Un-Civilizing America - How Win-Lose Deals Set Us Back

Economies run on either win-win or win-lose deals... And the best kind of economy runs on win-win deals. Win-win deals are winners because they are always voluntary. So they allow people to decide for themselves what they want. Then, through the information carried in market-set prices, these deals help businesses and individuals maximize their satisfaction. The baker does not light his oven at four in the morning for the love of baking. Neither does the bakery patron share his wages with the baker out of compassion. Rather, both are engaged in a win-win deal of mutual benefit and voluntary exchange. Win-lose deals are different. In a win-lose deal, one side forces the deal on the other side. And only one side profits. In win-lose deals, one side reaps where someone else has sown... one side takes the profit where someone else has taken the risk... one side enjoys capital it never saved and drinks it never poured.Some people do their win-lose deals outside the law - petty stick-up men and counterfeiters. More of them use the law itself - the administrative, regulatory, and crony apparatus of government - to get what they're after. Capitalism favors win-win deals. Socialism, on the other hand, favors the win-lose variety.