, someone has to actually produce something.
p.s. As a primer, I suggest “Atlas Shrugged“. Maia and her ilk will hate it, but that doesn’t make the principles illustrated within one bit less true.
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