I recently discussed how the lessons of Adam Smith are still being learned by major corporations like Disney on the 300th anniversary of his birth. One person not celebrating Smith’s birthday is San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston who has blamed capitalism for the city’s homelessness problems. It appears that the invisible hand behind the rapid decline of the city is not the policies of Preston and his colleagues but the teachings of this cursed Scottish economist.
Preston explained that the problems in the city are “absolutely the result of capitalism.” Preston continues to push to defund the police and to limit law enforcement in the area.
What is striking is that Preston, a Democratic Socialist, represents District 5 including the Tenderloin District. That area was once a major tourist draw. It is now over-run by drugs and homeless persons as stores close. The city is watching the flight of businesses from various areas. Even the famed farmer’s market has been lost to the rampant crime and drug use.
Preston represents a rapid rise of Democratic Socialists in Congress and other cities, including the new mayor of Chicago who has pushed to open city-owned grocery stores and other socialist measures.
The city-owned stores are based on the model of a store in Erie, Kansas, which opened in 2021. The Wall Street Journal looked into how that store was doing and found that it has lost money almost every month. In 2022, it posted only one month in the black and has lost $132,000. However, the value for city leaders is to preserve the myth that state or city-run businesses are superior to capitalism.
It does not matter that the invisible hand is giving your store or your city the finger as citizens go elsewhere.
These policies prove Milton Friedman’s observation that “if you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
Capitalism remains the greatest generator of wealth in the history of the world. Socialist and communist nations have had to turn to capitalist enterprises in nations like China because of the failure of Marxist economic theories.
That is clearly not the view of Preston, who graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in anthropology and economics. He is also a lawyer.
Nevertheless, Preston shows how politicians responsible for the demise of our major cities will cite their own failures to double down on these policies. The loss is being felt by not just these citizens, but the nation as our great cities become urban hellscapes.
There was a time when people “left their heart in San Francisco.” Now they are just leaving.
Updated 12/12/23, 4:28PM with the latest lie from Elvis Bug, the Lawn Boy
The Consumer Price Index was indeed at 7.6% when Trump left officeElvis Bug aka The Lawn Boy (it was 1.4%)
Archer gave no details about the meeting at the Naval Observatory with Marc Holtzman—-Svelaz aka Mr Peetape
Archer had no idea what was on those phone calls. He admitted it under oath—Svelaz aka Mr Peetape
Evidence isnt permissible unless its incontrovertible—-ATS
Circumstantial evidence alone is not enough to convict——Svelaz aka Mr Peetape
Republicans are the only ones calling for violence these days—-Dennis
Democrats call for violence when the cause is right—-Dennis in the same post
Gas prices spiked because Texas uses crude oil to make electricity—-Gigi
AR-15’s ruin the meat—-Dennis
The inflation rate was 8% when Trump left office—-Gigi
(it was actually 1.4%)
Biden only released the strategic oil reserve once—-Svelass Mr Peetape
Archer never said it was Joe that was called from Dubai—-ATS
The State of Florida does property tax “appraisals”—-Svelass Mr Peetape
You can’t convict without incontrovertible proof—ATS
Trump was convicted of rape—Svelass Mr. Peetape
The Jefferson County school board has a supermajority of republicans—-lawn boy EB
Trumps attorney forgot to “check a box”——Dennis
An insult or name calling is not a personal attack—-Svelass Mr. Peetape
The DC NG answers only to the President—-Gigi
Christianity teaches to treat your fellow man the same way you treat Jesus—-Svelass Mr Peetape
The ideal athlete is 6’2” and 175#—-Dennis
There is no way a fat person can shoot a 67 in golf—-Dennis
“Bright red Alabama is the “wild west”,” (when its bright blue Birmingham that accounts for 95% of the gun violence in Alabama)—-Dennis
That’s why McCarthy didn’t hold a vote. He was going to, but upon realizing he didn’t have the votes he chose not to hold one.—-Mr Peetape
McCarthy never said he didn’t have the votes.—-Mr Peetape.
Dennis Mcinlyre
Will you state for the record if you are among the 30% who still think the pee tape is real and joe is not a crook?
Jonathan: Yes, SF is the epicenter of the “left coast”. What you ignore is that Supervisor Dean Preston was ELECTED by the voters of his district. Same with Bernie Sanders who is an admitted “Democratic Socialist”. It appears the voters think Preston and Sanders represent their interests. You recognize there is a “rapid rise of Democratic Socialists in Congress” and in cities around the country. What does that say about the failure of two party system to address the real needs of Americans?
You say “Capitalism remains the greatest generator of wealth in the history of the world”. The right Q is for whom? Today, the 1% of household own over 32% of all wealth. In 1990 the share of the wealthiest was between 23% and 24%. In 2020 20% of households accounted for nearly $10 trillion of the $13.5 of new wealth.
The increasing concentration of wealth in this country today has created a dilemma for capitalism. Millions of American households live from paycheck to paycheck. They don’t have any savings in case of an emergency. Affordable health care is hard to come by. Housing costs have skyrocketed. Young couples have no prospect of owning their own home. I live in a state where the “family farm” is disappearing–bought up by huge farm conglomerates during bad times. I could go on and on but you get the picture.
Now the symbol of a successful “capitalist” is DJT. But he is not the “rags to riches” story. He inherited his wealth from his father and that helped him build his real estate “empire”. Millions voted for him in 2016 because they thought a “businessman” could better run the country. And how did that turn out? DJT spent his first year in office pushing through billions in tax cuts for him and his billionaire brethren.
As it turns out DJT built his wealth through fraud. His real estate empire is going to be taken away from him when Judge Engoron rules against him sometime in January. DJT also faces 91 criminal counts for crimes he committed in office. Is DJT the kind of “capitalist” you think should be given a second term?
Hey Dennis
Have you worn out your copy of the pee tape.
I can get you another.
This piece is a perfect example of the “take sides, attack and defend” mentality that passes for civic engagement in these times. What happened to the mindset of continuous improvement? If you go into American companies, the latter has risen to the level of religion. In our own families, we solve problems (and we have to to stay afloat). In our churches, clubs, and professional organizations, we don’t get into fights just for the heck of it. What is it about politics that seems to trigger people to run to their corners, dig in heels, and give up on the spirit of cooperation we expect of ourselves and each other in just about every other setting?
Capitalism? Rah hah! Booo!
Can we have a more dispassionate conversation about our economic system? Let’s start with where that system stands in relationship to the broader system encompassing culture, tradition, governing, family formation and raising children? Is the economic system supposed to subserve and support all these things, or is it supposed to be their master?
For example, when I was growing up, Sundays were a day for social activities. The stores were mostly all closed.
We would visit another family, or go on a trip somewhere. We spent the day building social capital. There was a sense that tending to social relationships was important — and that Sundays were not to be spent like every other day working and shopping. It was custom going back many generations, and the retail store blue laws upheld it, knowing that purely economic imperatives left unchecked would wipe out social Sundays. That’s exactly what has happened in the US.
OK, you say, smallish issue. How about this one? Childrearing. Is it an economic choice of free actors whether or not to procreate and raise the next generation? Is it an option to be allowed to fall under direct economic competition with other pursuits in life? It is work raising a child — forty thousand hours is a rough figure. Is it paid work?….no.
Is it of no value to the economy? What if young adults following Adam Smith’s invisible hand of self-interest simply decide they’re better off as childless?
What about pair-bonding and marriage? In agrarian society, late teens could pair off with their first love and marry. They had all the skills needed by age 16-18 to become self-sufficient as an economic unit. They could get their own place to live. They did not have to put aside those mating and nesting instincts for an additional 10-15 years in order to make a secure enough place in the economy to achieve those same things. If we want to rescue the institution of marriage — not to mention the nuclear family raising children — something has to give. How does capitalism as a mode of thinking adapt to solve this? Or, is capitalism now such a paramount organizing principle that it gets to cannibalize every other human life pattern it collides with?
How can we make calibrated improvements to the way our economic system serves us if we define ourselves as puppets serving it? I’m not interested in pathetic, performative standoffs between democratic socialism and capitalism. I’m interested in passing along a cohesive society that can keep all the “isms” and their reductionistic ideologies from overpowering common sense and our long-term responsibilities to posterity.
With have to get back to thinking as improvers and maintainers. Adam Smith delineated some very important principles of economic organization — but they do not constitute a complete system. They are tools to be integrated thoughtfully into places they fit best, and held in check where counterproductive. You cannot fine-tune these judgments if the dialog bogs down around taking sides “for” or “against” capitalism.
“If we want to rescue the institution of marriage — not to mention the nuclear family raising children — something has to give. How does capitalism as a mode of thinking adapt to solve this?”
How does my free market (capitalism) choice of grapefruit over orange cause the destruction of the nuclear family?
How does my free market (capitalism) choice to own a business cause the destruction of the nuclear family?
How does your free market (capitalism) choice to buy from my business cause the destruction of the nuclear family?
“and that Sundays were not to be spent like every other day working and shopping.”
Why not Mondays?
You’re evading. Is the decision of young adults whether to remain childless not a decision with heavy economic ramifications to them? Raising a child to age 22 (thru college) costs > $500,000. The economy is not paying anyone to take on this burden.
If you can open your mind to the question I’m asking, you might explore some of these possibilities:
• By free choice as A. Smith defined it, young Amerians stop reproducing and our lands are taken over around 2100 by more conservative cultures that enforce childrearing as a requirement of womanhood (e.g. devout Muslims). Hmmm…gonna give up that easily?
• Late teens are encouraged to bond permanently with their first love. They are not expected to become financially independent during the first decade of marriage, and parents/grandparents are expected to help them obtain a nest of their own, but without becoming permanent dependents. Financial independence is not thought of an ON-OFF switch, but rather a gradual transition over a decade, with a hard cut-off no later than about age 32. Baby-making is encouraged during these years, again with parental assistance, but not in a way that stunts the wife’s professional development or earning power growth.
• The government, facing long-term oblivion from low-birth-rate, subsidizes the costs to families of childraising with direct grants. Parents and grandparents are incented to work as $ earners and taxpayers well into their 70s, so as to undergird these grants to young parents.
We should debate these alternatives, and many others.
Or, you can dig in behind “capitalism has nothing to do with these things”. But, the issue of preferential childlessness won’t go away based on such protestations.
“You’re evading.”
PbinCA that is not so. The free market increases wealth for everyone, whether it is in dollars or goods. Because of it, people all over the world have cell phones, while poverty has radically decreased.
I agree crony capitalism is wrong, but a lack of a free market impoverishes everyone.
“Raising a child to age 22 (thru college) costs > $500,000.”
I sent another article from JTN that talks about families and discusses their attempt to improve the lot of families, something I strongly agree with. In fact, I have said before that no changes in the tax code should make it worse for families of four. We should strive to protect them and their children. Impoverishing them with a larger government doesn’t help the family of four.
With regard to education, I am sure you have seen my discussions regarding charter schools in inner NYC neighborhoods and my negative attitude toward the teachers’ unions (not teachers’ unions). I also agree with other alternatives to education, and like a free market, a “free market” with parent choice would be a boon to educating our young. Today, many children are in college without learning grade 1-12.
College education should be optional for many children. Still, if they wish to attend, there are many ways to make a college education less expensive and provide an education for specific jobs.
Regarding ideas of womanhood, motherhood, fatherhood, marriage, etc., the leftist movement within the women’s rights movement created a lot of these problems, as I mentioned a short time ago. Women had equal rights. The only need for the government was to enforce the law. The left tried to destroy the idea of motherhood, making women feel like they had to work. Men and women should be left alone to decide how to manage their lives. The left’s culture and government don’t permit that.
No, the free market (capitalism) isn’t the cause of problems; it is the reason that you can own a computer and sit down and discuss these things. Socialism and the left’s culture, including their culture of death, drastically impact our lives and the lives of children. Ending the free market ends such abilities impoverishing us and the rest of the world.
Yawn
San Fransisco’s Demise/Decline started with Gavin Newson in 2009 & 2010.
In 2009 He put the City in a $750 Million Dollar Deficit.
In 2010 He add another $750 Million Dollar to the Deficit.
Leaving a total Deficit of $1.5 Billion as He skipped away to Sacramento to join the State Ranks as Lieutenant Governor.
That’s His M.O., Take Other Peoples Money (Tax Payers) and max-out the Credit all the while Looking Good (GQ), then skip Town.
Right now He’s trying to figure out how to skip out of California and walk away from a $68 Billion Dollar Deficit He created.
He wants Dianne Feinstein’s Senate Seat but his position as Governor has him cornered as a Candidate for the Presidency against Trump, unless of course Hillary Clinton or someone other runs. Should he get the chance at the Senate Seat, he will face Rep. Adam Schiff and Others vying for the same position.
“Invisible Hand”, NO No no, These clearly have the Hands & Finger Prints of Gavin Newsom all over it.
Gavin Newson wants to ‘skip town’ badly, and wherever he lands, by that time his $68 Billion Dollar State Credit Card Debt will have increased.
Run Gavin, Run Away! Run Away!! Run Away!!! – It’s what you Do!, It’s what they all Do.
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐚 $𝟔𝟖 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 $𝟑𝟎 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬
By: Mike Shedlock – MishTalk ~ December 10, 2023
https://mishtalk.com/economics/california-has-a-68-billion-budget-deficit-with-only-30-billion-in-reserves/
It is heartbreaking, actually, to see some of our lovely cities fall to communist ideologies. Why have we not learned yet that communism destroys progressive civilization? We are moving forward in reverse.
It is quite amazing that communists, 20th century murderers of reportedly ~100M people or so, are willing to walk and talk freely, while Nazis do not. Wonder why that is?