In my Fantasy Free Economics theories, unlike mainstream economics I recognize self interest as the only relevant incentive with respect to aggregate economics. Mainstream economists assume the imaginary incentive to serve, which is a completely erroneous assumption. The incentive to serve is born of the need to be taken care of, by a benevolent, more powerful entity. Self interest does not disappear when a person leaves the private sector for the public sector. This seemingly innocent fantasy has the potential of being lethal to our way of life.
Mainstream economics assumes some sort of desire in humans to work and be productive. Being fantasy free, I observe deeper motivations and do not ignore them. Human beings are more than willing to be productive and work for pay but only after exhausting all possibilities of living off the efforts of others in the groups they belong to.
There is a misguided believe within the population that government benefits are provided as acts of kindness. The opposite is actually true. Only the politically powerful get net positive benefits. It is easy enough to point to some of the powerless, poor and down trodden as benefiting from government programs, but on a net basis, all without political power pay tribute to the top, one way or another.
Fantasy creates happiness and comfort. Fantasy also kills. Sometimes a whole lifetime can pass with fantasy creating only happiness. When fantasy kills, it kills suddenly and creates chaos and confusion. When an entire society is consumed with fantasy and reality is treated as a lie, a collapse is right around the corner. Fantasy is wonderful until without warning reality imposes itself on an entire society.
Although fantasies in the United States are not parallel to the fantasies of the Germans during the 30s and 40s they are potentially very serious. The Germans had this fantasy the the Aryan was superior to all others. Being alive did not mean a person was worthy of life. So, other races of people were killed off as needed and it was the God given right of Aryans to operate that way. In the end a good deal of the world was destroyed, including all of Germany.
The relevant fantasies in the United States are not at all unusual. It is the fact that they are so universally accepted that make the situation scary. The belief that government is benevolent is just about universal. That the United States military is fighting for freedom and that all veterans are heroes is another one. Experts are assumed into existence. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee members are an example. Federal Reserve economists are really only the best politicians among economists. Citizens are comfortable looking at presidential candidates as messiahs. Does every child need a college education? It is still assumed that they do, while college provides nothing close to an education.
The truth is censored and fantasies are accepted as real. Anyone exposing a fantasy is jumped on and silenced. To persons living the fantasies, the truth constitutes betrayal. To challenge the existing order is to be deemed anti American or unpatriotic. In fact people are highly prone to fighting to the death to defend a fantasy.
In the United States today, it is not that one particular fantasy is that dangerous. The problem is that the prevailing fantasies have been part of life and have been growing unchallenged for many decades. The fact is that, today in the United States, the population is almost universally out of touch with the genuine forces that actually do determine the outcomes in their lives.
We are on the cusp of the greatest economic reckoning in the history of the world. People are completely without the intellectual means to deal with it.
The truth is a hard sell. Fantasy Free Economics gains readers one at a time. Major search engines simply do not list blogs which disagree with their political agenda. As long as folks share the link to this blog and others speaking out against the grain, the truth will at least trickle into the public consciousness.
Fantasy Free Economics recommends the following blogs.
Woodpiler Report Of Two Minds Liberty Blitzkrieg Mises Institute Straight Line Logic Paul Craig Roberts
Views: 5
