January 7, 2008
On Prosperitarianism
The pursuit, defense, and propagation of liberty qua liberty is a superb endeavor. This blog is named for a Natan Sharansky quote that still gives me chills. Sharansky -- who faced evil -- said "During my long journey through the world of evil, I had discovered three sources of power: the power of an individual's inner freedom, the power of a free society, and the power of the solidarity of the free world."
I have long identified with "the libertarian wing" of the Republican Party -- more so after reading Ryan Sager's superb Elephant in the Room. That's me: a Mountain West fiscal conservative. I always stole Milton Friedman’s line "I'm a little-l libertarian and a big-R Republican." Hayek concludes his superb Constitution of Liberty with a chapter titled "Why I Am Not a Conservative." I agree with every word.
I’m comfortable calling myself a "classical liberal" but that means something to about eleven people.
Watching the Republican Candidate's Forum last night (poor man's group therapy), I finally realized what I am. I am a Prosperitarian. An innovation-slut. A growth whore. A political Paris Hilton who hopes the party never ends. Following "The Kudlow Creed" (I believe that free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity), all my positions can be predicted by their effect on global economic growth.
I like law and order (it's good for business and property right protection), yet I argue on these pages for leniency for illegal immigrants. I'm the last guy to endorse a boycott. I support free trade with sometimes despotic regimes. I support the Iraq War and the war on terrorism because I believe in the importance of Deepak Lal's Liberal International Economic Orders (think Pax Americana).
Perhaps Rep. Ron Paul is correct that it is an abrogation of liberty to tax John Q. Citizen to fund the Iraqi liberation. In a strict view of American liberty (qua liberty again) it is a defensible position. I disagree because I see it as a gift to the region -- and a key component in the continuation of global growth.
Likewise, Paul has a point that the 100 year old man who has been putting 20s in an old sock for fifty years is hurt by Fed-induced inflation. Yet I think that supplying the liquidity to support growth and (less controversially) prevent deflationary shocks is more conducive to prosperity.
Being a Prosperitarian is less cool than being a libertarian (though I would consider us yet another faction of the already splintered nine per cent). It’s more fun to rail against The Patriot Act and FISA. This month’s Reason Magazine has a cartoon taking Walgreen's Drug Stores to task for its handling of the "morning after pill" called "The War on Reproduction." But I contend that growth, innovation, modernity and prosperity has brought more individual freedom to the world than a thousand ACLU suits.
How about just 'Prosperism?'
Posted by: johngalt at January 7, 2008 12:25 PMLibertee, Prosperitee, Fraternitee.
Posted by: jk at January 7, 2008 12:29 PMNice elevator talk JK. It calls for complementary Ayn Rand quotes:
"When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so on the conviction that you will be able to exchange it for the products of the effort of others. It is neither the moochers nor the looters who give value to money. Neither an ocean of tears nor all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should really be gold, are a token of honor - your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on the moral principle that is the root of money." -Ayn Rand
This is the philosophical basis for free market capitalism. It is the irreplaceable fuel for innovation and growth.
And another:
"Run for your life from anyone who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another - their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of the gun." -Ayn Rand
This is the philosophical basis for the liberation of Iraq by the US armed forces and the US taxpayer. We are liberating them from the muzzles of many guns that they may deal with us, and we with them, using money instead. Ron Paul and those further to the left call it "protecting oil" but I call it "protecting our right to BUY oil."
As for the 100 year-old man collecting Greenbacks, whose fault is it he wasn't smart enough to squirrel away Euros instead?
Posted by: johngalt at January 7, 2008 3:50 PMI was thinking that he could have shorted dollar denominated derivatives on margin and really raked it in. Or perhaps he could have simply invested his money in growing American businesses.
Other than that, thanks for the kind words
Posted by: jk at January 7, 2008 4:08 PMjg, it's his "fault" in the same way it would be my "fault" were I to be mugged while walking alone around, say, East New York at midnight. Yeah, it's not the smartest thing to do, and perhaps one should be more aware of the surroundings, but that still does not justify the crime.
Right now, the U.S. economy is just damned lucky that China (with Japan and South Korea to a lesser extent) wants to continue buying our Treasury securities. The dollar is losing value in the short-term, but Asians are betting on our long-term growth. By the time the Chinese will roll over one of our matured 30-years that they bought today, much of Europe will likely be deep into poor economic growth, stemming from its rapidly aging society. Japan has an even worse demographic problem, so it similarly puts its faith in American investments. But all that could change if the Fed makes things bad enough.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at January 7, 2008 4:29 PMWell said, Perry. A Greenback should not be like a Foley's gift card, depreciating 3 percent per year if you choose not to trade with it for a while.
I was hoping my praise for the Euro would be enough to convince readers it was a joke. Maybe I need to take a more active approach to Euro-bashing first.
Posted by: johngalt at January 8, 2008 4:45 PMOur European friends have their flaws in politics and personal hygiene, but their prowess at central-banking is pretty well established.
Now if you had said Canadian Loonies, I would have laughed (then cried).
Posted by: jk at January 8, 2008 6:39 PM | What do you think? [7]