Posts Tagged ‘ Steve Jobs ’

There are certainly more comprehensive tributes, but this is my favorite so far. From Steven Horwitz:

Unlike  many, I am not an Apple-phile. I honestly don’t get the emotional  relationship people have with their products. HOWEVER… there is  absolutely no doubt that Steve Jobs is a symbol of all that is right  with markets and capitalism. This is a man who became very, very rich by  making many people’s lives (including my own) very much better. He was a  master at creating value and persuading people that they wanted things they didn’t know they wanted. He should be part of the pantheon of human heroes.

Unlike the political and military heroes of war we too often celebrate,  Jobs is a hero of peace. He made his money through persuasion not at  the point of a gun, and through mutual benefit not oppression and  exploitation. Those of us who really desire a peaceful society should  not celebrate those who were victorious in war, but those who created  value through peaceful, voluntary, mutually beneficial exchange -  exchanges that happen billions of times every single day. And we should  do it no matter whether what was exchanged was electronic bits of magic,  food for us to eat, or financial instruments that improve the movement  of capital. They all create value and improve our lives, and all of  their benefits are deserved.

Thanks for everything Steve and thanks for making the world a better place one peaceful, cooperative exchange at a time.