Knowing versus 'Knowing' 193This is what the average businessman will tell you. What he wants is a
stable regime that protects private property without stepping in and taking
his wealth away, and that gives him the freedom to pursue opportunity
without removing this permission later on. The government creates the
climate. He creates the wealth.
If this system is to work, then I suggest that there are
a few other types of opportunity which need to be
eliminated. One is the opportunity of government to take
wealth from the individual. When a person or company
is making money, the temptation (remember that word?)
is for government to step in and to demand an extra
share of the riches. Those who try to pursue
opportunities in third world countries will tell you that
this type of political opportunism does not encourage the
creation of wealth. I suggest that the underlying problem
again is emotional 'truth.' The emotion of seeing wealth
overwhelms Perceiver thought in the government
official and causes him to 'know' that he and some of
that wealth belong together. This produces an economy
based in bribery and corruption. It may be as blatant as „officials‟ manning
roadblocks and demanding money from passing cars, or it may come in the
more subtle form of encouraging some business venture and then changing
the regulations afterwards.
But, how did we get into a discussion on economics? Ah, that is the
mystery of capitalism: “Give people the freedom to pursue opportunity and
they will create the most marvelous economy that you have ever
imagined.” Why? The average free-enterpriser does not know. He simply
repeats the mantra, “Freedom creates work.” A In essence, if a political
vacuum is created which is consistent with Perceiver confidence, then this
vacuum will be filled by the common sense of a modern economy. Is a
modern economy based upon Perceiver confidence? Very much so. People
interact on the basis of contracts—stable Perceiver rules which guide their
behavior, regardless of individual experiences. They trade by using money,
a factual way of comparing the value of one object with that of another.
And, businessmen always talk about confidence in the economy, especially
when they confront emotional storms of economic uncertainty. How and
why does business work? We will study this question later when we
A Notice how technology is being used to build an external bridge between
subjective and objective. Modern transportation, communication and
production provide the external infrastructure which makes capitalism
possible. This external network acquires „life‟ as people get subjectively
involved. Meanwhile, mental connections between subjective and
objective remain unanalyzed, reduced to the level of platitudes and mantras.