:: Out of 261 million Americans, you have found 2 who are NEITHER capitalists NOR proletarians.:: Indeed, Kevin and Jack are ARTISANS.
Not relevant to my point, Barry. Jack would have hired me had I followed through. I didn't follow through because I had a better gig then. Nevertheless, I didn't starve by refusing to accept that capitalists job. I might starve by refusing to accept every capitalists job but that would happen because I would be proven as ill inclined to work at all - something that leads to hunger in any socio-economic system that hopes to flourish. Kevin won't hire me or anyone else because he doesn't trust anybody else to live to his expectations of craftsmanship.
:: BUT you attempt to posit these two isolated artisan producers as the apotheosis of CAPITALIST virtue and hard-work---which they CANNOT do because they are NOT capitalists.
You read Marx well but you never read my posts well. I only pointed out that the natural inequity of life is present in this example. I did not posit these two as any virue of capitaism. They are both virtuous, to be sure but that is no reflection of capitaism. Are you being obtuse or are you just trying to obfuscate?
:: Live by the anecdote,
:: Hang on for dear life by obfuscation.
The salient comments of that post were contained in the following exerpt:
"The question socialists who embrace the LTV must ask themselves is
whether or not Kevin actually does any more work than another guitar
builder. He doesn't, of course. He is simply more talented at it and that is all. Just like those who own and play Kevin's instruments, an
extraordinary commitment of time, money, or energy does not necessarily produce extraordinary results. Here we have manifested the natural inequity of life.
I believe I put a face on my arguments with my anecdotal accounts of
life. The struggle to support one's views with unproved theory while
disparaging the examples of reality is the same lack of virtue that
makes it hard for an ordinary person to look someone directly in the
eye while lying to them. It's impossible to face the truth when one has
too much invested in a falsehood. The liar has his integrity at stake.
The socialist has far too many years of time and energy committed to
the theoretical world of academia at stake.
Nevertheless, under a socialist system Kevin will not be allowed to
sell his instruments for $4500. He will be relegated to risking the
wrath of the state as a black marketeer or his talent will be thwarted
altogether and the world deprived of his art. Any socialist economic
system that coerces egalitarianism will oppress talent and initiative as it always has. There is nothing new under the sun, as Solomon would
say."
Please apply a little critical thinking and answer that if you can, Barry - or are you having trouble looking me in the eye?
:: BTW, does everyone here know that Stuart---who IS a capitalist---proudly does not offer his employees health benefits PLUS he proudly pays his employees by the piece?
You hope that a distortion of my sense of humor and generosity is going to defeat me? You have scraped the bottom of your barrel to discredit my examples that contradict your nonsensical LTV. After having worn it through, you are slinging the mud under it.
I am evaluating medical programs now. I had 2 employees at the beginning of this year. That included myself and a private contractor.
I now have 10 full time employees and this ride isn't over yet. If I haven't provided medical benefits to my employees, it isn't because I'm cheap. It's because I haven't had any smooth running since the snowball started rolling and I couldn't determine profitablity to any certainty to make a decision to do so. As for compensation, no one here would go back to working hourly if I wanted them to - which I don't.
You try this sometime, Barry. See if you can handle it any better than me. Oops, I forgot you would never aspire to such a thing as employing people - another micocosm of the miserable failure of socialistic systems.
Stuart Gort
