Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on October 16, 2011
Job creators – Milton Friedman
Over the weekend, I told a friend’s father about this website, which opened the door for him to talk about his worries for the future.
He thinks we’re headed for class warfare: all out violence of the poor against the people who have something. He complained about how the masses keep procreating, and this population explosion begets more poor children growing up in poorly parented circumstances.
Okay. So there are poor people who aren’t able to give their children everything they need. But does violence solve these problems? When has violence ever solved anything?
In fact, why be so negative?
People don’t want to live in negative thoughts. They are taught negative thoughts and then they either perseverate in those thoughts or they don’t. It’s up to the thinker. I will go even farther: people who think negative thoughts bring about those events that match their thoughts. It’s the old self-fulfilling prophecy.
My guess is that poor people do want to improve their circumstances. You don’t even have to light a fire under people; they always want to improve their lot in life. All you have to do is give them a chance, and they will take it.
I see a different future than my friend’s father: I see a future where the people who “have” care about the people who have not. They are willing to share, and they will do so within the context they are accustomed: they will invest in companies that provide jobs that improve the economy of the United States of America.
Until then, we will have more doomsayers and plenty to worry about.
Remember the “job creators?” We have to trust that they will start doing what they promised.
Post Script: Guess those job creators are just too lazy to get America back to work! Unemployment is still too high, and the numbers of children living in poverty is still rising. What’s wrong with this picture?
Did trickle down economics work?
How many ways could Milton Friedman be wrong? He was wrong about the free market being a good system (there’s winners in a free market, but many losers too) about self-regulation actually working, (no banking elites were ever reported for fraud in the subprime mortgage debacle because the banks won’t report their own managers) about big government being bad for business (it’s great for those who get subsidies!) and about vouchers for school systems making for better education (they only break up a sense of community. If my kid gets a voucher and yours doesn’t, too bad, right?) If Milton Friedman were alive today, I’d like to show him around this world he helped create and give him a piece of my mind.