OK, I've typed out a little more of what he was saying to give you some context. Warning, it's kind of long:
“This is a typical American family. These are not unusual people. He’s got $49,000 in student loan debt. He’s got $50,000 in credit card debt. That’s $100,000 in debt not counting his house. He makes $70,000 a year. He goes onto a car lot and GMAC leases him a car.
“Now, let’s first say, he’s an adult and he’s responsible for his stupid decisions ... but you’ve got to stop and pause for just a second and say, we’ve got a finance manager here that looks down at a guy making $70,000 a year that’s $100,000 in debt, not counting his house, and he says, ‘I’ve got a great idea. Let’s give this guy another $18,000 in debt so that I can sell him a car.’
“Well, it’s not the car dealer’s fault - car dealers are supposed to sell cars. I understand. It’s not GMAC’s fault - their job is to help lease cars so that car dealers can sell cars. I understand. I really don’t disagree with that statement. But, see, I believe in a thing I called sanctified capitalism. Capitalism without morals, without a value system, without worrying about and thinking about other people in the process of doing business with them, is not capitalism, it’s anarchy. It’s ‘There are no rules, you can do whatever you can get away with.’ That is not capitalism. That’s not the capitalism that Adam Smith wrote about - the father of capitalism. There’s the breakdown in our culture. That’s where these people that are socialists that want the government to fix everything - that’s where they get a foothold in the political process and in our cultural debate. When companies like that car dealer and GMAC say, ‘Whatever I can get away with, that’s within the law, this guy’s stupid, he shouldn’t be doing this, but that’s not my job to babysit him.’ See, that’s not capitalism because there’s no moral obligation to serve the customer here.”
3 comments:
i'd be interested in hearing your take on this position. i'm not quite sure that i "get" it.
OK, I've typed out a little more of what he was saying to give you some context. Warning, it's kind of long:
“This is a typical American family. These are not unusual people. He’s got $49,000 in student loan debt. He’s got $50,000 in credit card debt. That’s $100,000 in debt not counting his house. He makes $70,000 a year. He goes onto a car lot and GMAC leases him a car.
“Now, let’s first say, he’s an adult and he’s responsible for his stupid decisions ... but you’ve got to stop and pause for just a second and say, we’ve got a finance manager here that looks down at a guy making $70,000 a year that’s $100,000 in debt, not counting his house, and he says, ‘I’ve got a great idea. Let’s give this guy another $18,000 in debt so that I can sell him a car.’
“Well, it’s not the car dealer’s fault - car dealers are supposed to sell cars. I understand. It’s not GMAC’s fault - their job is to help lease cars so that car dealers can sell cars. I understand. I really don’t disagree with that statement. But, see, I believe in a thing I called sanctified capitalism. Capitalism without morals, without a value system, without worrying about and thinking about other people in the process of doing business with them, is not capitalism, it’s anarchy. It’s ‘There are no rules, you can do whatever you can get away with.’ That is not capitalism. That’s not the capitalism that Adam Smith wrote about - the father of capitalism. There’s the breakdown in our culture. That’s where these people that are socialists that want the government to fix everything - that’s where they get a foothold in the political process and in our cultural debate. When companies like that car dealer and GMAC say, ‘Whatever I can get away with, that’s within the law, this guy’s stupid, he shouldn’t be doing this, but that’s not my job to babysit him.’ See, that’s not capitalism because there’s no moral obligation to serve the customer here.”
o i c now ... thanks for taking the time to type all that out. i do enjoy D.R. from time to time.
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