From “I, Pencil” to iPhone: The spontaneous order of capitalism
There is perhaps no greater image of irony tonight than that of anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, anti-materialist extremists of the Occupy Wall Street movement paying tribute to Steve Jobs — the co-founder, chairman and former chief executive of Apple Inc., who passed away this evening.
While the Kamp Alinsky Kids ditch school to moan about their massive student debt, parade around in zombie costumes, and whine about evil corporations while Tweeting, Facebook-ing, blogging, and Skype-ing their “revolution,” it’s the doers and producers and wealth creators like Jobs who change the world. They are the gifted 1 percent whom the #OWS “99 percent-ers” mob seeks to demonize, marginalize, and tax out of existence.
Inherent in the American success story of the iPhone/iMac/iPad is a powerful lesson about the fundamentals of capitalism. The Kamp Alinsky Kids scream “People over profit.” They call for “caring” over “corporations.”
But the pursuit of profits empowers people beyond the bounds of imagination.
I am blogging on an iMac. When I travel, I use my MacBook Pro. I Tweet news links from my iPhone. My kids are learning Photoshop and GarageBand on our Macs. I use metronome, dictation, video, and camera apps. I use Apple products for business, pleasure, social networking, raising awareness of the missing, finding recipes, and even tuning a ukulele.
None of the people involved in conceiving these products and bringing them to market “care” about me. They pursued their own self-interests. Through the spontaneous order of capitalism, they enriched themselves — and the world.
Eleven years ago, I wrote about one of my favorite economics essays: Leonard Read’s “I, Pencil.” He turned a mundane writing instrument into an elementary lesson about free-market capitalism. What goes for the pencil goes for any of the products Steve Jobs introduced to the world.
“I have a profound lesson to teach,” Read wrote in the voice of a lead pencil. “I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because–well, because I am seemingly so simple. Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me.”
Read traces the rich, deep genealogy of the metaphorical little pencil from the loggers who harvest its cedar wood grown in Oregon, to the millworkers in San Leandro, California, who cut the wood into thin slats, to the railroad employees who transport the wood across the country, to the graphite miners in Ceylon and refinery workers in Mississippi, to the farmers in the Dutch East Indies who produce an oil used to make erasers.
All these people, and many more at the periphery of the process, have special knowledge about their life’s work in their separate corners of the earth. But none by himself has the singular knowledge or ability to give birth to a pencil. Few will ever come in contact with the others who make the production of that pencil possible. It’s not because they “care about each other” that they cooperate to deliver any one good. It’s the result of self-interest, multiplied millions of times over.
As Read explains it: “Neither the worker in the oil field nor the chemist nor the digger of graphite or clay nor any who mans or makes the ships or trains or trucks nor the one who runs the machine that does the knurling on my bit of metal nor the president of the company performs his singular task because he wants me.” Indeed, there are some among this vast multitude who never saw a pencil nor would they know how to use one. Their motivation is other than me. Perhaps it is something like this: Each of these millions sees that he can thus exchange his tiny know-how for the goods and services he needs or wants.”
Read pushed the lesson of pencil further. “There is a fact still more astounding: The absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions which bring me into being. No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the Invisible Hand at work.”
This spontaneous “configuration of human energies” is repeated endlessly in our daily lives. Think of the countless and diverse people involved in producing a Slinky, jump rope, or baseball, a diaper, refrigerator, desktop computer, Boeing 747, or iPhone.
Appreciating this voluntary configuration of human energies, Read argued, is key to possessing “an absolutely essential ingredient for freedom: a faith in free people. Freedom is impossible without this faith.”
Indeed. Without that faith, we are susceptible to the force of class-warfare mobs and the arrogance of master planners in Washington who believe the role of private American entrepreneurs, producers, and wealth generators is to “grow the economy” and who “think at some point you have made enough money.”
The progressives who want to bring down “Wall Street” will snipe that Steve Jobs was one of “theirs,” not “ours.”
He belonged to no one. He was transcendently committed to excellence and beauty and innovation. And yes, he made gobs of money pursuing it all while benefiting hundreds of millions of people around the world whom he never met, but who shed a deep river of tears upon learning of his death tonight.
Such is the everlasting miracle of the spontaneous configuration of human energies. Teach your children well.
***
Via ZoeyalaMode, a very related and relevant September 2011 reflection from Mises.org:
What made Jobs’s tenure at Apple great is that he wedded profits with aesthetic loveliness. Not every businessperson can or should do this. Even the entrepreneurs who provided the masses with tacky things are just as deserving of our admiration and praise, for they too do their part to lift us all out of the poverty and squalor that is the state of nature.
And aside from the prettiness of certain products or the elegance of the smartphone, there is another overarching beauty that we find in the market: a lovely, orderly, productive global matrix of cooperative exchange that leads to human flourishing for everyone, even in the absence of a global dictator. This is as beautiful a system as any product Steve Jobs ever made.
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There would be no Apple without the profit motive. Drives Marxists crazy.
Times like this call for waxing nastalgia.
Does anyone remember what year Apple sued Apple?
Of course, Apple won!
Well said, Michelle. And it reminds me of Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman on Socialism vs. Capitalism.
Capitalism succeeds because it doesn’t seek to change human nature.
Freddy said:
It was over many years… Apple vs. Apple
Oops! Sorry the Milton Friedman link needs to be updated… here’s a link that works…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A
What I find the most ironic of the stupidity of these protesters, is that in the 60′s until the late 70′s parents of said protesters is that they hated the government and now it’s all groovy, warm and fuzzy.
Birkenstocks aren’t free?
Brown rice isn’t free?
Some people paid to go to Woodstock?
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Socialism and Communism–with their perceived “abused” workers and class envy–do not provide innovation. These failed systems build big overbearing government and stifle innovation.
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That’s why it is necessary for these countries to resort to industrial espionage to steal new designs and technologies from capitalist societies. And they must force their people to accept much poorer standards of living to support their fantasies of better lives for all.
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Cuba used to be one of the more advanced Latin American countries. A food exporter that after 50 years of Castro is a food rationing importer that has many malnourished people. And refuses to let the people grow their own food since it competes with their failed state monopoly farms.
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Ditto for Venezuela, Zimbabwe, North Korea, the U.S.S.R. and it’s satellites, and similar states. Steve Jobs would never have prospered there. He would have had to “vote with his feet” and leave to prosper.
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Like Winston Churchill said, “Capitalism provides unequal benefits for all. Socialism provides equal poverty for all!” And Communism provides slavery for all–except for the new ruling class of overlords.
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And Comrade Obama wants to “fundamentally transform” the U.S.A. into His pipe dream of the new United Socialist States of Amerikka.
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John Bibb
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Stand tall as usual … we only 13 months out… and then we going to party like it’s
20121776Steve represented the epitome of what a Republic is all about. Share a dream with millions of others and be rewarded for one’s visions to change and enhance other people’s lives. Capitalism is Motion
I listen to people singing the praises of Jobs, and remain mostly silent, since this is not the time to snipe at him.
His accomplishments are remarkable. I’ll always regard him as The Enemy.
Ms Malkin is writing her article on an iMac, not because Apple products are superior, but because Commodore was run by, fecal pated morons.
Alternatively, she would be writing it on a Windows “PC”, not because MS and IBM products are superior, but because Commodore was run by fecal pated morons.
It is an amusing (to me) alternate view of history. In the mid to late 1980s, Commodore had the best technology available in personal computers, bar none. The Amiga blew the Mac away on every criteria except two: marketing and marketing.
I’ve often said that Gates was a mediocre programmer, but an excellent businessman. The same can be said for Jobs. Everyone in the industry knows that he lifted the WIMP interface from Xerox Parc (and then tried to sue Windows for “stealing” it from him.)
But, he designed the dot pitch of the Mac’s display to be compatible with the then-existing printing processes. He somehow got them into the schools in massive numbers (whereas Gates got MS-DOS computers into the business world the same way). My favorite example of where Apple was smarter than CBM was the movie, “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (alternatively, “Spock Saves the Whales”).
In a famous scene where Scotty has to use a 20th century computer, it’s very clearly a Macintosh. It was supposed to be an Amiga, but CBM, in their marketing wisdom, refused to provide a free Amiga for the scene.
So, mediocre to above average technology, in both their cases, won out over spectacularly superior technology, simply because they knew their business better than did Commodore.
There’s a cautionary lesson in that. Don’t assume that, just because Jobs and Gates were massively successful in their business that their success was due to superior creativity, imagination, or technological prowess.
The only Mac product I have right now is an old “Snowball” iMac with a flakey screen. I chose to pursue Android development, primarily because it was far less costly than developing for iOS, because the authoritarian rules of Apple made it pretty much that you paid for the privilege of possessing their phone/tablet/whatever, and that, like the outer limits, they control all that you see and hear, and because objective-C sucks, in my opinion.
Note that my reasons have nothing to do with the technological quality of the devices. They all have to do with Apple’s business practices. And Android is nudging iOS out of cell phone dominance (although no doubt Jobs’ death will give Apple a sales boost).
I don’t know if Jobs or Gates would have done as well in a pure capitalist system, or a pure meritocracy (if such could even exist). But, in our crony capitalist world, Jobs was in his element.
It’s a tragedy that Leonard Reid’s “I, Pencil” message can be so twisted into Elizabeth Warren’s Marxism, “You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
Now, to undo the damage….
Even though he’s been involved with various leftists in his personal live, Wozniak insists that one of Jobs’ major influences was Ayn Rand.
What I haven’t seen mentioned much is that he recently wrapped up an authorized autobiography that will be published next month. Talk about timing – even in death the man’s a marketing genius.
He was born to an unwed mother who gave him up for adoption. Pre Roe Vs. Wade or you might be using an iPencil.
What have the whiners and snivelers ever produced that was worthwhile? Nothing, IMHO.
It’s interesting how lefty most of the tech sites are. You get pages of posts and comments hailing technology sprinkled -liberally- with anti-capitalist screed. Makes no sense at all.
That is part of the reason I have little love for “gadgets” beyond the desktop PCs I build for myself. I didn’t even own a cell phone until 2006 (and I still use that phone).
Personally, I’ve never used many Apple products. But, I love his other innovation; Pixar. Toy Story, Cars, and The Incredibles are some of my favorite movies.
On October 6th, 2011 at 2:03 am, Hiraghm said:
The DEC Rainbow was in contention as well, IBM blew them out of the water on marketing alone.
While I’m not an Apple fanboy, I can appreciate the appeal of many of their products. The out of the box experience is second to none. Steve Jobs may have been a draconian and authoritarian figure, but he tooks chances and innovated where no one else would dare. I for one will be forever grateful for the one product I think rises above them all. The Ipod. It forever changed the way people listen and purchase music, much to the chagrin of the capitalist pigs record industry. Much like the Sony Walkman, the Ipod was a huge game changer. That one little device is the only Apple product that I can’t do without. RIP Steve Jobs, you did good.
I wish we had capitalism in the USA.
We don’t have that, we have crony capitalism now. Only those who can make a
bribecampaign contribution to the right politicians can become rich now. Some pay as little as $5000 in Texas to a governor to get what they want. Others pay six figures at an expensive dinner to get what they want.This is Marxism in the USA.
On October 6th, 2011 at 4:26 am, AlohaGuy said:
I was just coming here to leave a similar comment.
Steve Jobs was conceived as an unplanned pregnancy in 1954.
His mother carried him to term and put him up for adoption.
Think of what the world would have missed if his mother had aborted him. While that would not have been legal in 1954, it became legal in 1973, and since that time over 50 Million babies have been aborted.
Every single day, we lose more lives to abortion than were lost to terrorists on 9/11/2001.
How many world-changers have we, as a society, aborted in the last nearly 40 years?
Outstanding essay Michelle. Should be required reading for all students, especially the OWS99.
Funny that the folks on MSNBC [I watch MSNBC for the same reason I used to read copies of Pravda in the college library] this morning were lamenting “where are the Steve Jobses?, where are the Bill Gates’?” of today….
I wanted to yell at the screen “they’re filling out compliance forms and worker-safety reports”.
Great article Michelle. It makes me laugh everytime I see these Wall St protesters complaining about Capitalism; yet they have there iPad, iphone, Kindle, ipod, etc.
In case you haven’t seen it. Here is a great cartoon from 1948. It is a must watch for everyone (including children).
Steve Jobs, the poster child for adoption indeed. How many like him have been killed in the last 40 years?
Marxism-Socialism must be explicitly banned from the world. It is an evil pariah, a tool of statist totalitatian conquest. Call it out.
I kind of liken it giving pearls to a chimp; it doesn’t know what the h__ to do with it. Comparing my systems I would say Amy was back then (1985) was least close to 70% of what OS-X is today — and STILL does tricks others can’t do today like running multiple screens and such. My God, such a sweet super machine! What’s really irritating was Jobs actually looked into acquiring the Amiga from CBM as a follow through to the first Mac but the Shamiel (sp?) and his lawsuit-happy cornies put him him off.
Fantastic you brought up that that super obscure tidbit! At AmigaWorld at Javis Center the crowd went NUTS hearing how CBM dropped the ball like that!! Also like how BABYLON FIVE and SEAQUEST graphics were entirely done on Amy! Oww, my head!!…
James Greenidge
Queens NY
Steve was a great entrepreneur and businessman. His company invented things that have shaped and re-shaped this society and the world.
However…..wasn’t he known as a hard-driving, overbearing boss? I recall stories of demanding long hours, workers catching a few hours of sleep in their offices, 20 hour days, etc.
Seems like lefties and union members should be treating him like Sam Walton.
I bet these protesters don’t mind paying capitalist money for their marijuana, booze, and other drugs that they like to use while marching down Wall Street.
I remember hearing the story of how Steve & Steve started their business in one of their garages. Nowadays, could you even DO THAT without some local government busybody pointing out that your property is zoned ‘Residential’, not ‘Commercial/Industrial’?
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HI HIRAGHM–#11, 12, et.al. You have a mind like a steel trap–total recall! I bet you are great at Trivia Pursuit.
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Good comments on the Commodore Computers. The first computer I bought for home was the Commodore 64–cheap, and amazing capabilities for the time. String processing, graphics, and ease of use capabilities my giant 1980′s mainframe at work could only dream about.
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I used it for a learning tool for my middle school sons and daughter. And for easy engineering calculations for me using the Basic language provided with the system. Far easier than a calculator–and with printout and screen display. A good word processor. My kids loved it–but their only real learning was how to use “Fast Hackem” to steal borrowed game programs to avoid paying for them!
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They are smarter than their old Dad–they are doctors now–not engineers! Lots richer too.
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John Bibb
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Steve Jobs, in his garage with capital from his parents, investors, and a bank, created how many jobs and generated how much tax revenue? Compare the results to Obama who has all the resources of government and has spent trillions attempting to create them.
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HI DAN708–#32. Good comment on garage startup companies. Hewlett–Packard was started by 2 engineers in their garage also. They became one of the best electrical engineering instrument companies in the world.
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And not so much now–over the years they have become much less innovative and much more corporate in their thinking and actions and business. Size matters–sometimes in a negative way.
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John Bibb
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The Kamp Alinsky Kids, college students, etc. are The useful idiots of our time. They were useful idiots in the Third Reich (recently finished the book “Bonhoeffer”–highly recommend it), and unfortunately the unscrupulous and the evil will always take advantage of the fact that youth are idealistic, lack perspective, and are moldable and most easily deceived of any group.
MM said:
What the KAK’s had best heed, you’ll never be able to ‘change’ or influence a process or system by turning your BACK on it! You need to be part of it.
Dare we say, engaged? Great perspective as always MM.
#11
On October 6th, 2011 at 2:03 am, Hiraghm said:
I think of VHS won out over the technically superior Betamax.
Socialists embrace an economic theory that believes that wealth has to be redistributed evenly but their societies not don’t create wealth, they destroy it. All of them would take money from someone to give it to someone else yet none of them create anything but good intentions.
There is a reason why the Steve Jobs of the world are usually found in the US or Israel, they may not have been born there but that is where creative people are free to create and that enriches all of us.
Like Dirk (# 24 above), I too succumbed last night to the morbid curiousity of briefly viewing MessNBC.
Within mere seconds (no surprise), I was struck by the profoundly ignorant hypocrisy of MessNBC’s bilge.
How so? Easy. There they were, oozing and marinating in an endless cascade of fawning adoration for Steve Jobs (which of itself, of course, is legit).
What’s not legit is for such drivel to come out of the mouths of otherwise congenitally bitter, self-absorbed diaper-soilers, who on every other night villify the very essence of what Mr. Jobs was; to wit:
A “filthy rich capitalist” whose company is “sitting on millions” and “not paying its fair share of taxes”.
And of course, doing so while using the very communication tools supplied to them by none other than the likes of: Steve Jobs.
So, it’s not “evil Capitalists” they seem to hate; but rather, just those capitalists whom they are incapable of understanding or appreciating.
Such wretched stupidity is too painful and repugnant to watch, so up came the remote.
On October 6th, 2011 at 10:30 am, Pasadena Phil said:
There is a spiritual reason for that.
Judeo/Christian capitalism creates.
Godless socialism destroys. It is the way of the thief…
Judeo/Christian capitalism creates more abundant life.
Godless (really Satanic) socialism steals, kills, and destroys…
Michelle Malkin said:
Ronald Reagan, in his Remarks at the 41st Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, (delivered 8 March 1983, Orlando, Florida, and dubbed by the media as Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech), said:
Another example:
MS Windows vs IBM OS2. OS2 was far superior back in the day. IBM didn’t know how to market it and Microsoft was busy strong arming PC manufacturers to pay for the OS license whether they installed Windows or not. The good old monopoly days.
On October 6th, 2011 at 12:50 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:
Yes, indeed, it was.
I used OS/2 from 1990 – 1998.
I miss this man.
tru dat!
Hiraghm, you’re a man after my own heart
Not much I can add to your excellent commentary, other than to say that I endorse it and share many if not most of the opinions you expressed.
I have never owned an Amiga, although I would have very much liked to have purchased one when they were ‘relevant’ (I was a poor college student at the time). I’d still like to get my hands on one for my growing collection of ‘classic’ computers. A friend and roommate of mine did own an Amiga, and I myself owned a Commodore (“Commie”) 64.
The owner of the Amiga showed me a rather interesting ‘backdoor’ in the AmigaOS. I forget what sort of contorted key sequence you had to press to access it, but you’d hold down about half a dozen keys, insert a disk in the drive, and the menubar would change to read “We made the Amiga…”. Eject the disk (with a different key combo?) and the menubar would change to “And Commodore f*cked it up!”
Ok, just Googled the above, here’s a link that tells more about that little “easter egg”.
I also agree with you that Objective-C sucks
As I pointed out in my own rant in the RIP Jobs thread, I absolutely despise the whole closed environment in which both developers and users have to navigate in the iOS space. iOS devices are a microcosm of the sort of top-down control politics that Jobs favored and supported.
Agreed, after fix
It also blows.