The laymen’s criticism of Capitalism is that it promotes a degenerate society driven by self-interest. This critique however, is not legitimate because it is the living example of fallacious logic. The logical fallacy that this critique embodies is none other than the “straw man fallacy”, or where a person constructs a fake argument and pretends it is what their opponent is saying. Using this fallacy makes it easy to debate because the bogus argument is fabricated before hand to be weak and easy to refute.
The reason I say that this particular assault on Capitalism is fallacious is because of the historical titan of economy Adam Smith. He wrote a book that lays out his intellectual soul before before readers, namely The Wealth of Nations.
The Wealth of Nations basically claims that the state, the society, and the individual, would all create maximum profit if the individual takes care of his own immediate affairs: “[E]very individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain; and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”
This argument however is horribly misrepresented as a straw man fallacy by calling a man taking care of his own business “individualistic” and “selfish.” These accusations paint the picture of a scrooge jangling his gold coins and pushing homeless people into the gutter, thus making the argument for Capitalism easy to refute. That is fallacious. It’s wrong. It’s a straw man fallacy.
The argument that is being avoided by creating this straw man is against scrooges, misers, and tightwads - it dose not argue against wether it is better for you and I should make our decisions or whether another power should direct our lives. Adam Smith did not argue that “selfishness” will solve all our problems! That is of corse easy to refute. He argued that the best people to solve our problems is of corse us. That is not selfishness; it’s merely good judgement.
The reason I say that this particular assault on Capitalism is fallacious is because of the historical titan of economy Adam Smith. He wrote a book that lays out his intellectual soul before before readers, namely The Wealth of Nations.
The Wealth of Nations basically claims that the state, the society, and the individual, would all create maximum profit if the individual takes care of his own immediate affairs: “[E]very individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain; and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.”
This argument however is horribly misrepresented as a straw man fallacy by calling a man taking care of his own business “individualistic” and “selfish.” These accusations paint the picture of a scrooge jangling his gold coins and pushing homeless people into the gutter, thus making the argument for Capitalism easy to refute. That is fallacious. It’s wrong. It’s a straw man fallacy.
The argument that is being avoided by creating this straw man is against scrooges, misers, and tightwads - it dose not argue against wether it is better for you and I should make our decisions or whether another power should direct our lives. Adam Smith did not argue that “selfishness” will solve all our problems! That is of corse easy to refute. He argued that the best people to solve our problems is of corse us. That is not selfishness; it’s merely good judgement.
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