I have been pointing out recently that defenders of laissez-faire capitalism shift between philosophical frameworks when they are arguing, something I call capitalism whack-a-mole. They do this because there are no normative frameworks that justify laissez-faire capitalism and so there is no other way to actually muster an argument in its favor other than opportunistically… Continue reading Capitalism does not reward risk
Author: Matt Bruenig
“Force” arguments continue to be the rhetorical backwater of idiots
Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig has a post about Erick Erickson saying what conservatives in general believe about low-income workers. Here is Erickson, version one: “What’s going on here — by the way, more than 90% of Americans make more than minimum wage. The minimum wage is mostly people who have failed at life, and high school… Continue reading “Force” arguments continue to be the rhetorical backwater of idiots
Desert-Sacrifice-Utility Whack-a-Mole
Earlier, I explained the common argumentative strategy I call Capitalism Whack-a-Mole. People who utilize this strategy claim that they support capitalism for a specific normative reason (e.g. that it gives to each what they produce), but then, when you show that normative reason is actually inconsistent with capitalism, they shift to a totally new normative… Continue reading Desert-Sacrifice-Utility Whack-a-Mole
Let’s Continue Referring to the “Work-Life Balance”
Adam Gurri has an interesting piece in which he criticizes the phrase “work-life” balance: I think that “work-life balance” is an unfortunate phrase that has a great deal of currency. I’m not saying that everyone should just give up on having time to spend living outside of work. I’m glad there’s a conversation about prioritizing… Continue reading Let’s Continue Referring to the “Work-Life Balance”
Tradition-Aggression-Desert Whack-A-Mole
Earlier, I outlined the familiar game of capitalism whack-a-mole. In this game, proponents of capitalism shift constantly between the incompatible normative frameworks of voluntarism, desert, and utility. It’s funny because, during the whack-a-mole game, the underlying reasons that they claim to motivate them change dramatically, but their conclusions never do. Yesterday, I was host to… Continue reading Tradition-Aggression-Desert Whack-A-Mole