John Stossel, of ABC's 20/20, wrote an op-ed piece here about Wal-mart and the benefits that it provides for all of society, let alone its own workers.
We can debate again the virtues or vices of Wal-mart but what struck me from the article as being particularly interesting was Mr. Stossel's reference to 1900's "Robber Barons" and their perceived problems. Being neither robbers or barons, these people (Vanderbilt and Rockefeller) contributed to society and made people's lives better, all the while getting rich for their trouble.
Another interesting part of the article I picked up on was the reference to Gordon Gecko's speach from Wall Street. He says that business is a zero-sum game: There are winners and losers in every transaction. But when you stop and think about it for a minute you can see from real-world examples and the example with the milk that Stossel provides that this is not true. Businesses create wealth, not only for themselves but for their customers and in turn for society.
Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged, wholeheartedly subscribes to this business philosophy and her heroes describe this detail at times within the story. I posted an example of one monologue and you can find it here.
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