Mother Nature, too, reflect our human aspirations and economic systems. Emerson had something to say about this:
This speculative genius is the madness of the few for the gain of the world. Sure, the [entrepreneurs] are sacrificed, but the public is the gainer. Each of these idealists, each working for his own dream, would make it tyrannical, if he could.
He is met and antagonized by other speculators, as hot as he. And the equilibrium is preserved by these counteractions, as one tree keeps down another in the forest, that it may not absorb all the sap in the ground.
Likewise, the supply in nature of railroad presidents, copper-miners, smoke-burners, fire-annihilators, [and skyscraper developers] is limited by the same law which keeps the proportion in the supply of carbon, aluminum, and hydrogen.
You know, as I look at the wisdom of this passage, its meaning is probably lost on the leftists.
The leftist would probably keep his eye on the profit of the entrepreneur — and complain about the inequity of gain or be envious — and completely miss the great value to society a master builder creates for everyone.
The conservative, meanwhile, realizes that a billionaire's wealth hardly makes a big difference in a society where the great majority live in abundance. And even the poor can live a good life with decent shelter, food, and love in the family.
Indeed, almost every American is richer — at least in terms of material goods, conveniences, life-saving drugs — than 95% of the people who lived 75 years ago.
And even when a wealth-creating person decides to splurge on a beautiful yacht, he's employing fine craftsmen in the process, so the wealth is given back — never mind the huge portion of his wealth that is invested in business for the common wealth.
So I think a worthy mission of we communicators here on FR is to devise better ways of educating our brothers and sisters. It's not easy because the wisdom we acquired didn't come overnight. Our life's work and experiences taught us our conservative principles.
Studying the technique of master communicators like Trump and MILO, then, is well worth our time.
I so agree with what you said...thank you for putting in terms that others can understand...hard topic to talk on, but you did it well...
American principles. were from the start based upon actual experience; experience in building a settler society from the ground up. The dynamic processes that Emerson describes in your excerpt, flow from the aggregation of those earlier experiences--as did the American understanding of the proper functions and limitations on Governments.