The media have seemed to have forgotten what has made this country prosperous according to ABC's John Stossel.
Stossel told an audience at the Heartland Institute's 2008 International Conference on Climate Change on March 4 in New York that the media propagate an anti-capitalist sentiment.
"The socialist media - maybe they will just never get it," Stossel said. "Their world view is anti-capitalist. [Ludwig] von Mises wrote about it in 1972 and it's just very hard to change. I would also argue the scientific community is as well."
The ABC "20/20" host based that notion on his experience from being a consumer reporter. "[A]s I've done my consumer reporting, just to elaborate on that, I think what's fueling a lot of this is a general hatred of capitalism," Stossel said.
Stossel, author of Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel - Why Everything You Know is Wrong, said being a conservative in New York City was like being as unpopular as a child molester. He said he even encountered some hatred personally.
"[I]'m trying to figure out what's the hatred," Stossel said. "It's because I'm a consumer reporter defending business and people hate business. So, I'm trying to understand why do they hate business so much. I thought - some people have said ‘the envy of the wealth.' Some people want so much more and they figure it's a zero-sum game."
He tied this ill-will about business and capitalism to global warming by saying the alarmism fed off of this sentiment.
"In our intuitive understanding of this zero-sum game - you made a profit off of me and I must have lost," Stossel said. "That economic ignorance makes people hate business and I think this global warming movement feeds on it."
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John Stossel...where you have been all my life?
March 5, 2008 - 16:49 ET by jpatchI always knew I liked that guy!
Isn't it amazing how eloquent the truth sounds? He just lays it down right there, in a few sentences.
I want more!! John Stossel for V.P.!!
clear, concise
March 5, 2008 - 17:13 ET by UndercoverConservativeI'm sometimes guilty of jealousy regarding corporations myself. But when you read this and realize that the envy comes from what he reveals as indoctrination of the "zero-sum game" mindset, it makes things clear as a bell.
which is why this guy will never make it in politics.:(
"to call an illegal immigrant an "undocumented alien" is the same as calling a streetcorner drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".
John Stossel on Greed
March 5, 2008 - 20:18 ET by PopularTech20/20: Greed (1/3) (Video) (12min)
20/20: Greed (2/3) (Video) (13min)
20/20: Greed (3/3) (Video) (14min)
Greed is good (John Stossel, Townhall)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
Good stuff
March 5, 2008 - 22:37 ET by LastlibertarianThanks for those!
The biggest lie about the
March 5, 2008 - 17:31 ET by mamawayThe biggest lie about the free market is that we have one. Critics constantly point out failures: jobs, the environment, shortages, surpluses, etc. and attribute them to the free market when in fact they're caused by socialist policies.
The one valid criticism of free market policies is information asymmetry, but the internet is changing all of that. Information used to cost a lot, but not anymore.
I wish we had a true free market somewhere in this country. Maybe an entire state that rejected federal money and abolished all state taxes. Stossel could be governor!
The term "free market"
March 5, 2008 - 17:38 ET by robert108The term "free market" refers to freedom of entry and exit. While it's true that taxation and regulation interfere with this, perfection is not necessary for any market to work quite well. Socialism and communism require perfection, but the free enterprise system does not. More freedom equals more prosperity.
Real Life for Dummies...
March 5, 2008 - 18:04 ET by jpatchMaybe John Stossel could host a new show on HBO called "Real Life for Dummies."
The first month of the show will be dedicated to teaching history, language, and introductory economics. Then they'll get to talking about the rest of the TRUTH that people want to distort or ignore.
No, free market = capitalism
March 6, 2008 - 00:40 ET by mamawayFreedom of entry and exit is just one aspect of a free market. What happens inbetween is pretty darn important.
http://www.answers.c...
"An economic market in which supply and demand are not regulated or are regulated with only minor restrictions."
Our economy works well, but only relative to many others, which isn't saying much. We still have a large percentage of citizens who favor government interference for one reason or another and that has something to do with the fact that we don't start working for ourselves until late April. See http://www.taxfounda...
Any tax dollar that's not spent on law enforcement and border defense is a dollar going towards some social program or bureacrat; a dollar unjustly taken out of the hands of its creators and put into the hands of people seeking votes and people with guns. It really is that scary when you think about it.
More from John Stossel
March 5, 2008 - 20:17 ET by PopularTechYou want more, here you go...
20/20: The Debate is Not Over (Video) (8min) (John Stossel, 20/20)
The Global Warming Myth? (John Stossel, 20/20)
A Convenient Lie (John Stossel, RealClearPolitics)
Don't Look to Government to Cool Down the Planet (John Stossel, Human Events)
The Global-Warming Debate Isn't Over (John Stossel, RealClearPolitics)
Give me a break - Oil Prices (Video) (5min) (John Stossel, 20/20)
Myth: Price-Gouging Is Bad (John Stossel, 20/20)
Myth: Corn Ethanol is Great (Video) (5min) (John Stossel, 20/20)
Ethanol - The Many Myths of Ethanol (John Stossel, 20/20)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
PopularTech...you're the source!!
March 5, 2008 - 22:20 ET by jpatchThanks PopularTech!!
You always bring great credibility to this site. Thanks for all of the links. That's awesome.
Isn't it comforting to know that there are cooler heads out there who can articulate the truth?
John Stossel is the O.G. of straight talk!!
Stossel for President!
March 5, 2008 - 16:55 ET by wizardjrI stopped going to mixers because I just got tired of the ignorance. I certainly don't know everything, nor do I have all the answers. But I am an engineer by training and by trade and one thing engineers live by: go with what works!
Socialism does not work. Communism does not work. At least not on this planet. Even the Chinese warlords finally got it: Capitalism!
What the lefty journalists don't like is having to actually compete - either in the marketplace of ideas or on the job (just another market, really). They think they are ordained due to their beliefs. When that is riddiculed or challenged they immediatly reach for the fascist path - "We have ways to make you comply!" I'm so tired of their BS.
I'll second your motion to nominate Stossel for Pres
March 5, 2008 - 17:13 ET by WingletDriverIn that speech he has packed more common sense and insightful truth than Bush did in 8 years. I'm not being anti-Bush, but he plays it safe 99% of the time (post-9/11 being the one time he was bold, brash and unapologetic). Goodness gracious, why doesn't someone clue our ruling class into this kind of bald-faced thinking?
I have always
March 5, 2008 - 17:45 ET by surroundednycI have always loved Stossel...his books and TV specials are fantastic. I am always surprised ABC airs them.
“Without freedom, there is no true humanity.”
W.F. Buckley
2 million cases of malaria
March 5, 2008 - 17:52 ET by ckc12272 million cases of malaria reduced to 17 cases? That's incredible.
DDT Ban Creates a Holocaust
March 5, 2008 - 18:22 ET by deerjerkydaveLiberalism's tentacles have reached far into the scientific community producing junk yards worth of junk science. The ban on DDT has saved a few birds but has killed as many as 20 million Africans, many of whom are children. This is a holocaust created by extreme environmentalism. I am of the opinion more and more that the liberals behind extreme environmentalism simply want people to die but are too limp wristed to pull the trigger on a gun so instead they do the socially acceptable thing and fight hard for extreme policies which people at risk and cost millions of lives.
you couldn't be more correct
March 5, 2008 - 18:33 ET by wizardjrThe greatest mass of the lefties are misanthropes. They are afraid of everything (thus "gun control") and yet tend to be ignorant of or deliberately shun real world facts in order to forward their neo-Luddite ideas. You're right. They wish that all of modern humanity and culture would collapse thus returning Mother Earth to a more pristine condition. They live this fantasy concept that you could maintain today's level of health care, food supply, etc. with such a minimal population.
They are insane. Literally.
I believe it comes from the self knowledge that, for the most part, they are just losers looking to kill off all of us that are trying harder and getting ahead, knowing they will always be the runt of the litter IMHO.
"Save the Planet; Kill
March 5, 2008 - 19:11 ET by robert108"Save the Planet; Kill Yourself." That's their mantra.
I believe at on time
March 5, 2008 - 18:40 ET by Chris NormanI believe at on time Stossel was very liberal, but grew tired of their garbage. He and a few others prove that some of the best anti-liberals are ex-liberals themselves.
Chris, you are right.
March 5, 2008 - 19:50 ET by deerjerkydaveChris, you are right. Stossel was a big "consumer advocate." He would set up sting operations to expose evil businesses. It wasn't long before the awards came rolling in. Eventually, Stossel came to realize that government also causes problems for consumers, so he started exposing them as well. The moment he started attacking government the awards all dried up.
"...the awards all dried
March 5, 2008 - 21:19 ET by Chris Norman"...the awards all dried up"
Yeah, he's lucky his contract hasn't dried up. It's the kind of thing that usually happens when they stray off the reservation. Ask Bernard Goldberg.
John Stossel is such an
March 6, 2008 - 12:27 ET by fitzfongJohn Stossel is such an honest, articulate and rational reporter. He has a unique ability to get to the bottom of any business or market issue and dispel the myths in very simple, understandable language. His "get the shovel" book is very well written and interesting. I especially enjoyed his appearances around last year's Al Gore sham concert...he made absolute mince meat out of that hyper-emotional, home-wrecking gasbag Bobby Kennedy, Jr.