I only just spotted this on CapX and it does help explain why I have a high opinion of ‘Guido Fawkes‘, warts and all: he has been on the side of the angels for a long, long time.
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In case anyone wonders why I love Guido FawkesNovember 13th, 2014 |
 8 comments to In case anyone wonders why I love Guido Fawkes |
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Very good.
I read it and it was certainly an interesting read. However, honestly the part at the end bothered me a little. “Capitalism” and “freedom” is nothing to do with leather seats and abundant breakfasts. For sure these things are a consequence of the abundance that freedom produces, but a gilded cage is still a cage.
And in many respects this lack of understanding that freedom is intrinsically a precious jewel, that is at the root of many of the problems we have today. Bread and circuses still works. So I think we all need to redouble our efforts to convince people that freedom from control is more important than freedom from want. And part of the reason is just because being in control of your life is valuable in itself, irrespective of the fact that freedom from control allows you to produce freedom from want.
Having said that, I remember the fall of the Berlin Wall; it was one of the most exciting things I ever remember seeing. Not just exciting, but plain unbelievable. A few years before, the Soviet Union seemed like a thousand year Empire.
Says someone who must have grown up in the west 😀 When I first went to Germany I almost fainted at how abundant food was. I knew what freedom and capitalism meant in abstract, but then that was what they looked like, sitting on a plate in front of me smiling back!
Indeed, Agnieszka – my experience was similar. I take Fraser’s point that one must understand the principles and not be concerned solely with their practical consequences. However, part of the principle of freedom, is that the cage may be gilded, but it is not made of gold. If it was, it would not have been much of a cage, gold being soft.
@Agnieszka Mierzejewo
If a person doesn’t understand why the breakfast is abundant, it won’t be long before he considers himself lucky to be dining on a stale crust of bread.
@Alisa, I’m sorry I got lost in the middle of your metaphor….
Fraser, forget the metaphor, it came out rather awkward. My point is that where there is no freedom, there is no prosperity – they are two sides of the same coin. What we witness in the West right now is not real prosperity, but rather millions and millions of people living on borrowed time and borrowed money.
Glad to have seen this piece. Thank you, Perry.
“… on helping the victims of communism”
A phrase we don’t hear often enough, sadly.