Baby Boomers vs. Millenials?

CNN.com interviewed a young man named Matthew Segal today; he's the head of a new organization name 80millionstrong.org. The "80 million" are the Generation Y Americans, otherwise known as "millenials."

During the short interview, the young Mr. Segal never once mentions capitalism, private property, personal responsibility, hard work, or any other valuable attribute that built this country. Instead, he states that his group wants to convene in Washington D. C. with similar groups to "propose solutions . . . to create legislation." So the government is the solution once again! Instead of reading How Capitalism Saved America by Thomas DiLorenzo and then embracing the most moral economic system yet devised, he does what a typical big-government loving American always does - looks to the government to solve his economic problems.

He also wants special treatment for the millenials. He states that the government should be "freeing the flow of credit," while providing "tax breaks and lower interest rates." Never mind that I may need a loan (I'm a baby-boomer) - this program is for "young companies with young ideas" according to Mr. Segal.

Segal is also upset that "young people are targeted by credit card companies." He admits that many college students use the cards for textbooks, food, shelter, etc., but it doesn't sit well with him. He wants yet another government solution. (I think many of his fellow millenials will be upset if the government starts restricting their credit cards).

He's also upset that kids whose parents have money seem to have an advantage - "parents help subsidize their living, their food, and their transportation costs." Hmm, maybe I should let my two young daughters know now that Matthew disapproves of what I plan to do (help my kids) and maybe I shouldn't do it.

In summary, we have a young man who probably has no training at all in life, liberty, and private property. He's probably been brainwashed by both parents and schools that the market doesn't work, capitalism stinks, and that we need more government. Poor kid. Even if introduced to great sites like mises.org, fee.org, or fff.org, he probably wouldn't get it.

Capitalism at its finest

Walt Disney was a wealthy man. Why? Because he pleased millions of people. One of his dreams, Disney World, is a true testament to the power of the most moral economic system on the planet: capitalism.

Having just returned from my first visit there, I am still blown away. The food was great, service awesome, shows and rides incredible. And it costs Disney World a fortune to provide all of that to the world. The payroll at the Magic Kingdom alone is $1.1 billion a year. The amount spent on maintenance: $100 million!

Anyone who advocates socialism should spend a few days at Disney World. No government in the world can plan the parks the way the Disney corporation has. Without the incentive that capitalism provides, a government-run theme park would be a disaster. The government can't even run a simple railroad (AMTRAK) properly - so how could they plan theme parks that employ thousands? The old saying will always hold true: markets work, central planning doesn't.

Americans love capitalism, not democracy

It's capitalism Americans love more, not democracy. We spend almost all of our time, minus time for family, seeking more wealth by working harder, smarter, and longer to purchase the nicer car, house, plasma tv, Wii, DS (for the kids), clothes, gardens, etc. etc.

A tiny percentage of Americans actually subscribe to a political or economic journal, even though they remember seeing them on the shelves at the library while in college. Billions more is spent on fiction novels. Write to the representative in Congress? Hardly. Take part in demonstrations? Not likely. Write letters to the editor of the local newspaper? Once in awhile. Americans don't do their civic duty, partly because they are uniformed of the issues, but mainly because they are actively engaged in what they love more: capitalism. After all, capitalism pleases us.

Most Americans, however, do take part in a ritual every four years: the mainstream media's successful efforts to whip us into a frenzy about the election of the next decider-in-chief. Yet for 80 years, it hasn't made a whit of difference. 80 years of more government, more taxes, more regulation, more war, less liberty, and on, and on, and on.

Here's two great reads to begin the discussion on capitalism and democracy: How Capitalism Saved America by Thomas DiLorenzo, and Democracy: The God That Failed by Hans Herman Hoppe.

My apologies to those who actually do get involved on a monthly basis by writing letters, reading journals, etc. It's not my intention to lump you in with the uniformed and the apothetic.

Were the "titans of industry" good guys?

Whenever I cover Vanderbilt, Morgan, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould and others in class, the overall first impression my students give me is that the "titans of industry" were really "robber barons" who capitalized on people in order to obtain wealth. Yet a closer examination is necessary, and it reveals that these men knew what created wealth: please thousands or millions of people.

As I hear presidential candidate John Edwards villify the oil companies, I think about The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom. Also, here's an article from the June, 1998 issue of The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, called The Ghost of John D. Rockefeller. Thanks to The Foundation for Economic Education for publishing Thomas DiLorenzo's article.