The thing about capitalism that Rand misses

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There is a big thing about capitalism that Rand misses - or at least doesn't say in this simple way - and it is that people are only successful when they GIVE more than they GET. This applies at every level.

Capitalism ONLY WORKS when the consumer wins. The more people you serve, the more you will get in return.

Now, successful capitalists understand that it's all about value to the consumer.

It's NOT ABOUT the business owner and it's NOT ABOUT the employee. It's ALL ABOUT consumer value.

Once a business owner really gets it, they focus on maximizing value to the consumer and their business takes off. The profits go up, the wages go up as the business owner learns to maximize employee productivity. Moreover, a successful business owner is a leader and understands that a WIN-WIN deal is the only kind that will last.

The first time someone gets greedy (be it the owner or the employee) the system begins to break down and EVERYONE GETS LESS. EVERYONE GETS LESS!

Everyone has to give more to the consumer than they get if they want to get MORE for themselves.

The highest paid employees and the wealthiest business owners give MORE to the consumer than everyone else. They're more productive. They're more efficient and they pass the value along to the consumer.

So, when you hear some "expert" (expert in quotes to show sarcasm) like Falcon say he doesn't care about being a slave to money, it just shows he hasn't the FIRST fucking clue what capitalism is all about. Successful capitalists are SLAVES TO THE CONCEPT OF INCREASING CONSUMER VALUE.

If you want MORE MONEY, you have to GIVE MORE FIRST.

That's what makes capitalism work. It's a big-ass act of creating value and giving MORE than you're getting.

Successful capitalism is all about GIVING.

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Ayn Rand spent DECADES artfully describing the RESULTS of different political mind-sets.

She was GREAT at describing what happens in a political philosophy where the mind is valued and contrasts it with the results of when it isn't.

OK, great, her lessons are correct and should be understood.

HOWEVER, you have to understand where her lesson ends.

She clearly has no practical knowledge of HOW TO EMPLOY capitalism. She doesn't know how to actually harness other peoples' abilities, she just knows and describes that those abilities exist.

She doesn't know HOW to make it work, she just knows that it does work.

She doesn't know HOW TO EMPLOY IT HERSELF, she just knows that certain people will do it when they're FREE to do so.

That's the danger in taking something like Rand and turning her words into some kind of gospel.

Her viewpoint, while completely valid from a macro standpoint, falls flat when it comes to the practical application of capitalism.

I didn't even stop to think about this until I saw how limited Falcon's ideas of capitalism are. After reading some of his comments, I thought to myself, "How could he not understand the most basic concepts of something he's preaching?"

I took a second look at what Rand had written and I saw that Falcon doesn't understand it because Rand didn't get in to it. She didn't get into HOW it works. She stopped short and just explained that it does work.

SO, the whole point of this post is this: If you need a lesson in the different results that you get from communism and capitalism and don't mind wading through a soap-opera type framework, Ayn Rand is a great teacher.

However, if you want to know HOW to apply capitalism in a realistic and workable format, you have to look elsewhere.

She didn't know HOW it works, she just described that it does.

[AmericanPride]

That's the problem with libertarians in general. Nice ideas that are not practical.

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americanpride2 said:

That's the problem with libertarians in general. Nice ideas that are not practical.

Yeah, but please understand that when you PROPERLY and CORRECTLY understand and apply the rules of capitalism, it is infinitely practical.

In fact, it's the ONLY WAY from what I can see.

The consumer gets what they want at a price they can afford. It's really no more complicated than that. Look at what Henry Ford did! That guy is my hero.