When my book Responsible Liberty goes to press later this year, you will see a reference to this phrase. Many people snark on capitalism, which trend is not helped by President Obama’s crusade to sweep achievement from the realm of possibility. The problem is not with capitalism. Capitalism has built everything that we enjoy. What is wrong with capitalism is the people who pervert its principles.
Two weeks ago, I placed an order for a large number of books. One of those sellers, whose name I shall not disclose, elected to cancel the order even though they clearly showed other copies of that same title on their website. These other copies were about $0.25 more than the one I had purchased, but if I feared that if I tried to purchase those, they would cancel orders again and again so as to ablate the combined shipping discount as a way to get more money.
Contrast that to a book I bought last year. Several weeks after shipping, they contacted me to inform me that the book had been lost in the mail and that they would be sending a replacement free of charge. What service!
I have had more problems with individuals in eBAY than with any other media ever. Most companies will make concessions, partial refunds, or send a substitute item, but many of these go unanswered in arbitration and I get nothing back for my money. There are plenty of scam artists out there. Facebook is positively flush with them in the ad section at the right side of the screen, advertising things like “I became rich in 4 weeks being lazy. Read my story and do the same”. However, there are plenty of really good people everywhere you go who are doing their best to do their duty.
I make an effort whenever I can to praise people for good service. Just recently, I received letters back from Southwest Airlines and from Mount Vernon whilst on my trip to DC, after which I wrote positive reviews. Once I even called one of those semi-truck “how am I driving” lines to give positive feedback. The dispatcher didn’t know what to do with it.
Part of the problem is that positive feedback isn’t chronicled well. When some students praised me as their substitute, I asked the professor if I could get that put on my permanent record, but it doesn’t work that way. Mostly, if nobody talks about you, you’re doing fine.
Most businesses are full of normal people who do just fine. Some of the richest men on earth however got there by taking advantage of other people. How many Bernie Madoffs have there been? How many Joseph Rockefellers? How many pyramid schemes? But they are not the majority of capitalists. There are millions of small businessmen in the world and we never hear their names because they do their job and treat people justly. Even if the CEOs are bad, it doesn’t mean everyone there is. Even if the CEO is an angel, it doesn’t mean everyone who works there will be just and true.
If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, any organization is only as good as the person who works there with the lowest morality. Like GK Chesterton said, the problem with society is that too few people ask what is right, what they ought to do, and then do it. Capitalism, like government, is only as good as the people of whom it is comprised. If you populate its ranks with crooks, it will appear to be bad, but looks can be deceiving.
Two weeks ago, I placed an order for a large number of books. One of those sellers, whose name I shall not disclose, elected to cancel the order even though they clearly showed other copies of that same title on their website. These other copies were about $0.25 more than the one I had purchased, but if I feared that if I tried to purchase those, they would cancel orders again and again so as to ablate the combined shipping discount as a way to get more money.
Contrast that to a book I bought last year. Several weeks after shipping, they contacted me to inform me that the book had been lost in the mail and that they would be sending a replacement free of charge. What service!
I have had more problems with individuals in eBAY than with any other media ever. Most companies will make concessions, partial refunds, or send a substitute item, but many of these go unanswered in arbitration and I get nothing back for my money. There are plenty of scam artists out there. Facebook is positively flush with them in the ad section at the right side of the screen, advertising things like “I became rich in 4 weeks being lazy. Read my story and do the same”. However, there are plenty of really good people everywhere you go who are doing their best to do their duty.
I make an effort whenever I can to praise people for good service. Just recently, I received letters back from Southwest Airlines and from Mount Vernon whilst on my trip to DC, after which I wrote positive reviews. Once I even called one of those semi-truck “how am I driving” lines to give positive feedback. The dispatcher didn’t know what to do with it.
Part of the problem is that positive feedback isn’t chronicled well. When some students praised me as their substitute, I asked the professor if I could get that put on my permanent record, but it doesn’t work that way. Mostly, if nobody talks about you, you’re doing fine.
Most businesses are full of normal people who do just fine. Some of the richest men on earth however got there by taking advantage of other people. How many Bernie Madoffs have there been? How many Joseph Rockefellers? How many pyramid schemes? But they are not the majority of capitalists. There are millions of small businessmen in the world and we never hear their names because they do their job and treat people justly. Even if the CEOs are bad, it doesn’t mean everyone there is. Even if the CEO is an angel, it doesn’t mean everyone who works there will be just and true.
If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, any organization is only as good as the person who works there with the lowest morality. Like GK Chesterton said, the problem with society is that too few people ask what is right, what they ought to do, and then do it. Capitalism, like government, is only as good as the people of whom it is comprised. If you populate its ranks with crooks, it will appear to be bad, but looks can be deceiving.
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