Tortoise in this election year has been thinking about free enterprise, socialism and benevolence. Benevolence means the wish as a human being to act with good will. In boning up on Adam Smith, D. Taylor Tortoise has concluded that the economist, though religious, did not particularly see human beings as benevolent. Laissez-faire or “let alone” describes his economic attitude far more accurately than “do good” in matters of livelihood and survival. For example, Adam Smith said, “I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it.”
Men and women perform their best by simply satisfying their self-interest by making a profit. In the end personal gain benefits the common wealth. To make a bundle brings money to a whole chain of beneficiaries, do with it what they will. “So, Government, leave the job creators alone!”
And yet, even Smith believed that there must be some order to transactions. For example, contracts must be honored and the buyer has a right to accurate information about the proposed purchase. There must be rule of law on these matters. The fact that the wealthy may spend their money on mansions, yachts and other fancy stuff is irrelevant. For the benevolent who would do the public good, they must seek investment by appealing to the moneyed in the capitalist’s self-interest; hence, naming rights for the new stadium, etc.
Civil society requires for the public good, the necessary rule of law. Deciding the public good becomes the bugaboo for entrepreneurs in a putative, free market. You cannot just do whatever you want to make a profit, e.g. steal things, sell bogus mortgages and unsafe drugs. And even Adam Smith did not condone monopoly. He said, “People of the same trade seldom meet together even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public or some contrivance to raise prices.” Because of the threat of contrivance, we have set up public utilities to ensure that the optimum, fair market can exist for gas, electrical and communication services. Can you imagine what nightmare a competitive, profit-based army and navy might cause? The interminable debate about the public good goes on.
Which brings Taylor Tortoise to his favorite issues — health care and insurance. Are either of these any less in the public good than electricity or gas? In the modern age of medical science they are commodities whose consumption in the 21st Century has become totally necessary to survival and the pursuit of happiness. Why? Because miraculous cures and therapies are available, that’s why. Of course, I should add higher education since a college diploma, if not a master’s degree, has surpassed a high school diploma as an absolute necessity. And the so-called free market is failing in both areas. We live in a time when young people are likely to start their careers bankrupt or virtually so under the weight of student loans. Obviously there are no jobs paying enough to make a fair, let alone, free market for either health care or higher education. The free market demands pricing that works. Otherwise, subsidy for essential necessities is inevitable; or health care prices itself out of the market consumers cannot afford — a clear failure of competition.
“I move very slowly,” says Taylor Tortoise, but even I know change is over due. At the very minimum the public option — once upon a time even supported by Republicans — has become a necessity. And it need not be any more ‘socialistic’ than the power and light company.”
So here we are in 2012, nine months away from Election Day, throwing around epithets about free speech, Euro-socialism, social Darwinism and religious freedom. In the meantime the technocrat Barack Obama, runs the government by executive order. Congress is in permanent recess and vacant mood, it seems. Before John Boehner could stir up his House, the President had already compromised. Thus, there’s little left to do but wait for the next crisis — so much for benevolence. Adam Smith was right. It’s all about self-interest and greed. Democracy is messy.
[Permit me a sidebar before I end. There has been confusion in the past here at The Tortoise Factor. I need to tell you that The Tortoise's full name is D. Taylor Tortoise. The D stands for Dening, a pleasant enough name, but Taylor Tortoise prefers to be called Taylor. He has also gone by the simple, Tortoise or The Tortoise. He is a benevolent character.]
Steadfast and cautious,
David Milliken
My Master’s Hip Replacement by C. Tobin Tortoise
Drawing by Carolyn Milliken
For the past several weeks my master here at The Tortoise Factor has undergone successful hip surgery. I’ve had to secretly fill in for him. The operation went as well as the dual knee replacement of several years ago. The hip joint like the buns that surround it, unlike the leaner neighborhood of the the knees, is harder to access and less painful in the end because of all the muscle in those climes. So, according to Master, the knee trip was briefer but a little more painful. The hip job just takes longer. He took very few pain pills and Tylenol did the job. Three days max in the hospital.
Although the tortoise has a hip, it has to have industrial strength due the long life of tortoises — sometimes over 100 years. Then, too, I don’t suppose we tortoises subject our bodies to the risks of strenuous, unnatural feats of athletic prowess. We sleep a lot in winter, too. We don’t mow the lawn and experience a lot of rotation at the end of each cut. We don’t bowl and crouch either. I can’t ride a bicycle as Master does. I don’t know whether pumping uphill does good or bad for the hips. Mostly I think Master just sat on his can too much and didn’t work out the arthritis, but I’m only a tortoise not a doctor. Master is a bookworm. He told me he’s going to look into one of those new desks with the elevator(crank or electric) that enables a sedentary man to at least stand at his computer.
Master didn’t want to write this article, because “There’s nothing more boring than an old fart rambling about aches, pains and travails of infirmity and inconvenience.” Master was lucky to have those cheerful nurses and a long suffering wife stepping and fetching for him now for weeks. By the way he says that tool called a reacher was a blessing as a man isn’t able to bend or allowed to bend more than 90 degrees). It’s a wonderful tool. Unlike the plastic urinal and the horrible surgical stockings, Master will keep the reacher — but I wish he’d quit teasing me and the dogs with it. Well, he feels good anyway, snapping away at all of us with his reacher.
While he was pretty diligent about his therapy, he groused a lot, especially at the leg lifts, bridges and crotch crunchers. He was great at wiggling his toes. The walker made him feel really elderly and just as clanky as the device itself. When cane time came, he was surprised at the challenging art of using a cane. If you ever have to use one, remember to put it on the side opposite the injury — seems strange but it works. Master has trouble remembering this. Truly he found caning as troubling as walking and chewing gum at the same time. Regardless of using a cane or walker, a man has to look out for sleeping dogs and cats. After surgery it’s all about balance and minute caution. Oh, and Miller High Life. That rule he broke.
With the blessings of God, medical technology, a great wife, Medicare, books and the company of terriers and Toby. Master is very happy and thankful. Oh, one last caveat, if you buy ankle weights add them VERY slowly. A success with an effective half pound weight is no invitation to add five too soon. Easy does it. This is tortoise wisdom at its best: incremental, careful exertions. Let the hare get the shin splints.
Steadfast and cautious,
C. Tobin Tortoise