◼ Profit is the ultimate destination of effort among free men. - John Hayward/Human Events
Americans have so completely accepted the demonization of the profit motive that we reflexively accept the reverse proposition: those who claim there will be no personal profit for their actions are automatically assumed to be virtuous. Politicians depend very heavily on this concept when they slake their thirst for political power. For example, President Obama loves to claim that he’s acting against his own self-interest when he insists on tax increases for millionaires, because he is a millionaire. You aren’t supposed to think about the value of the power he wants to amass, compared to whatever increased tax bill he might face at the end of the year. The billions of dollars he would harvest from others are meant to be invisible.
It is no coincidence that even as our economy has become more politicized, and more money is seized and directed by the federal and state governments, we have been made to believe that power has no dollar value, and therefore the quest for power is not “greed.” This is the crucial paradox that enables those who would dominate to pretend they are noble, because the only real sin is the pursuit of profit. If you would have economic liberty, you must have the courage to reject that argument in its entirety.
