Is there a Robin Hood in You?
Fiction writer Ayn Rand and economist Friedman have strong ideas about how the world should be. In Rand’s fictional world, Robinhood-like character is a villain and they have no place in the society. Is it, really? Do Robinhoods promote only laziness among masses?
Greenspan, the crackpot and a great disciple of Rand has experimented in implementing what he believed to be Rand’s/Friedman’s ideology. Greenspan was either naive and/or utterly stupid to assume that ‘corporations do not do anything to hurt their own self interests.’ Do they? Greenspan didn’t even recognize fraud until it was too late – not once, not twice – but multiple times.
Well, ever since Chakravarthy and I started going at each other on this subject of ‘free markets,’ we are both bringing evidence to prove our points of view. He says that ‘profit motive’ among us is the economic utopia for the world. I say it is an impractical ideology that can and will never be fully implemented or tested. For, altruism and greed are essential elements of human nature. You cannot suppress one and let the other rule. In other words, human nature is inherently complicated and the choices we make are infinitesimally complex. The choices are governed by prevailing conditions/rules.
Here is another exhibit.
Mohan garu-
Here is why, in my view and most likely in Ayn Rand’s view, Robin Hood is not a hero. Robin Hood looted the looters. Please allow me to localize the context with an example. During the Nizam rule feudal atrocities were rampant. Jana Reddi Pratap Reddi of Suryapet alone had 1.5 lakh acres of land. There was vetti which was a form of slavery. Coercion was the chief form through which these feudal lords survived.
Now what Robin Hood would do in this case is to loot the feudal lord and distribute it to the poor. However, Robin Hood is no different from the feudal lord- both are looters and both use coercion as a means to achieve their goals. The only difference is that Robin Hood does it under the guise of morality like many social programs in this country.
So, what is the right approach? Fight and end the feudal lord rule. Fight in the case of feudal lords can even take the form of an armed struggle as a last resort. Fight for self-defence and against those who steal your individual liberties is moral and justfiable. If successful in ending the feudal rule, reinstate private property to their rightful owners and allow individual liberties to flourish.
The other day (after posting this article) caught a small glimpse of History channel’s take on Robinhood. The thesis is that there was a guy with some name Robert Houd (or something that rhymed with Hood) and he was an outlaw. Later on several outlaws were compared to him. It looks like many of their stories were stitched together as Robinhood, the legend.
However, my point was not about Robinhood, nor any one particular reference point in history. My point was about complexities of human nature. Prevailing conditions dictate our behavior. Selfishness is at our core. Adam Smith’s THEORY is that when people become rich, they become altruistic. Self interest is the sheer motivating factor for success.
I have another ‘economic’ experiment to disprove this ideology.