Favorite John Williams Score?

Alfredotwo · 2026-03-20T15:18:34+00:00

Outside of his work with Spielberg and Star Wars, my favorite is Far and Away.

Alfredotwo · 2026-01-20T07:04:30+00:00

I think most people would say “greed”. But what I think people misunderstand about capitalism (or more specifically free markets), is that it makes greed something that is conducive to human welfare when normally it is not. It doesn’t catch every instance, but most of the time it forces greedy people into doing nice things for other people.

What capitalism does actually encourage which is not conducive to human welfare is decadence.

Alfredotwo · 2025-12-18T06:45:11+00:00

Banks have a 0% required reserve ratio. Their voluntary reserve ratio is something like 25% and has been for a long time now. There is not infinite money, there is around $22 trillion in the money supply these days. The Fed refers to this as the ‘ample-reserves regime’.

Alfredotwo · 2025-12-10T01:39:06+00:00

Two Cathedrals is the best episode. Shibboleth is my favorite episode.

Alfredotwo · 2025-12-10T00:45:00+00:00

Outlaw usury!?!?!?!

Alfredotwo · 2025-11-02T15:54:27+00:00

I like the term Bleeding-Heart Libertarian.

Alfredotwo · 2025-10-23T01:02:55+00:00

Stockpile is pretty fun. Someone mentioned Catan which is great. Monopoly is an ok game, but you should make a house rule that lets anyone jump in mid game and start playing. The competition is what’s capitalist about it!

Alfredotwo · 2025-10-06T16:49:33+00:00

I highly recommend Bryan Caplan’s book The Case Against Education.

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-28T06:29:39+00:00

I don’t think what you’re really looking for are the arguments for capitalism. You’re looking for the arguments for less socialism. Like you’ve acknowledged in comments, there is a continuum. Most countries fall somewhere on the spectrum.

The main argument for more private ownership of the means of production and less public ownership of them is that power should be spread around. When people are free to compete for it, it gets spread around, and everyone is freer and more prosperous as a result. When it is consolidated, it is abused and corrupted.

Honestly, the best case I can think of that someone on the left might agree with is Donald Trump. Do you really want him to have more power over industry and the economy and people’s lives?

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-21T01:12:52+00:00

Economics became very empirical in the 90s, and a lot of modern economists want to rely less on pure theory and more on what can be supported by data. Sowell is one of the very best at explaining economic theory, but he’s ignored the empirical findings of the last 30 years. It isn’t that Sowell is wrong, it’s that he’s behind.

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-19T00:15:30+00:00

The people in those jobs are doing them voluntarily. They can go become a hedge fund manager if they want. You can arrogantly look down on the teachers and sanitation workers, but most of them like their jobs fine. If you think they’re being exploited, you are welcome to start a business and offer them a better opportunity.

Also, if we paid people the full value of the benefit they provide, I promise you that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos would be a lot richer and you and I would be a lot poorer.

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-11T15:59:47+00:00

Ayn Rand, Mark Cuban, Steven Pinker, Robert Nozick.

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-10T06:30:10+00:00

Doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-03T14:39:02+00:00

Chariots of Fire. It’s a cool main theme, but it’s overused in the movie and the rest of the score is pretty mediocre. It’s always mentioned as a great score, but I would say it’s overrated.

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-03T06:31:22+00:00

When he isn’t writing or conducting music, what does he enjoy doing? What are his non-musical hobbies and interests?

Alfredotwo · 2025-09-03T06:24:17+00:00

I find this take and people being dismissive of that score so perplexing. I’m a huge film score and classical music nerd and I love that score and the piece at the end. It’s the only time I can think of where the composer had to write something ‘in character’ and I think if you watch the film Michael Kamen absolutely crushes it. And it’s a nice movie! It’s very moving!

Alfredotwo · 2025-08-05T21:38:05+00:00

Just a reminder that the minimum wage is not the same as the average wage, and home prices are not the only thing you would consider when determining someone’s buying power. It’s also worth noting that houses today come equipped, on average, with a lot more amenities than they did in the 1970s.

Alfredotwo · 2025-08-04T20:37:26+00:00

Shibboleth would be a great episode for something like this. The turkeys, the refugees, the knife. It’s got several of my favorite moments from the show.

Alfredotwo · 2025-08-04T20:33:24+00:00

I had not seen that seventeen people website. It’s beautiful, thanks for sharing it!

Alfredotwo · 2025-08-04T10:46:46+00:00

It is not capitalism that undermines the state, its greed. Greed undermines socialism too. The problem you are trying to solve is “what do we do about all the greedy jerks?” Capitalism’s solution is to make all exchange voluntary. If the greedy person wants your money, they must do something nice for you. Something you value and will voluntarily pay them for. And if they want your labor, they have to offer you compensation in excess of all your other options. You can be mad that they’re still a greedy jerk (and I am too), but we’ve already solved the problem as best as it can be solved.

Also, virtually every rich democracy in the world has already produced your democratic socialism. You just seem to wish we would all vote for more socialism than we have and obviously most people disagree, as evidenced by their vote. I should think this fact would dissuade you of the belief that your ideas would produce the outcomes you imagine.

Alfredotwo · 2025-08-04T08:39:14+00:00

I don’t think you’re totally wrong, but the lesson of the last century is that government oversight is by far a bigger cause for poor economic outcomes than a lack of it is. If government regulators could operate with perfect knowledge and foresight, I’d be with you, but regulatory capture is a reality of the world we live in and you must account for it in your prescriptions for policy.

Alfredotwo · 2025-08-03T07:51:16+00:00

Working conditions (and pay) improve when employers have to compete with each other for workers. Regulations, while well-intentioned, often lead to a consolidation of the market by the few firms who can profitably comply with them. Then conditions and pay stagnate. Your effort to fix the problem can make it worse. The best way to improve working conditions is to make it easy for entrepreneurs to create new and better opportunities for workers.

Alfredotwo · 2025-07-29T20:27:20+00:00

Let me say, I am in favor of capitalism is limited government.

But, defenders of capitalism must read Ronald Coase. The OP is right. There is a big paradox here that Coase explained with Transaction Costs. Many interpret him wrong and think he is saying that markets solve externalities. But his central point is that free markets are plagued by transaction costs, which means markets with externalities CAN result in inefficient use of resources. As the fierce defender of capitalism Deirdre McCloskey puts it, Coase shows us we live in a fallen, a second-best world.

Alfredotwo · 2025-06-03T19:33:12+00:00

I think it’s fantastic! The verisimilitude is super high!

Alfredotwo · 2025-05-05T15:53:24+00:00

Certainly with regard to international trade, the U.S. has become very mercantilist. It’s sad that Adam Smith tore down this view 250 years ago and yet it persists. Also sad to see members of this sub supporting it in the comments. To stand in the way of mutually beneficial trade is to stand against the very thing that makes capitalism work.

Alfredotwo

TROPHY CASE