Comments on: The road to academic thraldom http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/07/21/the-road-to-academic-thraldom/ A graduate student in mathematics and a modern languages major take on politics and culture with the following aspirational motto: ‘Deregulate your mind.’ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:37:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Curt http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/07/21/the-road-to-academic-thraldom/#comment-740 Curt Fri, 22 Jul 2005 00:39:41 +0000 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/07/21/the-road-to-academic-thraldom/#comment-740 <p>Well, I'm not sure that absent an absolutist moral framework utilitarian concerns can ever be separated from principles. My minor quibble with Hayek is not that he considers the social effects of this particular right but that he seems to consider it as essentially negative, albeit a lesser of two evils, whereas I regard it as an expression of an intrinsically beneficial, productive impulse, generosity (generosity of course only being possible in the disposal of one's own things--everyone, especially governments, are adept at giving away that which is not theirs).</p> Well, I’m not sure that absent an absolutist moral framework utilitarian concerns can ever be separated from principles. My minor quibble with Hayek is not that he considers the social effects of this particular right but that he seems to consider it as essentially negative, albeit a lesser of two evils, whereas I regard it as an expression of an intrinsically beneficial, productive impulse, generosity (generosity of course only being possible in the disposal of one’s own things–everyone, especially governments, are adept at giving away that which is not theirs).

]]> By: shonk http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/07/21/the-road-to-academic-thraldom/#comment-739 shonk Fri, 22 Jul 2005 00:12:13 +0000 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/07/21/the-road-to-academic-thraldom/#comment-739 <p><i>This is true as far as it goes, but I still think it pays too much regretful homage to the mirage of equality of wealth and feel that the legitimacy of inheritances and so forth can be more solidly established on the following grounds. In my opinion for a government to forbid or consfiscate these is essentially to outlaw or rather to monopolize generosity.</i></p> <p>Yes, Hayek's argument here is rather too utilitarian for my taste, as well (but, then, rather a lot of his arguments are utilitarian). The freedom of people to dispose of their earnings as they see fit supercedes whatever ill effects accompany inheritors/giftees receiving "unearned" money ("unearned" goes in scare quotes because it's not always really the case that heirs have done nothing to "earn" their inheritances; for example, if a housewife inherits money from her deceased husband, then it's almost certainly the case that her efforts in maintaining the house, raising children, etc. gave the husband more opportunities to go out and make money rather than spending his time washing dishes and ironing) or, for that matter, whatever ill effects accompany even non-altruistic spending (which ill effects are often, in my opinion, rather overblown; after all, workers on Chevy's assembly line are feeding their families on the money "wasted" on a 'Vette).</p> This is true as far as it goes, but I still think it pays too much regretful homage to the mirage of equality of wealth and feel that the legitimacy of inheritances and so forth can be more solidly established on the following grounds. In my opinion for a government to forbid or consfiscate these is essentially to outlaw or rather to monopolize generosity.

Yes, Hayek’s argument here is rather too utilitarian for my taste, as well (but, then, rather a lot of his arguments are utilitarian). The freedom of people to dispose of their earnings as they see fit supercedes whatever ill effects accompany inheritors/giftees receiving “unearned” money (”unearned” goes in scare quotes because it’s not always really the case that heirs have done nothing to “earn” their inheritances; for example, if a housewife inherits money from her deceased husband, then it’s almost certainly the case that her efforts in maintaining the house, raising children, etc. gave the husband more opportunities to go out and make money rather than spending his time washing dishes and ironing) or, for that matter, whatever ill effects accompany even non-altruistic spending (which ill effects are often, in my opinion, rather overblown; after all, workers on Chevy’s assembly line are feeding their families on the money “wasted” on a ‘Vette).

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