Pure Gold: Peter Schiff Debates Occupy Wall Streeters
This is simply just too cool. You can almost hear the collective "Occupy-I-am-entitled-to-everything-I-want-simply-because-I-have-a-pulse" synapses misfiring in the crowd as Peter Schiff engages them (poor saps have probably never even heard his viewpoint that he aptly expresses).
There are too many quotable moments from Schiff here, "WalMart doesn't hold a gun to their head" may just go down in interweb infamy:
I love how Allahpundit notes that Schiff pulls this thing off like an Austrian-school ninja.
Indeed.
More from Nick Gillespie at Reason.com:
Via Memeorandum."Did a corporation end slavery, or did the government end slavery?!?!"
That's the sort of question investment guru and radio show host Peter Schiff fielded as he debated Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters last week in New York's Zuccotti Park.
Schiff is no ordinary observer. As the prinicipal of the financial firm Euro Pacific Capital, he's a full-fledged and unapologetic member of "the 1 Percent." As an outspoken radio show host (listen online here) and commentator, he not only predicted the housing crash and financial crisis, he railed bank and auto-sector bailouts as they were happening. Schiff believes that capitalism offers is the only hope for young, frustrated people to have a vibrant and prosperous future (get information on his latest book, How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes, here). So he went to Occupy Wall Street to engage and debate the protesters.
Touring the Occupy Wall Street scene in New York with a sign that read "I Am the 1%, Let's Talk," Schiff spent more than three hours on the scene, explaining the difference between cronyism and capitalism, bailouts and balance sheets, and more.
"The regulation we want is the market," said Schiff. "That's what works."
That woman takes clueless to a new level.
ReplyDeleteA snapshot of the present and a reason to worry for the future.
ReplyDeleteSchiff is an autocrat of the worst sort, 'Bosses gave workers weekends, Bosses gave child labor laws to the people.' Oh, mighty 1% my lord and master please bequeath unto me an extra ration of porridge...
ReplyDeleteThe only thing Bosses and the 1% have given to their workers is wage slavery and death. That is American Capitalism's advancement. American Capitalism kills miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine, American Capitalism killed the oil rig workers in the gulf, American Capitalism killed US Marines in Iraq...
So Grung-e-Gene - Now that you have spoken your pearls of wisdom, is there anything you find good that is American?
ReplyDeleteAnd what would your plan be to make it better.
Or perhaps you would rather live in other countries where people were mas murdered by the government (Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, or a host of other countries where people were or are oppressed and are starving to death to boot.
So yeah, American capitalism has it faults, it is broke and needs fixing. It still is responsible for far less than you claim inyour drivel of BS.
YOU CAN BE PART OF THE RATIONAL SOLUTION, OR YOU CAN BE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
Right now we all now which side of the fence you occupy.
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ReplyDeleteGrunge said:
ReplyDelete1) The only thing Bosses and the 1% have given to their workers is wage slavery"
Slaves don't earn wages. However, bosses DO tend to pay workers for the exact and fair value of the work. You are simply lying. While there are a handful of slaves in the US, the amount is neglible. Almost all bosses give fair wages in return for work. The truth is the opposite of your "the only" claim.
2) "The only thing Bosses and the 1% have given to their workers is ... death"
While there ARE some cases of worker death in the workforce, these are VERY RARE. You are lying. Again the objective truth is the opposite of your "the only" claim. Did you bother to proofread before hitting "post comment"? It sure does not seem like it. No one but a complete loon would assert that the only thing bosses do is kill workers.
3) That is American Capitalism's advancement. American Capitalism kills miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine, American Capitalism killed the oil rig workers in the gulf"
Which is a tiny fraction of the workforce, and much of the blame for incidents you mention comes from accident, not boss failure.
4) "American Capitalism killed US Marines in Iraq... "
Actually, the terrorists have killed our marines. Not capitalism. Are you really this stupid? I find it hard to believe.
"So yeah, American capitalism has it faults, it is broke and needs fixing. It still is responsible for far less than you claim inyour drivel of BS."
ReplyDeleteFirst off, there is no such thing as "Capitalism". There is only liberty or lack thereof. (the word capitalism is almost as despicable as the word "worker")In that vein, there is no such thing as a brand of capitalism that could be called American. There are only free actors. People respond. Government acts and people respond. That doesn't mean they make the wishes of government knowitalls come true. They are responsive, though.
I like you, Les. You're too interested in winning arguments, though. You're a bright guy. Proud too. Thing is, no matter the quality of your candle, there is only one way for it to beat a puddle.
Stay gold, Ponyboy. :)
Chuck - I'll do a point by point, as I always do in business.
ReplyDelete1) Words do have meanings that are used to denote concepts.
Capitalism: An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
Source: Dictionary.com
Further: Capitalism is a social system based on the principle of individual rights.
Source: Capitalism.org
Further: Capitalism Theory
Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.
The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force. In a capitalist society, no man or group may initiate the use of physical force against others. The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force; the government acts as the agent of man’s right of self-defense, and may use force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use; thus the government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of force under objective control. Ayn Rand Lexicon
Further: Marx felt that capitalism through industrialization had increased the productive capability of the world's economy far beyond that ever witnessed before. Never the less, he also felt that capitalism created two competing classes of people.
So I guess the dictionary and two thinkers believe there is such a thing as capitalism. Oh, I forgot dam Smith. Perhaps I shall use him in future posts on capitalism.
2) I respect you Chuck, as I do all men and women who stand by their convictions.
3) I am not interested in winning arguments really, because at the end of the day, whether I win or lose it really won't affect my life, my self esteem, or the cost of a loaf of bread.
What I attempt to do is through something with commentary from my individual view. Naturally I do so in the hopes of making a difference in some small way. IE: Give food for thought.
When somebody shows me where I may be in error I attempt to consider their argument(s)with an open mind. If I accept their argument as valid and correct I acknowledge and move on.
Like you I will continue to stand by my convictions unless proven wrong by sound reasoning.
4) Thank you, I am humbled by your reference to my intelligence.
5) Yes I am proud. Something I believe runs in the family. Genetics has a bit to do with it maybe.
Lastly, I shall take your comments in the vein I know they were intended, and I thank you for your candor and honesty.
You have much insight Chuck, there is no question at all about that. But if I may make an observation, your delivery is sometimes rough around the edges.
RN and dmarks,
ReplyDeleteWhy do you consistently conflate large multi-national corporations and hedge fund thieves with America?
Instances of worker deaths are rare? Tell that to the Marines. Or tell that to the troops in Iraq killed by KBR's faulty wiring.
I'm going to say this plainly. Every time I have backed up my assertions with evidence RN and your cadre have blithely ignored it and to continue championing the lies you seem to like to tell yourselves.
So, whom amongst us is living and working rationally and who is working to ensure a political system is put in place that benefits the very select few while cosigning the rest of us to wage slavery.
And dmarks, please educate yourself on wage slavery before posting your comments about how bosses pay a fair value. The 1% would pay us nothing if they could get away with it, and that is exactly what they and their political hit men are striving for with the eternal Race to the Bottom..
Grunge said: "Why do you consistently conflate large multi-national corporations and hedge fund thieves with America?"
ReplyDeletePerhaps RN has, but I doubt it. I've never done this. I think you probably have us confused with someone else. If not, show is even one quote where you are doing this.
"Instances of worker deaths are rare? Tell that to the Marines. Or tell that to the troops in Iraq killed by KBR's faulty wiring."
They are very rare. You claimed that bosses always kill their employees. When in fact, it rarely happens. Even in the military, the vast majority of soldiers/etc live.
"Every time I have backed up my assertions with evidence"
You fail to do this. Your wild assertion that bosses do nothing but kill workers hasn't been backed up at all. You can't: there's no evidence.
"RN and your cadre have blithely ignored it and to continue championing the lies you seem to like to tell yourselves."
Name one lie.
"So, whom amongst us is living and working rationally and who is working to ensure a political system is put in place that benefits the very select few while cosigning the rest of us to wage slavery."
Certainly not you. You are advocating the ruling elites getting even more power over us, and you are lying about and slandering the vast majority of Americans who work for a living and are paid fairly by calling them 'slaves'. You have no idea what slavery is.
I am educated on wage slavery. It is a meaningless concept made up by left-wing fascists to try to cause outrage at the idea that people need to work for a living.
"The 1% would pay us nothing if they could get away with it"
1) The percent you really need to worry about is the less than 1% who really control: the government. The richest 1% are plundered and over-regulated like the rest of us.
2) The richest 1% only control a small part of the job market.
3) Yes, they would pay us nothing if they could. But they can't. Why? Because of free market capitalism. This means that "we" end up being paid for the value of the work, not nothing.
"But they can't, and that is exactly what they and their political hit men are striving for with the eternal Race to the Bottom."
There's nothing wrong with the race to the bottom. It's insane to pay more for goods and services than the real value of the goods and services. Those who provide a better deal should and must be rewarded.
Back to the subject at hand, and some reality (as opposed to mythical wage slaves and Grunge's bogus claims of people supporting hedge fund thieves)
ReplyDeleteWalmart is in fact very beloved of workers. So much so that workers flock to it in droves because of the fair deal they provide in pay-for-work.
The false claims of their "low pay"? They pay above minimum age. And they hire people with low-worth skills that other companies won't hire. It's not their fault that some people's skills aren't worth $20 an hour.
Further refutation of Grunge
ReplyDeleteGrunge said "Instances of worker deaths are rare? Tell that to the Marines. Or tell that to the troops in Iraq killed by KBR's faulty wiring."
The story you link to details 16 execution deaths. As of 2007, years ago, 1,500,000 US troops had served in Iraq.
One in a million is very rare.
"I'm going to say this plainly. Every time I have backed up my assertions with evidence"
In this case as often happens, your attempts at "evidence" ends up blowing up in your face like an IED.
dmarks first off you are a liar. Read my initial post what I emphasized was have given you choose to emphasize only. Now, when I highlighted have given it meant that workers have wrested a decent wage, health benefits, retirement benefits and other meager gains from Bosses while the Ruling Class has fought them every step of the way.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, while a person such as yourself may consider rampant negligence by companies paid with taxpayer dollars which result in the death of service members in a bogus war of choice okay, I do not. Maybe you'd think differently if it was you who were killed, but I doubt that because your mental functions apparently are the same as a dead person.
You've shown your true colors with your comment "What's wrong with the race to the bottom." You are a Slaver. You are person who would enslave his fellow man to make your goods. Your true face and your true loyalty lie with the Richest in this country who kill their workers and violate safe working conditions because a political party and people such as yourself blissfully allow them to...