I find it infuriating that people spout off at the mouth about one thing while the opposite happens all around them. They say that government is the solution to our problems, that if we just give all the authority and responsibility for decisions into the hands of a small intellectual elite our lives will be idyllic. Well, on the corners in your neighborhood, some businesses are proving exactly the opposite. Your life improves when you have options, which come through competition. Capitalism is the economic model that pairs best with Darwinism, that those best able to adapt thrive. Allow me to illustrate.
Wendy's got the ball rolling saving people money at lunch. They launched their 4 for $4 deal which offers fries, nuggets, a burger and drink. Then Burger King jumped in offering the same price and adding a cookie. Last week Carl's Jr went for the gold offering two burgers instead of nuggets. Competition for your money at lunch first gave you a discount, then it gave you more, then it gave you a meal. Now, you may not want a greasy hamburger, but you can't argue with the amount you receive for the money, particularly in a time when everything else seems to cost us more and more and more. Here are just three major national chains within a few miles of where I sit while typing this who since the new year found a way to improve their bottom lines by leaving more in yours. You spend less per visit, you come more often, and in bulk their profits grow.
Competition and adaptation go hand in hand. If you truly believe that the strong survive, if you truly believe in non interference, you wouldn't believe in government. Government artificially picks winners and losers, handing money in grants and loans and tax breaks to companies that can't stand on their own like everything Elon Musk ever did while they put roadblocks in the way of other companies in an attempt to break them like Keystone XL. The appetites, desires, and passions of people being ephemeral in nature, the companies that either mold trends or best acclimate to them are those who grow, expand, and enrich their employees and stockholders. If you do this the best, you survive, while the rest fade away into obscurity and go the way of the dodo.
Only when we are free to compete do people get the best deal possible. Wendy's offered a good value compared to the alacart price. However, if this kind of food appeals to you, Carl's Jr. offers the ultimate best deal since you get two burgers instead of those blase "chicken" nuggets. Going to Carl's Jr. gives you the best value for your money relatively, and it's the same price. You can still eat for under $5 for lunch, and you can be full or overfull all afternoon! That is of benefit to you.
Now, I am not naive enough to think it's about you. What these capitalism examples show is that Covey had a point. The best arrangement is win-win. You save money or get more; the company makes more money because it does more business. Advocates of strong, centralized government will claim government will give you a win win, but it presumes that you wanted what government offers in the first place and that government will compete with itself to win your affectations. Government competes with the PEOPLE IT GOVERNS. Its major customer is also its major threat, and so it won't help the enemy in helping you do better. Our calamity is heightened by realization that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Meanwhile, 4 for $4, please, to go. I'm in a hurry...
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