Don Carlos

       This man is the brother of my great-great grandfather, Hazzard (that's right.  Double Z).  Now, let's think about my great-great-great grandfather for a moment.  He named his two sons Hazard and Don Carlos.  Don is an honorific title - in Spanish.  In case you ever wondered where some of my oddities come from, you can stop.  It's in my blood.  And you can rest assured it will be passed on; the current plan is that two of my sons will be named Hazard and Don Carlos.  Brothers, take note, I've got dibs...  

Top left is the father, John Henry Owen.  Right is Hazzard, my man.  Bottom is Don Carlos...

Be what you want to be

I'm helping a buddy write a philosophy paper arguing capitalism's moral supremacy over socialism.

"But capitalism doesn't let you be what you want to be; musicians, artists, intellectuals all have to sweat it out to get by" That seemed to be a trump card of sorts.

But here's a question: 500 years ago, how was the occupational diversity? 99% of people were farmers, part-timing as soldiers. Now only 2-3% of people are farmers while service, entertainment and other such sectors have grown tremendously.

Maybe it's still tough to make a living doing something few other people care about, but its easier than it ever has been in the history of the world, and as capitalism develops, it will continue to get easier. People's options are greater than they ever have been because of capitalism's superior ability to allocate resources efficiently along society's summed preferences. Just look at high school clothing variety. Socialism's central planning would ease the ability of a chosen few to do what they please at a greater sum cost to the rest of society, pigeon-holed as they are into careers that "society" wants them to fill.

Life isn't perfect and easy, but we're closer to that than we ever have been. We ought to recognize that and be happy for it.