Comment 28629

By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted February 12, 2009 at 12:53:46

Ryan, >> My point about knowledge in the public domain is that we have access to it but did not produce it ourselves. Something like 90% of all the information we use to produce value through our work is pre-existing. Who owns that value? Not me the worker, since I didn't actually do the work to produce it. Not my employer the capitalist, since she didn't do the work either.

So what? Just because someone discovers something, this does not mean they add value to society. Only those people, like Sam Walton and the Google guys, who actually incorporate the "good" ideas into products that people can use, create value.

Everybody had access to the same knowledge that Sam Walton had, but only he spent money on computer and satellite systems, taking on additional risk, in order to bring it to fruition. That is the whole point of free market competition, to reward those people who risk their money to bring the customer something better and cheaper.

Therefore, it is more appropriate to say that wealth goes to the bold and the smart, rather than just the smart. That is also why, people like Sam Walton, Fred Smith (founder of Fed Ex) and Warren Buffet are richer than those people who feel more comfortable in the safety of a 9 to 5 job.

Life really is pretty fair. In Canada, almost anybody who is willing to work hard, endure large amounts of stress and setbacks, risk their reputation and money, has a pretty good shot at building wealth and getting rich. It isn't as easy as working a normal job, but than again, it shouldn't be.

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