From: ibshambat@gmail.com   
      
   There have been some participants in the economy that have been adequately   
   championed. Adam Smith championed the businessman; Karl Marx championed the   
   worker; and the lesser-known Thorstein Veblen championed the engineer. But   
   there have been other major    
   participants in the economy that have not been adequately championed. These   
   include:   
      
   The scientist;   
   The teacher;   
   The military;   
   The police;   
   The priest;   
   And the artist.   
      
   Most of what business sells is technology, and technology comes from science.   
   There have been many places that had the market system, and most of them were   
   poor. The reason that we are more wealthy than Medieval Europe or Tsarist   
   Russia is technology;    
   and technology comes from science.   
      
   Even the most anti-intellectual American drives a truck that comes from   
   science; has TV and telephone that come from science; and uses such things as   
   air conditioning and boom boxes that come from science. Scientists are at the   
   root of most of what    
   business sells. The scientist is not adequately compensated for the work that   
   he does; the businessman gets more than his fair share.   
      
   Another significant contributor to the economy is the teacher. The teacher   
   educates both the businessman and the worker. Without the teacher most people   
   would be unemployable. Many teachers are regarded as losers; however without   
   them the businessman    
   would not have the knowledge that he needs to do his job, and most workers   
   would be unemployable.   
      
   Still another major contributor is the military. The importance of the   
   military was found out by Bertrand Aristide, who disbanded the military only   
   to be out of a job when some drug runners got hold of major guns. There have   
   been many situations in which    
   a poorer population conquered a wealthier population. Both Russia and China   
   had much more money than Genghis Khan, but Genghis Khan conquered both   
   populations because he was a military genius who assembled an excellent army.   
   America's solution to this    
   problem – to have effective military hardware – is a correct one; and I   
   completely endorse Reagan's doctrine of peace through strength and hope that   
   the present administration continues this doctrine.   
      
   Also important is the police. The police enforces property rights. Without   
   property rights enforcement economic activity would be impossible. Everything   
   that people produce would be pilfered, and the population would be plunged   
   into poverty. This    
   happened in Russia in 1990s, when the police was incompetent and the place was   
   overrun by gangs. This continues to happen in the American inner city, where   
   law enforcement does not know what it is doing and the conditions are so   
   violent that no business    
   would set up shop there. Police is required for enforcement of property   
   rights, and without the police everyone would be very poor.   
      
   I have also not heard enough said in defense of the priest and the artist. The   
   priest is important because he teaches people moral principles, which are   
   necessary for economic activity to take place. As for the artist, he is a   
   visionary whose inspiration    
   anticipates much of what people figure out later with their minds. Much of   
   what we have now was anticipated by artistic inspiration; and while most   
   artists don't make very much money other people make tons of money out of   
   implementing their visions.   
      
   Most of the above don't make very much money. However their contributions to   
   prosperity are vast. A scientist or a teacher does not earn a lot of money;   
   and many of these and others, being driven by the ideal of service, do not   
   mind that state of affairs.   
    Where they do revolt – rightfully – is when people decide that their work   
   is worthless or that they are losers or irresponsible or anything of the sort   
   even as they are benefiting from the work that they do. When they rail against   
   and defund science    
   while benefiting from science. When they ride around in trucks that science   
   made possible with signs that say “My son beat up your honor students.”   
   When they go around disrespecting the military while benefiting from its   
   defense of their lives and    
   property, or when they tell a police officer “fuck you pig.”   
      
   Do I have personal reasons for saying this? I most certainly do. I was   
   planning an academic career; but when I was at the university the academia was   
   being defunded, and prospects for an academic career were scant. I went into   
   the computer industry, and    
   after that crashed I was under-employed. Probably the only good thing that   
   came from that was me becoming acquainted with perspectives of people whose   
   perspectives I otherwise would have never considered and gaining in compassion   
   for other people. If I    
   am to put in the kind of effort that is needed to get a PhD or anything of the   
   sort, I have to know that the field will be there.   
      
   So it is time that more people acknowledge these unsung heroes of economics.   
   And it is time that more of such people be treated with respect.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)