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  • Essay / Theory of Moral Sentiment: Adam Smith - 792

    Unfortunately, the vast majority of human professions do not require imagination – they do not even require intelligence. Why employ a doctor with more than 8 years of study if his work could be automated? The problem with this premise is that innovation generally requires a wealthy environment. First of all, education is essential. The person who could cure cancer has probably already been born many times - but most likely somewhere in the inner city, and will never receive the education necessary for their intelligence and skills to bear fruit. Second, innovation requires free time. Bill Gates tinkered in his parents' garage at their expense - it's unlikely he would have founded Microsoft if he worked 12-hour days in a coal mine. And despite all this - thousands of innovations are expected to happen every day in America - but these innovations belong not to the individual, but to the companies that employ them - meaning the inventor will never see a cent of the profits of its innovation. Worse, these innovations are deliberately hidden from the public: our greatest victories against disease in medicine took place in the 19th and 20th centuries, when today's vast societies did not exist. New vaccines could be distributed free of charge. Adam Smith, in his Theory of Moral Sentiment, stated that morality is a crucial element in the functioning of capitalism. Unfortunately, we have more examples of capitalism without morality – like American companies machine-gunning or even bombing uncooperative workers. Or even today – a Texas fertilizer plant blown to smithereens and taking half the town with it. The answer? Texas is declared the most 'business friendly' state and big business is flocking there - middle of paper...... rams bombarding Americans and the public abroad - essentially copy/pasting a Marxist argument with The fatal flaw of capitalism is the assumption that infinite growth can be achieved with limited resources – this is why capitalist systems have systematically collapsed over the years when their governments failed to enforce a sensible macroeconomic policy. Countries that have managed to overcome economic disasters are those that have allowed capitalism to work unhindered on the microeconomic level, but have applied strong macroeconomic policies. Think about it this way: how well would the army function if there were no generals, if each unit did as it pleased, without any direction? The consequences would likely be as disastrous as micromanagement. The key is to find a happy balance between freedom and direction.