Category: Philosophy and Economics

What can be learned from this costly and disheartening situation?

A few days ago, my car window was smashed into a million pieces by some callous thief and broken into, leaving me frustrated and scared.

As I was getting out of work, I turn around the corner to see my driver’s window completely gone. My heart sank. Then I started to panic a little. What do I do now?

My first thought was, why me? There were more expensive cars parked next to mine like BMWs and Mercedes but why target my 2009 Cadillac SUV?

Even more confusing was the motive behind breaking into my car. I had no valuables in my car and the only thing worth taking is my aux cord or the penny and nickel laying about, but none of those were taken.

In fact, whoever did this took nothing but decided it was worth their time and risk getting caught to smash into an almost empty car. I barely have anything in my car for this reason so I don’t give criminals a reason to break-in.

Even though they still smashed my window, it’s still wise to take precaution and reduce your chances of becoming a statistic.

Here’s some advice: never leave your phone or other valuables (especially guns) in your car even if it’s in your glovebox, criminals can still force it open. And don’t give the impression that you might be hiding something underneath things like piles of clothes, keep your car clutter-free or hide it in the trunk. Also, park in well-lit areas with lots of people.

But how does this relate to economics?

The important lesson we can learn from my personal experience is a prime example of the broken window fallacy, a parable by French economist, Frédéric Bastiat.

Bastiat gives an example of a shopkeeper whose son breaks his window and now has to shell out a pretty penny for repairs. A bunch of spectators witness the shattered glass and defend the damage by claiming it keeps the window repairman in business.

Likewise, my car window was broken but the auto shop now has my business. At first glance, this seems beneficial like a silver lining and it does give the auto shop more money. But we must ask the question, at what cost and who’s paying for it?

Are broken windows a net gain to society?

Does destruction help or hinder society’s progress?

The answer seems like an obvious “No” but people still argue in favor of destruction since it creates jobs and helps the auto shop stay in business.

However, it was at my expense and the $200 that went towards the new window could’ve been used for my wants and needs. I needed that money for gas, food, and a new pair of shoes to replace my worn out ones. I also wanted a skincare set for my acne-ridden face, and I could’ve had all those things and an intact window but instead I’m left with just a window and nothing else.

Multiple businesses and local gas stations and I could’ve benefitted more compared to just the auto shop.

In the words of Bastiat, “destruction is not profit.”

It’s never too early to expose good ideas to kids, especially if those ideas seem complicated. Economics is one of those topics that’s important in navigating through life but isn’t taught well in schools, if at all.

Why is economics important?

Continue reading Economics Book Recommendations for Kids

Intellectual property (IP) laws are becoming obsolete. Blockchain has paved the way for a more voluntary society without the coercion of the government.

Blockchain technology like smart contracts are faster and cheaper ways of executing legal contracts. It’s also more trustworthy and it can prevent situations like a dishonest landlord who claimed you didn’t pay rent on time, and provide proof from thousands of other ledgers who confirmed a transaction.

Basically, if the conditions for a contract aren’t met then the code inside it would not execute the end result. Check out this beginner’s guide on how smart contracts work.

Don’t fear change, instead embrace it.

Nostalgia is a common theme that both the cultural right and left have in common. They wish for simpler times of the old days. For the right, they long for traditional values of the 1950s, and the left wishes to re-experience their childhoods from the 1980s and 1990s. Continue reading Don’t Fear Change

Pastoralism is a common form of elitist thinking. The term refers to nostalgia for the pristine “good old days” coupled with future technology to perpetuate a vision for all of society.

The problem with pastoralism is the one size fits all concept. It ignores each individual’s needs and forces them into a predetermined lifestyle.

The prime example of this is the white picket fence suburbia of the 1950s. It’s highly romanticized with cool futuristic technology like jetpacks and flying cars, merely updated for the ideal nuclear family.

What pastoralists don’t understand is that technology was meant to disrupt traditional lifestyles and usher in a new defining age like the one we live in today. Startups flourish by disrupting traditional office environments and it gave people more freedom to define their lives on their own terms. Compare it to the pastoralist’s view that the only path to success is earning a degree, owning a house, getting married, and having kids.

Pastoralism is elitist thinking because it sets back progress (both technological and moral) and demands everyone to live by their one cultural standard. The pastoralist views of the 1950s still affect us greatly today.

Modernist planners created the suburbs to center around the car and commute to work. The problem was it priced the poor out and separated people from economic centers and places with lots of jobs. Not everyone can afford a car.

You can read a longer explanation of pastoralism by Venkatesh Rao.

Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

This is one of the most engaging and well-edited documentary series I’ve watched. I highly recommend you to watch all four parts if you have an appreciation for culture.

Everything is a Remix explains how every work of art, music, inventions, or some other idea isn’t so original as one might think. Instead, creating culture begins by borrowing and building upon other people’s ideas over time. Culture is more of an evolution rather than a big bang.

“Copy, Transform, and Combine”

Hunter S. Thompson learned to write novels by copying Hemingway word for word until he figured out a formula and created his unique voice. Likewise, classically trained artists and musicians learn the styles of the old masters first before they could develop their own style.

If you wanted to have credibility in the fine arts world, you needed to demonstrate competency in basic still life, anatomy, figure drawings, and the color wheel. Just take a look at Pablo Picasso’s earlier works. As a musician, you needed to learn composers starting from the Baroque era, instead of learning just pop music.

Let ideas roam free without the restriction of intellectual property laws.