I have been thinking about the (supposed) issue of "scarcity" as a
result of my (fruitless) attempts to explain the issue to Tiny Tim.

Watching the Forest Hills tennis matches on TV provided a wonderful
example of how capitalism solves the problem.

If you wanted to watch the match in person, it would probably be
impossible now to obtain seats. There are just so many seats and there
is no way to produce more. This is an example of scarcity. A genuine
example of scarcity.

So what does capitalism do.

It invents television.

Now millions, even 100's of millions, of people can watch the matches.

For free, btw - or at most at the nominal cost of their pro rata cable/
satellite fees.

But it gets even better.

Capitalism not only wants to make it possible for you to watch the
matches from virtually any place in the world, but to do it at your
convenience.

On Sep 5, 9:18 pm, Fred Weiss papertig.com> wrote:

I've dated myself.

That's now Flushing Meadows (the US Open).

On Sep 5, 6:18 pm, Fred Weiss papertig.com> wrote:

What's scarce Fred is your own wisdom about such matters.

What's in abundance is your single minded obsession with your ideas about
the "beauty" of capitalism, whilst ignoring the real and growing negatives
of such a system devoid of human values and dare I say it Love and respect
for others.

Capitalism is a word. It never invented anything, nothing, and it never
produced anything.

A man invented the TV. Groups of men created the TV networks. Workers, real
men, laid the cable networks.

In all cases, individuals, sometimes in teams together, are who created and
invented these things.

Capitalism has done nothing of value here, except in your own head. and of
course the heads of others just as obsessed.

People were not surprisingly growing food, and inventing things like wheels,
and ships, and communication devices long before anyone conjured up the
capitalistic system, which btw unfolded gradually much like the birth of a
mule, and just as thick and ignorant.

"Sean" now.com.au> wrote in
news:48c1ff38$0$31800$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au:

"Capitalist" has two senses. It may refer to an adherent or advocate of
natural economics (a free market economy), or it may refer to a person who
provides financing for a productive endeavor or enterprise.

A capitalist in the second sense provides the financing which allow the
farmers to buy seed, machinery, and fertilizers, the carpenter to buy
tools, vehicles, lumber, and other supplies, and the carpenter to buy an
inventory of fabrics and sewing machines.

A capitalist in the first sense tries his best to keep politicians
pandering to free-lunchers at bay so that the capitalist in the second
sense, and the farmers, carpenters, and tailors can perform their work
without interference.

Hope this clears things up for you.

"Publius" nospam.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9B10DB3353B25mpubliusnospamcomcas@216.196.97.136...

"Sean" now.com.au> wrote in
news:48c21105$0$18425$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au:

"Sean" now.com.au> wrote in
news:48c21105$0$18425$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au:

Oops, missed a paragraph.

To which "scarcities" would you be referring there? Which commodities, or
manufactured products, for that matter, have become "scarcer" in the last,
say, 50 years? Paul Ehrlich made that bet with Julian Simon back in the
70s, and lost.

A good of any kind is not "wasted" if it satisfies a desire of some
individual, and is the property of that individual. There is no requirement
that others conserve their property in order to satisfy some desire of
yours. And needless to say, most of the world's goods are the property of
particular individuals; they are not the property of "society" or other
statistical abstractions.

On Sep 5, 9:32 pm, Publius nospam.comcast.net> wrote:

"Publius" nospam.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9B10E6B261EC6mpubliusnospamcomcas@216.196.97.136...