Thom Hartmann: Atlas Shrugged...would society work better if we were all selfish?

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 09:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkYOBnspYgg   Posted on YouTube: April 22, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 105   Posted on DU: April 22, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 1548

 
The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[supernova]

1. Silly girl

She's actually arguing for objectivism.


Ugh.

[albabe]

11. Good Gravy

She's a Pompous elitist little twit with delusions of superior intellect.... hmmm... sounds like those white supremacists that took over Germany. to me.

[mrcheerful]

2. Why do supporters of Rand always seem to believe that wealth generates from the top?

Wealth was generated from the bottom then given to the top. All one needs to do is look at the American auto industry to clearly see how it worked. Auto makers that only catered to the wealthy pretty much died out after the market crash of 1929, auto makers like Ford who catered to the workers that made their auto's survived and by the time the 50's arrived America had 4 auto companies, Ford, Chrysler, GMC and AMC. Lincoln who made wealthy peoples autos was taken over by Ford and Cadillac was taken over by GM. AMC took over Willy's who made Jeeps for the military and in the 70's AMC was taken over by Chrysler.

The Reason the big 3 survived for so long was because the Auto workers could buy the products they made. The reason the big 3 are failing today is because they out sourced and shut down factories so now fewer people are able to buy their products plus other countries have flooded the US market with autos that were cheaper and just as well made. Basic economics 101 that seems to be lost in today's discussion of economics because of this belief that the Rich create wealth out of thin air and by allowing them more money that gives them a motive for creating jobs, it doesn't, instead they hoard money and use it for riskier trading on the market.

The real wealth is coming from workers buying products made by companies the rich own. By out sourcing and moving factories over sea's these so called smart businessman are trading short term profits without a thought to their long term profits, like the auto industry model clearly shows. Like the auto industry is learning, eventually unless they start hiring and producing again the businesses will fail, but like the auto industry this short sightedness causes them to make further cut backs and out sourcing thus destroying their industry. Because they refuse to admit that their ideology is the problem.

[Kurmudgeon]

4. "so called smart businessman are trading short term profits without a thought to their long term "

It makes me wonder if that is because of too many old farts in top management? They aren't concerned with long term because it doesn't profit them personally.

[JHB]

12. "Old farts" aren't necessarily to blame...

...in fact, if I recall correctly, it was the "young go-getters" who really embraced the "greed is good" principles, and ate up Randian propaganda.

Personally, I think it was the Reagan tax cuts. That made financial games an easier way to make big money than running businesses. It paid better to liquidate than to innovate, except for a few fairly young industries like personal computers.

[sulphurdunn]

3. I know for a fact

that if the top management where I work went on strike no one else would notice and nothing would happen. On the other hand if the secretaries and custodians went on strike we'd be screwed.

[bulloney]

5. Here's an analogy along the lines of the title of this post:

Parts of a body were having a conversation over which one of them was in charge of the body.

The eyes said they are because they enable the person to see and find his way.
The ears said they are because they guide the person through hearing things.
The stomach said it was because it helps digest the food to give the person energy to function.
The brain argued that it was because it's the control center of the entire person.

Then came the asshole. It argued that it's the most important part of the body.

The other body parts immediately went into hysterical laughter, embarrassing the asshole to where it closed up. In time, the eyes got cloudy, the ears plugged up, the stomach became nauseous and the brain got foggy. After several hours under these conditions, the other body parts conceded that the asshole was the most important part of the body.

This just proves that to be in charge, you don't have to have vision, listening skills, energy or brains.

You just have to be an asshole.

[HolyCity2012]

6. Kick & Recommend

[truth2power]

7. His guest is an idiot! eom

[zeemike]

8. More likely a young deluded recruit of the GOP

It is not hard to foist that philosophy on the young and gulable

[ProfessorPlum]

9. That could have been a good discussion . . .

if the person on the other end had any clue what they were talking about.

[LongTomH]

10. Every time Ms. Carey opens her mouth, you realize she's an intellectual lightweight.

She knows Ayn Rand; she doesn't know basic economics or economic history.

[Bucky]

13. Hartmann has found his Alan Colmes