“What she did…was to make me think why capitalism is not only efficient and practical, but also moral” - Alan Greenspan, speaking about his guru Ayn Rand in 1974.
It's worth understanding the role that this partnership played in unleashing the savageries of the modern market.
When Greenspan was still working in the corporate sector, Rand’s ideas about the “utopia of greed” infused him with a powerful sense of mission: apparently, making money wasn’t just good for him - it was good for society as a whole.
As for those who got trampled? Rand helped with that too: “Parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish as they should,” Greenspan wrote.
This mindset served him well as Fed Chair, where he supported shock therapy in Russia (72 million impoverished) and in East Asia after the 1997 economic crisis (24 million pushed into unemployment). Not to mention attacks on welfare and trade unions in the U.S....
JD Vance, with his tight concentric circles of "love," is just the latest manifestation of this worldview.
I am begging you to read some fiction bro.
→ Not because it makes you look smart.
→ Because fiction teaches things that bullet points can’t.
→ A self-help book tells you to be resilient.
→ The Count of Monte Cristo makes you live through resilience for 1,000+ pages.
→ A self-help book tells you to understand people.
→ Dostoevsky puts you inside minds you’d never otherwise understand.
→ Information is easy to forget.
→ Experience isn’t.
Read fiction.
Your attention span, empathy, vocabulary, and understanding of human nature will improve.
Morty: Capitalism gives everyone a chance to get rich if they just work hard enough.
Rick: Oh my god, Morty! Capitalism doesn't work if everyone wins. It needs poverty to function. Someone has to take the low-paying jobs so the profits keep flowing upward. If everyone had real financial security, no one would take those positions and the system would collapse.
Morty: But Rick, that's just how the market works. Some people earn more because they provide more value.
Rick: Tell that to the kid assembling your iPhone overseas for pennies while some CEO makes millions off it. Capitalism doesn't reward work, it rewards ownership. You don't climb the ladder by working hard, you climb it by owning the ladder. The workers collectively produce infinitely more value than some shareholder living in the Bahamas.
Morty: Okay, but isn't it about freedom People can still move up if they make good choices. Look at people who came from nothing and became successful, like entrepreneurs or celebrities.
Rick: Those are exceptions, idiot. That's why they're on TV. For every one person who makes it out, millions stay stuck because they never had the same luck, connections, or safety nets. The system needs those stories so people believe it's fair.
No online banking? Fine. Hello cash, silver and gold.
No online shopping? Fine. Hello markets, local shops and buying directly from people.
No Amazon? Fine. Hello car boot sales and independent businesses.
No social media? Fine. Hello real conversations and community notice boards.
No food deliveries? Fine. Hello home cooking and trading eggs for vegetables with the neighbour.
No Uber? Fine. Hello lifts from friends and sharing journeys.
No Netflix? Fine. Hello DVDs, board games and evenings around the table.
No WhatsApp? Fine. Hello landlines, handwritten letters and knocking on your mate’s door.
No online dating? Fine. Hello actually meeting people.
No online marketplaces? Fine. Hello swap shops and bartering.
No Deliveroo? Fine. Hello supporting local cafés.
No loyalty apps? Fine. Hello paying with cash and leaving no digital trail.
No online schools? Fine. Hello community teaching and home education.
No smart devices? Fine. Hello watches that tell the time and phones that only make calls.
No facial recognition? Fine. Hello privacy.
No digital identity? Fine.
Hello Nokia 3210s, paper maps, pen pals, cash in your pocket, neighbours who know your name, children playing outside, local communities and a life that doesn’t require permission from an app.
Funny how what some people call “going backwards” sounds suspiciously like how millions of us grew up.
Bring it on.
Many celebrity pastors are exploiting the Christian faith and the nonprofit system to line their own pockets. It’s unbelievable. Watch The Religion Business on TCN.