We modern folk are fortunate to be able to worry, if we choose, about environmental problems such as global warming, species loss, and whether or not companies drill for oil off of the coast of California. A principal cause of our good fortune is the fact that capitalism makes our daily lives so clean, sanitary, and healthy -- and, generally, wealthy -- that we can afford to stew in concern about environmental problems that are more speculative and far more distant than were the environmental problems that plagued our ancestors -- problems such as houses with thatched, bug-infested roofs and no indoor plumbing or hard flooring.
I call capitalism the great anti-pollutant. Our lives truly and thoroughly are cleaned by capitalism. This realization first hit me several years ago as I stood at an automatic-flush urinal in LaGuardia airport. "I don't have to touch this thing to flush it; how wonderfully sanitary!" I marveled.
Well, here's a further development along these lines: no-touch dispensers of toilet paper.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Cleaned by Capitalism
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1 comment:
Amen to that! Capitalism is the greatest boon to cleanliness and environmentalism; just look at the underdeveloped countries to find that out; see their squalor, and their pollution.
Suffering people struggling to survive can't worry too much about hygiene or pollution.
Again, a great post; I wish there were more public voices out there reminding people of the great rewards of the free market!
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