Re: BOOK: The Mystery of Capital

From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Sat Oct 20 2001 - 10:13:08 MDT


From: "Mike Lorrey" <mlorrey@datamann.com>
> That's the key requirement, since a person's home is generally either
> the only or the largest capital asset they ever acquire in their lives.
> Preventing them from being able to leverage that capital is a great
> damper on any effort to create a true market economy.

Yes, that's what I think most critics of capitalism forget. They tend to
define capitalism in terms of greedy corporate bosses and ignore that most
capital is in the form of real estate, which means homes and farms.

> Its part of the non-trust mindset. For example, in some former communist
> countries, housing became privatized, but home/apartment dwellers who
> now 'own' their own homes are statutorily prevented from being able to
> sell their own property (except to state agencies) because the state
> doesn't trust them to be intelligent enough to deal well on the open
> market (and doesn't trust that most people won't be pressured into
> selling for lowball offers to mafioso). Of course, these people wouldn't
> be intimidated by mafioso if they also had the right to keep and bear
> arms, but thats a whole other story (as far as some people here are
> concerned).

Well, in fact, I think gun ownership is an intrinsic part of capitalist
infrastructure and we ought to remember that America was founded (as P. J.
O'Rourke is fond of reminding everyone) by religious fanatics with guns. As
some of that Puritan fanaticism has subsided, so has some of the awareness of
the importance of armed citizens.

I wonder if de Soto addresses this issue in his book.

--- --- --- --- ---

Useless hypotheses, etc.:
 consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment

We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces superstition.



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