Man: Good or Evil? (Show 088)
On last week’s show on economic freedom, Mosley discussed a common argument against capitalism. The argument states that the capitalist assumes a mistaken view of human nature, namely, that given freedom, he will act morally. This led to the question, “Is man inherently good, evil, or neither?” that served as the main topic for this show.
Topics include: Thomas Hobbes and the view of man as a brute; man as neither inherently good nor evil; the reward and motivation for choosing to be good; contradictions in the Hobbesian view and argument for government intervention; altruism as wrongfully assumed as standard for whether man is good; the good as in man’s interest, but remains his choice; charities in a capitalist society; government “charity”/welfare parallel to FDA and regulatory institutions; cultural shift required for capitalism to work; example of paying tips at restaurant; capitalism in theory vs. practice; activism and successful argumentation; etc.
December 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
“. . . a common argument against capitalism . . . states that the capitalist assumes a mistaken view of human nature, namely, that given freedom, he will act morally.”
In the particular form that I often hear such an argument, the argument is (intentionally or not) a straw man argument, at least when directed at me.
I am an advocate of capitalism. I do not assume that everyone in a free–that is, capitalist–society will act morally. I assume some won’t act morally. That is why capitalism means a political system, a government, that has one purpose and one purpose only: to protect the rights of individuals in that society to their life, liberty, and property. Crimes of violence and (more applicable to economics) fraud–both of which are acts of immorality against the rights of others–should be punishable.
December 25th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I don’t think that man is born as evil as good, I truly think that each person can become either of those depending on several factors. In some cases you can blame society for the outcome, but this rarely happens. In the end, it is all about luck and somewhat faith. And yes, capitalism in theory is much different that capitalism in practice.
February 28th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
You mention that you were leaning toward voting for Obama because Palin is anti-abortion. I am an atheist and pro-life because I believe government’s only role is to protect the rights (life, liberty, property) of individuals. That’s true whether it’s the rights of 90yr old parent who has become a burden to her 60 yr old children or an unborn infant who has become a burden for her 25 yr old mother.
Given the speed at which Obama is moving us toward socialism, I bet you wish you voted for the religious lesser of two evils