When I was younger, I used to find myself debating people more often than I do now. As I’ve gotten older the more I realize that it’s extraordinarily difficult to change people’s minds. I’ve found that the best form of persuasion is leading by example.
When I’m in the ideological minority of a group, I’ve learned to hold back my thoughts, but if someone asks my opinion on an issue, I’ll provide an honest answer.
I have particularly strong convictions on economics. I see laissez-faire voluntaryism as immutably the optimal system for the allocation of scarce resources, which means to stay that just as the church should be separated from the state, the economy should be separated from the state. The government should have no business in interfering with agreements and exchange between individuals.
When I lived in New Jersey, I got in a debate about minimum wage with a housemate that I did not particularly like. This individual was a body piercing technician (?). He would commute two hours each way every day from Princeton to Brooklyn, made very poor financial decisions, and managed to total two brand-new Honda Civics in the 9 months he lived with me. I still use his Hulu account, ha! (The worst housemate, however, was an unemployed middle-aged carpet salesman that had two strokes on the floor and was an absolute jerk).
Long story short, he could not get over the fact that I believe that minimum wage laws cause more suffering for the poor than if we did not have them. This is also happens to be the prevailing view of most mainstream economists. I found out months later that my housemate was so upset after talking with me that he cried over it. It’s amazing to me that politicos have much of society lead to believe that the government has the power to bend gravity and that a planned economy produces better outcomes. Hint, hint: time and time again, price controls are proven to create more suffering. I respect people that disagree with me, but often they are woefully off-base.
Twice in the past week the topic of rent-control has come up among friends since it might be an upcoming ballot measure in Massachusetts. The principle remains the same: price controls directly cause more human suffering than without. Rent control causes developers to flee, thereby reducing the supply of housing, and greatly increasing prices to renters looking to enter the market. For people who already have housing, rent control discourages landlords from making vital investments in their properties thereby leaving apartments in states of disrepair. More suffering! Just because a supposedly altruistic policy like rent control or minimum wage sounds wonderful, does not mean it comes without horrendous ramifications for the human condition.
John Stossel does an excellent job explaining rent control in this video: