Does free market corrode moral character?
A John Templeton Foundation, uma organização filantrópica ao melhor estilo anglo-saxónico criada em 1987 por John Templeton, pioneiro em investimentos financeiros e considerado pela revista Money "arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century", tem como missão tentar responder às Grandes Questões do nosso tempo.
Uma delas dá título a esta posta: Does free market corrode moral character?
A questão foi colocada a 13 ilustres convidados, dos quais destaco a título de exemplo alguns bem como excerptos que considerei relevantes das suas respostas:
- John Gray, filósofo inglês, professor na London School of Economics e autor, por exemplo, de The Straw Dogs, um ensaio muito pouco main stream que tive oportunidade de ler este Verão e que nos faz mesmo pensar, embora a meu ver nos empurre, civilizacionalmente, para um pouco atraente beco sem saída. Cínico e doloroso, faz bem o papel de desmancha-prazeres, no combate ao conceito de progresso.
The moral hazards of free markets do not mean that other economic systems are any better. Centrally planned systems have corroded character far more damagingly and with fewer benefits in terms of efficiency and productivity. The planned economies of the former Soviet bloc only functioned — to the degree they did at all — because they were riddled with black and grey markets. Corruption was ubiquitous. In the Marxian model, the greed-fuelled anarchy of the market is replaced with planning based on altruism. But actual life in Soviet societies was more like an extreme caricature of laissezfaire capitalism, a chaotic and wasteful environment in which each person struggled to stay afloat. Homo homini lupus — man is wolf to man — was the rule, and altruism the exception. In these conditions, people with the most highly developed survival skills and the fewest moral scruples did best.
- Garry Kasparov, grande campeão de xadrez, dissidente do regime comunista e líder da coligação Uma Outra Rússia, que defende uma sociedade civil mais forte e maior defesa dos direitos e liberdades na Rússia.
Despite the seemingly cruel nature of unregulated market forces, there are two important ways in which they can improve the well-being of society, much as Darwin’s unseeing laws generate the best-adapted forms of life. First, if moral character is valued by a society, it can be in one’s self-interest to practice and preach moral behavior. It may seem to make little sense for a company to donate a share of its profits to charity when that money could instead go to improving its competitive position. But we know that such giving can enhance a company’s image in ways that do improve its competitive position. In a free market, reputation is based on popular opinion, and that perception can become a material benefit.
- Bernard Henri-Lévy, filósofo francês, um dos líderes do movimento filosófico anti-marxista Nova Filosofia e autor, entre outras obras, do livro A Vertigem Americana, em que procura revisitar a viagem de Tocqueville à América e que deu origem ao livro Da Democracia na América.
[...] because it develops the qualities of taking initiative and making decisions, because it places individuals into relationships with each other, because it is a regime that makes sense only if its subjects relate to one another — the free market remains, all in all, a factor promoting socialization, a means of connecting human beings, even of creating fraternity or, in any case, mutual recognition. Hence, it is the opposite of corruption. We should read Hegel’s texts on the dialectic of recognition in the development of modern consciousness. We should read Emmanuel Levinas on the question of money (a question that is tricky, nearly cursed, in my own country). He argued that, far from isolating and atomizing individuals, money is, in fact, the medium of their interchange. And so, finally, it is necessary to conclude that there are good uses for the market, since it is one of the means that human beings have found to resist the all-out war of everyone against everyone else, diagnosed first by Hobbes and then by Freud.
- Tyler Cowen, professor de Economia na George Mason University e blogger no http://www.marginalrevolution.com/
In matters of morality, the free market functions like an amplifier. By placing more wealth and resources at our disposal, it tends to boost and accentuate whatever character tendencies we already possess. The net result is usually favorable. Most people want a good life for themselves and for their families and friends, and such desires form a part of positive moral character. Markets make it possible for vast numbers of people, at every level of society, to strive for and achieve these common human ends.
Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali, defensora dos direitos das mulheres e ex-deputada holandesa de origem somali, autora do livro Infiel e do argumento do filme Submission, que provocou o assassinato do seu realizador Theo Van Gogh às mãos de radicais islâmicos.
There is little consensus on what is moral, let alone on what corrodes morality. A man of faith measures moral character by one’s ability to abide by the demands of his God. A socialist might measure moral strength by one’s dedication to the redistribution of wealth. A liberal — by which I mean a classical, Adam Smith or Milton Friedman liberal, not a liberal in its American meaning of “pro-big government” — might be religious, and he might see the merits of income equality, but he will always put freedom first. This is the moral framework to which I subscribe.
According to this school of thought, freedom of the individual is the highest aim, and the ultimate test of a person’s character is his ability to pursue his own chosen goals in life without infringing upon the freedom of others to pursue their own goals. From this perspective, free economic activity among individuals, corporations, and nations boosts such desirable qualities as trust, honesty, and hard work. Producers are compelled to continually improve their goods and services. The free market establishes a meritocracy and creates opportunities for better jobs for those students who work hard at school. The same mechanism pushes parents to invest more time and money in the education of their children. Producers invest in research and innovation to beat their competitors in the marketplace.
Todas as respostas podem ser lidas integralmente aqui. E valem mesmo a pena.
Uma delas dá título a esta posta: Does free market corrode moral character?
A questão foi colocada a 13 ilustres convidados, dos quais destaco a título de exemplo alguns bem como excerptos que considerei relevantes das suas respostas:
- John Gray, filósofo inglês, professor na London School of Economics e autor, por exemplo, de The Straw Dogs, um ensaio muito pouco main stream que tive oportunidade de ler este Verão e que nos faz mesmo pensar, embora a meu ver nos empurre, civilizacionalmente, para um pouco atraente beco sem saída. Cínico e doloroso, faz bem o papel de desmancha-prazeres, no combate ao conceito de progresso.
The moral hazards of free markets do not mean that other economic systems are any better. Centrally planned systems have corroded character far more damagingly and with fewer benefits in terms of efficiency and productivity. The planned economies of the former Soviet bloc only functioned — to the degree they did at all — because they were riddled with black and grey markets. Corruption was ubiquitous. In the Marxian model, the greed-fuelled anarchy of the market is replaced with planning based on altruism. But actual life in Soviet societies was more like an extreme caricature of laissezfaire capitalism, a chaotic and wasteful environment in which each person struggled to stay afloat. Homo homini lupus — man is wolf to man — was the rule, and altruism the exception. In these conditions, people with the most highly developed survival skills and the fewest moral scruples did best.
- Garry Kasparov, grande campeão de xadrez, dissidente do regime comunista e líder da coligação Uma Outra Rússia, que defende uma sociedade civil mais forte e maior defesa dos direitos e liberdades na Rússia.
Despite the seemingly cruel nature of unregulated market forces, there are two important ways in which they can improve the well-being of society, much as Darwin’s unseeing laws generate the best-adapted forms of life. First, if moral character is valued by a society, it can be in one’s self-interest to practice and preach moral behavior. It may seem to make little sense for a company to donate a share of its profits to charity when that money could instead go to improving its competitive position. But we know that such giving can enhance a company’s image in ways that do improve its competitive position. In a free market, reputation is based on popular opinion, and that perception can become a material benefit.
- Bernard Henri-Lévy, filósofo francês, um dos líderes do movimento filosófico anti-marxista Nova Filosofia e autor, entre outras obras, do livro A Vertigem Americana, em que procura revisitar a viagem de Tocqueville à América e que deu origem ao livro Da Democracia na América.
[...] because it develops the qualities of taking initiative and making decisions, because it places individuals into relationships with each other, because it is a regime that makes sense only if its subjects relate to one another — the free market remains, all in all, a factor promoting socialization, a means of connecting human beings, even of creating fraternity or, in any case, mutual recognition. Hence, it is the opposite of corruption. We should read Hegel’s texts on the dialectic of recognition in the development of modern consciousness. We should read Emmanuel Levinas on the question of money (a question that is tricky, nearly cursed, in my own country). He argued that, far from isolating and atomizing individuals, money is, in fact, the medium of their interchange. And so, finally, it is necessary to conclude that there are good uses for the market, since it is one of the means that human beings have found to resist the all-out war of everyone against everyone else, diagnosed first by Hobbes and then by Freud.
- Tyler Cowen, professor de Economia na George Mason University e blogger no http://www.marginalrevolution.com/
In matters of morality, the free market functions like an amplifier. By placing more wealth and resources at our disposal, it tends to boost and accentuate whatever character tendencies we already possess. The net result is usually favorable. Most people want a good life for themselves and for their families and friends, and such desires form a part of positive moral character. Markets make it possible for vast numbers of people, at every level of society, to strive for and achieve these common human ends.
Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali, defensora dos direitos das mulheres e ex-deputada holandesa de origem somali, autora do livro Infiel e do argumento do filme Submission, que provocou o assassinato do seu realizador Theo Van Gogh às mãos de radicais islâmicos.
There is little consensus on what is moral, let alone on what corrodes morality. A man of faith measures moral character by one’s ability to abide by the demands of his God. A socialist might measure moral strength by one’s dedication to the redistribution of wealth. A liberal — by which I mean a classical, Adam Smith or Milton Friedman liberal, not a liberal in its American meaning of “pro-big government” — might be religious, and he might see the merits of income equality, but he will always put freedom first. This is the moral framework to which I subscribe.
According to this school of thought, freedom of the individual is the highest aim, and the ultimate test of a person’s character is his ability to pursue his own chosen goals in life without infringing upon the freedom of others to pursue their own goals. From this perspective, free economic activity among individuals, corporations, and nations boosts such desirable qualities as trust, honesty, and hard work. Producers are compelled to continually improve their goods and services. The free market establishes a meritocracy and creates opportunities for better jobs for those students who work hard at school. The same mechanism pushes parents to invest more time and money in the education of their children. Producers invest in research and innovation to beat their competitors in the marketplace.
Todas as respostas podem ser lidas integralmente aqui. E valem mesmo a pena.
posted by Diogo Almeida at
09:47
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