But you won't be able to see "The Power of the Poor" on KCTS tonight, though it will be shown nationally on PBS. (I've sent KCTS an email asking if they intend to show it, and if so, when.)
Here, according to the preview, is the program's message:
Filmed on location from Latin America to Africa, The Power of the Poor will demonstrate how free markets, individual freedom and especially the right to property can transform the poor into the most powerful resource in the world. At its heart is the potential triumph of capitalism as a system.
You can watch a bit of it on line, just enough to whet your appetite.
Good news: Randy Brinson of KCTS tells me that the program will air Sunday, November 15 at 1pm. I'll try to put up a reminder here a day or so before it is broadcast.
Posted by Jim Miller at October 08, 2009 01:44 PM | Email ThisThe free market is the best demonstrated method of creating wealth (with emphasis on "creating" -- it is not a zero-sum game like so many would have you believe).
Posted by: USA Ronin on October 8, 2009 02:31 PMThe Miami Herald review of the show, which does pop up with a google search indicates it is indeed a PBS program.
Sounds like a vast left wing conspiracy.
Posted by: daveo on October 8, 2009 04:08 PMTo some extent, though that is a simplification. We have plenty of programs like Medicare and Medicaid but no one here believes that we don't have a right to property.
The government cannot take away our property without due process -- this is the guarantee that allows for the modern concept of property. A king won't just take it away. Someone can't steal from you without being punished. But a tax that serves a legitimate state interest fulfills the due process requirement while still maintaining the ideals of personal property rights. The structure here that due process provides is more important than being able to keep every dime of your wealth. The arbitrariness that comes without due process is a serious cause of poverty in the world. (There is nothing arbitrary about being taxed more to pay for more police forces -- the common good.)
In other words, it's not the difference between a 25% tax bracket and a 45% tax bracket. It's that one day you can lose all of your assets arbitrarily (without due process) in some of these nations, and that creates no reason to have assets.
So certainly this will devolve into another high tax/low tax debate, but the concept this documentary looks to be about is more about due process than an appropriate tax rate or how big government should be.
Posted by: John Jensen on October 8, 2009 05:53 PMMaybe Obama can win the Heisman Trophy for it. Why not? Throw in a Oscar while we're at it.