Why I destest the neo liberal position

[Philip Copeman]

The study of economics is how we allocate limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants.

Let me explain why I detest the neo liberal position:

In South Africa we have a bloated civil service. At 3.2 Million people, more work for the SA Government than the US Federal Government. We run a deficit of 25% of tax collection. Government workers are pandered by theft from the private sector and theft from the future. This is the inevitable course of classical (worker) socialism. This status quo is vigorous endorsed by the ruling party (ANC) AND the official opposition (DA). If you are distressed about this scenario and don't want to break it down to a smaller Government, you are only distressed about it because you are not part of the 3.2 Million.

Anyone that understands the mechanics of production (anyone that has ever worked to make profit and paid company income tax or capital gains tax) understands the pitfalls and difficulties that await the entrepreneur. In South African less that 1% of young people are voluntarily entrepreneurs. Of these, 50% fail in their first year and disappear back into the 99%. To take the successful participants and brand them as evil, is simply the cruel rantings of the uninformed.

It is easy to understand demand, the need for more - it is in everyone of us. It is easy to empathize with those who are less able to produce, but still have the desire to consume. It is much more difficult to understand the mechanics of how these demand needs are fed (they are never satisfied).

Capitalism is a vicious and merciless system, driven not by a secret clan, but by the greed and fickle decision making process of the consumer masses. In this respect, we are all "agents of capital". Without the greed of the poorest to richest citizens, who all keep demanding more, there would be no need to produce. No need for Capital. Capitalism is a treadmill driven from the ground up, satisfying the relentless needs of even the simplest of families.

The neo liberal position that you can move resources away from the most productive sectors of society and onto less productive sectors and we can somehow mystically "all be better off" is an act of deception.