Every era has a currency that buys souls. In some the currency is pride, in others it is hope, in still others it is a holy cause. There are of course times when hard cash will buy souls, and the remarkable thing is that such times are marked by civility, tolerance, and the smooth working of everyday life.
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American prosperity and American free enterprise are both highly unusual in the world, and we should not overlook the possibility read more
American prosperity and American free enterprise are both highly unusual in the world, and we should not overlook the possibility that the two are connected.
Usually the greatest boasters are the smallest workers. The deep rivers pay a larger tribute to the sea than shallow read more
Usually the greatest boasters are the smallest workers. The deep rivers pay a larger tribute to the sea than shallow brooks, and yet empty themselves with less noise.
I don't even get an allowance.
I don't even get an allowance.
Money is the fruit of evil, as often as the root of it.
Money is the fruit of evil, as often as the root of it.
High premiums are being paid today not particularly for quality service or long-term building of a business but rather for read more
High premiums are being paid today not particularly for quality service or long-term building of a business but rather for making money quickly, getting rich, and getting out. And that's wrong.
The rich adopt novelties and become accustomed to their use. This sets a fashion which others imitate. Once the richer read more
The rich adopt novelties and become accustomed to their use. This sets a fashion which others imitate. Once the richer classes have adopted a certain way of living, producers have an incentive to improve the methods of manufacture so that soon it is possible for the poorer classes to follow suit. Thus luxury furthers progress. Innovation "is the whim of an elite before it becomes a need of the public. The luxury today is the necessity of tomorrow." Luxury is the roadmaker of progress: it develops latent needs and makes people discontented. In so far as they think consistently, moralists who condemn luxury must recommend the comparatively desireless existence of the wild life roaming in the woods as the ultimate ideal of civilized life.
Not understanding the process of a spontaneously-ordered economy goes hand-in-hand with not understanding the creation of resources and wealth. And read more
Not understanding the process of a spontaneously-ordered economy goes hand-in-hand with not understanding the creation of resources and wealth. And when a person does not understand the creation of resources and wealth, the only intellectual alternative is to believe that increasing wealth must be at the cost of someone else. This belief that our good fortune must be an exploitation of others may be the taproot of false prophecy about doom that our evil ways must bring upon us.
The City's reluctance to take a stand on an issue like the British Gas pay row makes a mockery of read more
The City's reluctance to take a stand on an issue like the British Gas pay row makes a mockery of corporate governance and shareholders' ability to influence annual general meetings. Institutions should be obliged to make public how they vote at such events. They should be obliged to provide customers with a record of how they vote on every kind of issue.
I've been promoted to middle management. I never thought I'd sink so low.
I've been promoted to middle management. I never thought I'd sink so low.
