{"id":19311,"date":"2011-07-19T23:55:29","date_gmt":"2011-07-19T23:55:29","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-07-19T23:55:29","modified_gmt":"2011-07-19T23:55:29","slug":"making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith\u2019s “Wealth of Nations”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Steven, Shreveport, Louisiana. Welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you with us, sir.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Great to be here, Rush. I\u2019ll tell you, I\u2019ve been listening to you for a long time, and I\u2019m really shocked how few people call to take you on task of your truth — or what you call the truth. Last week you mentioned, uh, something about the socialists don\u2019t create wealth; and today you say that Obama is wrong saying that cutting spending will not deal with prosperity. I mean, there\u2019s all kinds of example of that in the private — in the private industries. I mean, GE cut spending, jobs, and businesses in the nineties; and they have destroyed $200 billion in market value. It\u2019s hard — it\u2019s hard-pressed to find any nation on earth that is wealthy that does not have a socialist economy.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I have totally lost the ability to keep up with you here.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Okay.<\/p>\n

RUSH: What did you…? What did I say that…? I said socialism doesn\u2019t create wealth?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah. You said socialism —<\/p>\n

RUSH: It doesn\u2019t. Socialism does not create wealth. It redistributes wealth. Socialism doesn\u2019t create diddly-squat. Socialism is a parasite.<\/p>\n

CALLER: How do you explain Canada? How do you explain Japan, Germany, Switzerland? How do you explain the wealth of these nations?<\/p>\n

RUSH: They aren\u2019t wealthy. If you looked at \u2019em? Canada, by the way, is being run by a bunch of conservatives right now and has been for a long time. These Western European socialist democracies are about broke and turning around their socialism. Look at Greece. That\u2019s what you get. You got 14% permanent unemployment in the UK, in France. There\u2019s no wealth; they can\u2019t defend themselves, the Republicans. What are you talking about?<\/p>\n

CALLER: A good book called The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith — very powerful — I recommend all your listeners read it. Very powerful in, uh, understanding what the “invisible hand” really is. I mean, Adam Smith spelled it out. Capitalism does not work.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. I want you to walk me through it. The countries that are now socialist are still living off of their former capitalism. There\u2019s no startup socialist country that you can show me that\u2019s wealthy. Cuba? Even the ChiComs have had to go capitalist in order to feed their people! Thank you. I love that call.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: This guy, I don\u2019t think, has read The Wealth of Nations<\/a> by Adam Smith. Let me summarize. You know, one of the great things about me… (laughing) Did I actually say that? (laughing) I make the complex understandable. You want to know? You don\u2019t have to read The Wealth of Nations. I\u2019m just gonna tell you about it. Adam Smith\u2019s point is by looking out for yourself — your own selfish self-interests — the general good is accomplished. It is, frankly, where I learned the difference between “selfishness” and “self-interest,” and the two are often combined (mistakenly so). Self-interest is not selfishness. A man seeking to improve his lot in life so that his family benefits is acting in his own self-interests. If he, in his own self-interest, improves himself and his family, then the general good is accomplished. This pretty much is a summarization of The Wealth of Nations. The invisible hand, self-interest, looking out for yourself, not depending on somebody else. That\u2019s often confused. In fact, not “often.” The Democrats and liberals today — every chance they get — try to call that selfishness, and it isn\u2019t. You know, the guy wants to respond to the call is Marty, Fort Pierce, Florida. Great to have you on the program, sir. Hi.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi there. Yes. Well, you just said that I was gonna say (chuckling) which I don\u2019t know where this guy got what he\u2019s talking about. The invisible hand is the essence of capitalism.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yes!<\/p>\n

CALLER: It\u2019s pure capitalism. <\/p>\n

RUSH: Yes.<\/p>\n

CALLER: If I go about doing the best I can for my family, my self-interest, I could… Even… Well, I guess “greed” would kind of nix that out, but if I just go about it and do the best I can and improve.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, even “greed” sometimes is misdefined in this context.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes, it is. But if I go about it and to the height of my ambition do the best I can, the way our country is set up — the way it\u2019s gonna work out, the way capitalism works — it\u2019s just amazing. He couldn\u2019t even define it. He just said, “It\u2019s the invisible hand!”<\/p>\n

<\/a>RUSH: He doesn\u2019t know what he was talking about; that\u2019s why I couldn\u2019t follow him. You know, my brain and socialism, it\u2019s tough to follow. Let me quote Adam Smith. You\u2019ll recognize this \u2019cause you\u2019ve read the book. This is another just very succinct explanation, illustration. “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest.” In other words, the butcher is not working in his shop so that you can eat; he\u2019s doing it so that he can. But by virtue of him being there, doing what he does, you\u2019re able to. He\u2019s looking out for his own self-interests. The general good is elevated. <\/p>\n

Liberals despise that. <\/p>\n

They despise that way of thinking. <\/p>\n

“The purpose of a corporation is to provide health care. The purpose of a corporation is to provide jobs. That\u2019s it. The purpose of a corporation is to provide benefits.” Well, nothing could be further from the truth. That\u2019s not the purpose of a corporation or a business, large or small. The invisible hand is everybody looking out for themselves. It\u2019s the essence of capitalism! Like you, Marty, I had no clue what the guy was talking about. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Here is Harlan, Garland, Texas, great to have you on the EIB Network, sir. Hi.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Thank you, sir. Hi. You know, Obama\u2019s really waging classic Marxist warfare, and he uses words to do it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah.<\/p>\n

CALLER: And it doesn\u2019t matter to him whether every word that comes out of his mouth is a flat-out lie, whether he knows it or anybody else knows it, he doesn\u2019t care, \u2019cause what\u2019s he\u2019s trying to do is misinform, discourage, undermine, and mislead. I remember listening to Ronald Reagan, one that you played, where he announces his candidacy. And Reagan was always encouraging. I remember hearing him on TV, and I —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Harlan, let me ask you a question. You sit there and you say that Obama is trying to misinform and discourage and undermine, mislead. Why? Why would he want to do that to people?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Because I think he wants to undermine any kind of encouragement. He wants to discourage, because discouragement feeds this —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Why? How does he benefit from that?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Because it gives him power. It\u2019s a classic Marxist — <\/p>\n

RUSH: Exactly right. The more discouraged you are, the more defeated you are, the more hopeless you feel, you\u2019ll turn to Obama for your solution. Harlan is exactly right. Exactly right.<\/p>\n

END TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Steven, Shreveport, Louisiana. Welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you with us, sir. CALLER: Great to be here, Rush. I\u2019ll tell you, I\u2019ve been listening to you for a long time, and I\u2019m really shocked how few people call to take you on task of your truth — or what you call […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking Complex Understandable: Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Steven, Shreveport, Louisiana. Welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you with us, sir. CALLER: Great to be here, Rush. I\u2019ll tell you, I\u2019ve been listening to you for a long time, and I\u2019m really shocked how few people call to take you on task of your truth — or what you call […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/\",\"name\":\"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith's \\\"Wealth of Nations\\\" - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-19T23:55:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-19T23:55:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith\\u2019s “Wealth of Nations”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith's \"Wealth of Nations\" - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith's \"Wealth of Nations\" - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: Steven, Shreveport, Louisiana. Welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you with us, sir. CALLER: Great to be here, Rush. I\u2019ll tell you, I\u2019ve been listening to you for a long time, and I\u2019m really shocked how few people call to take you on task of your truth — or what you call […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125112.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/","name":"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith's \"Wealth of Nations\" - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-07-19T23:55:29+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-19T23:55:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/07\/19\/making_complex_understandable_adam_smith_s_wealth_of_nations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Making Complex Understandable: Adam Smith\u2019s “Wealth of Nations”"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}