What Makes Prosperity?
Forgive me for waxing
philosophical, but I just watched Slumdog
Millionaire, so I’m allowed.
I see places
like the garbage heaps of India, and I have to ask, what
defines real wealth? Is it money? Is it stuff?
Ages ago, I
read about a successful small business in a troubled part
of Africa, where the owner couldn’t come close to meeting
demand for his products. A reporter asked him why he didn’t
expand. The owner explained that as soon as he got bigger
than others, what he had would be taken away from him.
I also think
about places in the Middle East that are brimming over with
oil money, but so restrictive in their laws towards women
and non-Muslims, and even Muslim men, that “prosperity” is
almost a meaningless concept.
Finally, I
think of Socialist countries where no one is exactly
allowed to be “poor,” but they’re not allowed to be rich,
either, so work incentive is basically nil.
I took away
from that and other reading that without a fundamental set
of laws that allow hard work and risk to pay off, there
cannot be true prosperity. So, what are the fundamentals of
the Rule of
Law?
- Laws that are fair.
- Laws that apply to everyone equally.
- Laws that are enforced.
Many people see wealth inequality as the biggest evil in society, but I don’t agree. With the Rule of Law, even the poorest can entertain the expectation of greater prosperity through hard work and a little luck. Without this modicom of security, people may hoard, but they certainly can’t prosper.