6.6 Billion Pie Holes And Counting!
Bill Falzett III
March 04, 2008
At last count, the planet earth had somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.6 billion pie holes, wide open and eagerly awaiting their slice of pie. Er, 6.7 billion and counting that is. Such a staggering number of pie holes dramatically underscores the need for a very large pie indeed. This growing number of pie holes also argues for this very large pie to grow even larger to keep pace. Otherwise, with more pie holes and the same size pie, everyone's slice is going to get smaller and smaller over time.
We have all heard the old saying that goes something like this: If we all work on making the pie bigger we will not have to worry about how big our individual slice of the pie is. This is the notion that if we keep increasing the size of the pie, we will all have more than enough pie. It is a bounty mentality, optimistic and life affirming. The pie of which I speak is the combined wealth and consumable output of mankind. It is a broad metaphor for the world economy. The good news is that currently the pie is growing. The US economy has slowed, but is growing at a rate of about 2.5% at last report, and the world economy is growing at a rate of around 5%. The pie is definitely growing, and the people of planet earth are enjoying a bounty of consumer goods and services worldwide. I will not argue that the pie is distributed evenly; it is not. There remain areas with very little pie, and others with more pie than can possibly be consumed. Some are better able to make pie; some have more skills; some have more resources; and some are simply more disposed to pie making. But, the bottom line is that the bigger the pie is, the bigger even the smallest of slices becomes.
Capitalists and entrepreneurs by their very nature make the pie bigger, and the benefits accrue to everyone. They create wealth and promote productivity. They create jobs and demand for other products like cars needed to get to work, which in turn creates more jobs and more demand. They then turn around and reinvest profits to create even more pie making capability. Capitalists and entrepreneurs are the engine of the world economy. Persons who support Capitalists and Entrepreneurs are known as ideological Capitalists. They support and promote principles of government that allow the engine of Capitalism to continue producing an ever larger pie. In our country Conservative Republicans are ideological Capitalists who believe in a government based upon limited interference and taxation. They work to make sure the government stays out of the way of business, so business can be successful. Capitalists and Conservatives epitomize an abundance mentality and world view. For them, as long as there are plenty of resources to make pie, and creativity on tap, the sky is the limit when it comes to the size of the pie.
Socialists purpose is and always has been to administer the slicing and distribution of the pie the Capitalists have baked. They create nothing, unless you count class warfare. They convince persons with a smaller slice of the pie that they are in fact entitled to a larger slice, and encourage them to claim a "fair" share. They beat that drum incessantly and find ever more clever and annoying means to decry and confiscate the wealth of Capitalists. All I ever hear them do is to tell us how the Capitalists exploit the earth, the people and the system. To them, anyone who does work to solve the problems, or meet a demand with a product and expects a profit for his effort is greedy and destructive. Rather than put their creativity and effort toward making a bigger pie, these Socialists only focus is how to get a larger slice of the existing pie for redistribution. They are never disposed to help create something, but always ready to help split it up. Socialist legislators idea of making the pie bigger is to tax the successful more. The more tax revenue they have, the more they can spend. In doing so they funnel off money that could be better used to fund expansion of productivity. Despite the fact the US has the second largest corporate tax rate in the world, Liberals believe this is not enough. In their view, corporations are just a very large and corrupt tax base. They believe corporations must go further to take care of people and be exemplary corporate citizens to redeem themselves for the damage they do to the world. It all very much reminds me of the story of "The Little Red Hen" and absolutely epitomizes a scarcity world view.
When was the last time you heard a Socialist talk about ways to make the pie bigger? When was the last time you heard them praise the Capitalists ability to make the pie bigger. Why do Liberals laud creativity and sensitivity, but never apply either to the task of making the pie bigger. Why does the Pursuit of Happiness mean chasing down Capitalists to extort from them a piece of the happiness they have created. Why does Promoting the General Welfare mean the Capitalists are tasked with creating wealth to promote the SPECIFIC welfare of every individual, deserving or not. Why does Security for ALL come at the expense of those who invest, work hard and make good choices that create wealth. Without Capitalists, how much pie would any of us have? What would be our fair share then? For me, all the liberal talk about universal health care, fairness, and ever more bloated government would be easier to take if every once in a while they would come to the table and talk about how to make the pie bigger. With 6.8 billion pie holes and counting, we really do need more pie.
We have all heard the old saying that goes something like this: If we all work on making the pie bigger we will not have to worry about how big our individual slice of the pie is. This is the notion that if we keep increasing the size of the pie, we will all have more than enough pie. It is a bounty mentality, optimistic and life affirming. The pie of which I speak is the combined wealth and consumable output of mankind. It is a broad metaphor for the world economy. The good news is that currently the pie is growing. The US economy has slowed, but is growing at a rate of about 2.5% at last report, and the world economy is growing at a rate of around 5%. The pie is definitely growing, and the people of planet earth are enjoying a bounty of consumer goods and services worldwide. I will not argue that the pie is distributed evenly; it is not. There remain areas with very little pie, and others with more pie than can possibly be consumed. Some are better able to make pie; some have more skills; some have more resources; and some are simply more disposed to pie making. But, the bottom line is that the bigger the pie is, the bigger even the smallest of slices becomes.
Capitalists and entrepreneurs by their very nature make the pie bigger, and the benefits accrue to everyone. They create wealth and promote productivity. They create jobs and demand for other products like cars needed to get to work, which in turn creates more jobs and more demand. They then turn around and reinvest profits to create even more pie making capability. Capitalists and entrepreneurs are the engine of the world economy. Persons who support Capitalists and Entrepreneurs are known as ideological Capitalists. They support and promote principles of government that allow the engine of Capitalism to continue producing an ever larger pie. In our country Conservative Republicans are ideological Capitalists who believe in a government based upon limited interference and taxation. They work to make sure the government stays out of the way of business, so business can be successful. Capitalists and Conservatives epitomize an abundance mentality and world view. For them, as long as there are plenty of resources to make pie, and creativity on tap, the sky is the limit when it comes to the size of the pie.
Socialists purpose is and always has been to administer the slicing and distribution of the pie the Capitalists have baked. They create nothing, unless you count class warfare. They convince persons with a smaller slice of the pie that they are in fact entitled to a larger slice, and encourage them to claim a "fair" share. They beat that drum incessantly and find ever more clever and annoying means to decry and confiscate the wealth of Capitalists. All I ever hear them do is to tell us how the Capitalists exploit the earth, the people and the system. To them, anyone who does work to solve the problems, or meet a demand with a product and expects a profit for his effort is greedy and destructive. Rather than put their creativity and effort toward making a bigger pie, these Socialists only focus is how to get a larger slice of the existing pie for redistribution. They are never disposed to help create something, but always ready to help split it up. Socialist legislators idea of making the pie bigger is to tax the successful more. The more tax revenue they have, the more they can spend. In doing so they funnel off money that could be better used to fund expansion of productivity. Despite the fact the US has the second largest corporate tax rate in the world, Liberals believe this is not enough. In their view, corporations are just a very large and corrupt tax base. They believe corporations must go further to take care of people and be exemplary corporate citizens to redeem themselves for the damage they do to the world. It all very much reminds me of the story of "The Little Red Hen" and absolutely epitomizes a scarcity world view.
When was the last time you heard a Socialist talk about ways to make the pie bigger? When was the last time you heard them praise the Capitalists ability to make the pie bigger. Why do Liberals laud creativity and sensitivity, but never apply either to the task of making the pie bigger. Why does the Pursuit of Happiness mean chasing down Capitalists to extort from them a piece of the happiness they have created. Why does Promoting the General Welfare mean the Capitalists are tasked with creating wealth to promote the SPECIFIC welfare of every individual, deserving or not. Why does Security for ALL come at the expense of those who invest, work hard and make good choices that create wealth. Without Capitalists, how much pie would any of us have? What would be our fair share then? For me, all the liberal talk about universal health care, fairness, and ever more bloated government would be easier to take if every once in a while they would come to the table and talk about how to make the pie bigger. With 6.8 billion pie holes and counting, we really do need more pie.
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