We free-marketeers believe, not in trickle-down, but in trickle-up. Capitalism, uniquely, rewards people who sell to the mass market. I am typing these words on a program that I bought from Bill Gates. My purchase enriched him, adding fractionally to his net wealth; and it also enriched me, making my life more convenient. Like most successful people, Bill Gates became rich by persuading lots of poorer people to buy something from him; in consequence, we are all better off.Living in Puget Soundlandia, as we do, we'll add that Shell Oil expends billions of dollars exploring for, extracting and refining oil for us common folk. And we're grateful for that (even though they occasionally spill a few drops in the water). So, we appreciate Mr. Hannan's point we've bolded here;
Try running that argument past your liberal friends, though. The chances are that even the most open-minded among them will give you a slightly glazed look. Even if they grasp the idea, they will soon forget it and go back to telling you that "everyone knows" that conservatism is all about the defense of privilege and oligarchy. This is because, to a greater degree than most of us care to admit, our political leanings are expressions of our character traits, and are not dependent on empirical data.Nor are many, mostly on the political left, at all concerned with the inconveniences they impose on the rest of us by their grandstanding without any compensating benefits to the general public whatsoever;
Someone might need to use that street to get to work, to earn money to feed, clothe and house their family. To take a sick child to a hospital. What are the chances of any of the protestors in the above having weighed that against their lark?
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