Legotown

Status: Annoyed.

This is James Tuttle.  I know that this article is old, but I need to comment on it.  So I now feel feel like playing with legos because it is a toy which teaches kids the values of capitalism.  Let me start by talking about Legotown.

Legotown is a capitalist town.  Some people have more than others.  People keep trying to produce something of value so that they can get more.  The people who move up are the hardest workers and the people who contribute the most to the town.  As production goes up, people get jobs and the producers can afford to pay the workers more money.  It works out great.

Suddenly, Legotown turns to communism.  People say, "I won't work harder because it won't get me anywhere."  This will drop production and lower everyone's standard of living.  Whatever gets produced, does not get produced well because no one has any incentive to produce it well.  Workers will not work efficiently, and the producers don't care, because people who produce more efficiently do not get rewarded.  Some people even have creative ideas.  Some are medical devices to help improve the quality of lives and even saves lives.  Others are tools for people in different lines of work.  These tools help others do their jobs at a quicker pace and saves them money.  Some of these workers are contractors who can now charge less with the help of the tools, saving somebody else money.  But these ideas don't get invented because the inventors can't earn extra money for them.

The new equal government housing is terrible.  Without much being produced, they cannot build great houses.  They can improve some houses, but not every house, so they don't improve any house.  Did I say house?  I'm sorry.  I meant apartment, without a yard for kids to play in.  And some families are too big for their apartment.  The government is trying to create different sized apartments for different sized families, but that is not going well.

Now let's talk about eminent domain.  It's fine for government to take somebody's property to be used as a road.  The real problem is when it is taken and given to a private company.  If a private company wants it, they need to pay what it's worth, which is what the owner is willing to accept for it.  If they don't want to sell it, then they are simply exercising their right to private property, which is necessary for a healthy economy.

Individuals and companies in the private sector know how to best use and allocate resources.  Government cannot do that.  Why?  Because the incentive to make profit forces producers to produce what is best for society.  That incentive for profit does not exist in government.

I now feel like reading The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.  He is an economist who developed the ideas of capitalism.  Also, raise your kids on Legos so that they will learn the way of capitalism.

End Log.