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May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
April 26, 2006
/ 28 Nissan, 5766
If you want to benefit from other greedy people, you have to make sure they benefit from you
By
John Stossel
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"Who's John Stossel?"
That was Virgil Rosanke's reaction when "20/20" interviewed him
for one of my TV specials. Without Rosanke and others like him, I couldn't
have a steak dinner tonight, but I and most of the people he makes dinners
possible for are unknown to him. He makes our dinners possible anyway.
Is Virgil Rosanke a philanthropist? No. Is he a government
worker? Not that either. He's just a guy who delivers propane to heat water
for cattle to drink. Why does he do it? To make money.
If pursuing profit is greed, economist Walter Williams told me,
then greed is good, because it drives us to do many good things. "Those
areas where people are motivated the most by greed are the areas that we're
the most satisfied with: supermarkets, computers, FedEx." By contrast, areas
"where people say we're motivated by 'caring'" public education, public
housing etc. "are the areas of disaster in our country. . . . How much
would get done," Williams wondered, "if it all depended on human love and
kindness?"
Greed gets people to cooperate. If you want to benefit from
other greedy people, you have to make sure they benefit from you. Consider
one of the wonders of our age, the supermarket. There are thousands of
products on the shelves. How'd they get there?
When I posed that question about just one of those thousands of
products a piece of beef I bought for my dinner I found a trail back
to an Iowa farm. That's how I learned about Virgil Rosanke, and how he
learned about me.
We taped David Wiese and his family, farmers in Manning, Iowa,
as they put in 14-hour days fixing fences, digging ditches, harvesting hay,
and feeding the cattle. They don't do it for me and my neighbors but I'm
glad they do it.
"Do you think it's because they love people in New York?"
Williams asked. "No, they love themselves. And by promoting their own
self-interest, they make sure New Yorkers have beef."
The Wieses are just the first in a long series of people who, by
caring about themselves, make sure I get my steak. Wanda Nelson keeps the
packing house clean. Rosanke delivers propane. Other people slaughter the
cattle and butcher the beef; they rely on people who make their knives,
their overalls and their protective gear. Then there are the people who make
the plastic that seals the meat, who run the machines that do the sealing,
who pack the meat in boxes, make the boxes, inspect the boxes, and run the
freezer facilities. Still other people track orders by bar code, which means
they need the people who make the bar code machines. Eventually, packed
steak is delivered to Randall Gilbert, a truck driver, who hauls it to New
York.
No one person made my dinner possible. It took thousands of
people to get me the food. And none of them did it for me. As economist Adam
Smith put it, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or
the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own
interest."
Rosanke and the others don't particularly care if some TV
correspondent gets his steak, yet they cooperate to make it happen,
motivated by self-interest what many call greed. Think about that next
time you listen to my colleagues sneer at the "greed" and "selfishness" of
private business. They don't realize that the institution they celebrate,
government, is far less effective at serving humanity.
"In a free market, you get more for yourself by serving your
fellow man," said economist Williams. "You don't have to care about him,
just serve him. I'd feel sorry for New Yorkers in terms of beef. If it all
depended on human love and kindness, I doubt whether you would have one cow
in New York."
Does anything get done based on "human love and kindness"? Well,
a nonprofit group called City Harvest collects donations of restaurants'
surplus food for the poor. But where does that food come from? Greedy people
like Virgil Rosanke produce it, and greedy restaurateurs buy it. Kindness
can only give away the goods self-love provides.
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Stossel explains how ambitious bureaucrats, intellectually lazy reporters, and greedy lawyers make your life worse even as they claim to protect your interests. Taking on such sacred cows as the FDA, the War on Drugs, and scaremongering environmental activists -- and backing up his trademark irreverence with careful reasoning and research -- he shows how the problems that government tries and fails to fix can be solved better by the extraordinary power of the free market. Sales help fund JWR.
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JWR contributor John Stossel is co-anchor of ABC News' "20/20." To comment, please click here.
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