Okay, you may believe that what I said isn't true yet you don't even offer anecdotal evidence for your side of the argument. Name one thing that you has been done that qualifies as not acting in one's self-interest.
It's true that our problems extend beyond the bounds of the economy but while we're on the subject of wages, this is nothing more than a deflection. "Fair" is entirely subjective but the way it's defined in economics is the agreed price and quantity of a good/service. Technically, if you enter into a job agreeing to a wage, it's "fair".
Our current economic system has holes in it but capitalism isn't the problem. The problem is government's effect that it has when it intervenes. For example, giving bailout money to banks when they're on the verge of collapsing only incentivizes riskier behavior. If you know you can't lose no matter how much risk you take on, you're going to take on a whole lot of risk because it yields the greatest returns. That's a simplified way of it, but far from a lie.
Innovative just means making something better. Innovation in the right places makes you more productive but not all innovation is productive. Hardwork is the same way.
The second farmer gets paid more because he produces more. Yes, he is more efficient through technology, which is just as important as hard work, if not more. Him using a tractor doesn't make him innovative though. If he used the tractor is a new and creative way that made him more productive than the people with the same tractor, he'd be innovative.
What I'm trying to highlight is that policies have unintended consequences. It's like throwing a band-aid on a snake bite without sucking out the venom and then wondering why you die.
I guess I should rephrase, it's silly to enact a law that restricts the pay of a CEO and forces them to raise the janitor's pay. It doesn't matter how I feel about somebody getting paid a million a year. The company that employ's that person values their service at a million per year.
I really don't think they get paid too much. Regardless of what you think about how much they should get paid, you should only have a say in that if you are employing the CEO. Again, it's wrong to have government telling what a private firm can and can't do (to a certain extent).
I feel a bit embarrassed giving examples but I will for the sake of discussion. I do not see myself as a matyr.
I have stopped 2 violent fights by intervening in them. I knew that there was a good chance that I could get hurt and I was scared but I did it because I thought that other people could get seriously hurt. In one situation it was my friend versus 2 strangers, the other was just a bunch of strangers maybe 7 or 8.
I have intervened in numerous situations where someone is getting bullied- at school and in the workforce. I knew that I would be ridiculed and my life made a lot harder but it seemed like the right thing to do. As reward for one of these situations I got pushed down some stairs- but I was fine. There was one instance of bullying that I didnt step in and I still feel sick thinking about it.
I gave a friend my entire christmas budget that I had saved up for so that he could fly interstate and see his family and buy them all presents. This made me sad because my other friends and family missed out but it was worth it. I made people IOU's as presents in the end. This is also the first time I have mentioned this to anyone.
I let others have the last slice if they want it- even if its cheesecake.
I looked after my grandmother for two years and payed all her bills even though she is abrasive and mean so that my dad and his wife could travel. These years were miserable but it had to be done so that dad could keep his sanity and it would have destroyed my grandmother is had to go to a nursing home.
I took the blame for someone else punching a hole in a wall as I thought that they were going to get in far worse trouble for it.
I took the blame at work for an incident so that my friend wouldnt be fired.
I have volunteered in community organisations because I thought that they had value to the community
Im currently working on a project for breast cancer that Im pouring my own resources into. I want nothing from it but the satisfaction of being closer to a cure.
Ive contributed stories annonomously to a web site that are good enough to be published (by public opinion on the site) that I want no credit for and just like having my work enjoyed and appreciated.
Anyway, I feel embarassed to continue. Its hard for me to clearly define what self serving is because I feel that I have benefited greatly from the acts, so they have served my 'self'. I grew up in a beautiful christian enviroment where we were taught to love our neighbour as ourself. I think that if you can love your neighbour
and their children as youself than its pretty easy to be less self serving. Volunteer organisations are filled with people like this.
I agree with your definition of 'fair' as agreed value. I agree that the bailouts were harmful to the spirit of capitalism and did a lot of harm in general. It was almost capitalism redeeming its injustices and then the bailouts interved and set it all back again.
Yes you're right about innovation. I was using the term incorrectly.
About the CEO's getting paid too much- these companies are owned by shareholders right? Do they get to decide how much CEO's get paid?
