I love the connection between the call for redistribution and the 7 (well, 6) deadly sins. You're spot-on—It's ironic (and a bit Orwellian) that redistribution is touted as virtuous when in reality it reflects some of humanity's worst habits.
You made a good point about the people calling for redistribution being rich compared to most people who came before them (often precisely because of the work that the 'robber barons' did)—it brings a whole new meaning to "pride goes before a fall."
So I think it's a great premise to devote your newsletter to taking an unbiased look at things that people tend to believe without giving them much thought. In this case, though, it's kind of a bias trade. The premise that wealth is the result of hard work is also a heavily biased narrative. Observably, there are lots of lazy rich people and lots of hard-working poor people (because any group of people are still just people!), so there are definitely more factors at play :)
I'm not sure if you understood the article. I never said that all wealth stems from hard work, or that all poor people are lazy.
My point (which you haven't refuted) was that resenting the wealth of others is counterproductive. This is true no matter how that wealth was obtained.
I also claimed that wealth is often the result of hard work. Not always, but often. This means that striving for wealth is typically a very productive thing to do, even though it is no guarantee of success.
100!
So what do you think, does this dovetail?
https://christophercook.substack.com/p/redistribution-deadly-sins
Totally—this was a great piece!
I love the connection between the call for redistribution and the 7 (well, 6) deadly sins. You're spot-on—It's ironic (and a bit Orwellian) that redistribution is touted as virtuous when in reality it reflects some of humanity's worst habits.
You made a good point about the people calling for redistribution being rich compared to most people who came before them (often precisely because of the work that the 'robber barons' did)—it brings a whole new meaning to "pride goes before a fall."
Thanks, and yeah—the moral inversion is appalling, isn't it? It's up to us to call it out!
So I think it's a great premise to devote your newsletter to taking an unbiased look at things that people tend to believe without giving them much thought. In this case, though, it's kind of a bias trade. The premise that wealth is the result of hard work is also a heavily biased narrative. Observably, there are lots of lazy rich people and lots of hard-working poor people (because any group of people are still just people!), so there are definitely more factors at play :)
I'm not sure if you understood the article. I never said that all wealth stems from hard work, or that all poor people are lazy.
My point (which you haven't refuted) was that resenting the wealth of others is counterproductive. This is true no matter how that wealth was obtained.
I also claimed that wealth is often the result of hard work. Not always, but often. This means that striving for wealth is typically a very productive thing to do, even though it is no guarantee of success.