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Asia-Pacific Education Columnist
private sector.Thomas Jefferson argued: ¡°Instead of embarrassing commerce under piles of regulating laws, duties and prohibitions, could it be relieved from all its shackles in all parts of the world, could every country be employed in producing that which nature has best fitted it to produce, and each be free to exchange with others mutual surpluses for mutual wants, the greatest mass possible would then be produced of those things which contribute to human life and human happiness; the numbers of mankind would be increased and their condition bettered.¡±Those who favor socialism over capitalism also favor ideology over pragmatism. In the real world, socialism has never worked. It¡¯s just a utopian theory. It cannot fairly be compared to capitalism, which works in the real world. Capitalism works because it accounts for human nature; socialism fails because it does not.Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China¡¯s economic rise, favored pragmatism over ideology. He could see that socialism was not working. In 1978, he began to transform China into a market economy. It has since evolved into state capitalism, which works because it accounts for human nature.While self-interest is dangerous in politics and may seem selfish in other areas of life, it can benefit society as a whole in economic interactions.Through capitalism and the free market, self-interest—in the form of the profit motive—creates wealth and raises the standard of living.Despite human nature and the proven track record of Smith¡¯s principles, America has been moving away from the profit motive. Increasingly, the government has been embracing socialism and interfering with the free market. This has led to a crumbling American economy.The economy is like a huge and complex puzzle in which each piece must find its own place through the free market. But government planners in America believe they are smart enough to place the pieces. They are wrong.They have been putting the pieces in arbitrary places and making a mess of the puzzle.Deng said, ¡°To get rich is glorious.¡± He understood that the best way to make China the envy of the world was to grow its economy by allowing the profit motive of individuals to thrive.That¡¯s why China has been rising, President Obama. ![]() Importing Brazil¡¯s Oil Policy America¡¯s Shanghai Surprise The Chinese Ant and the American Grasshopper Liberty Starts in School The Erosion of American Higher Education The Federal Takeover of Education The Schools Scandal National Education Association Selling its Saul The Fiscal Burden of Educating Children of ... Fixing American Dumbocracy The Last American Skill Architect of China's Quest for Military ... Malaysiannovation Can Innovation Thrive in Singapore? Koreativity Universities in Hong Kong Focus on Innovation Why U.S. Immigration Policy Needs Tweaking South Korean Teachers Reach for the SKY
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