Hacker News Reader

A rising tide lifts all boats - a phrase used by economists to justify exporting all US production capability to China to help them industrialize. Of course there was no economic model to back it up, and now some of them are questioning if that was actually a good idea.

View on HN

And probably used even more to justify 'capitalism at all costs'

Using "capitalism" as a pejorative is itself a thought-terminating cliche. Left unsaid is the proposed alternative which, given the historical record, is probably worse.

> Using "capitalism" as a pejorative is itself a thought-terminating cliche. Left unsaid is the proposed alternative which, given the historical record, is probably worse.

I actually think you just engaged in thought-terminating cliche. It doesn't have a stock phraseology, but it's the assumption that the only alternative to modern capitalism is Soviet-style central planning. The cliche has a name, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_is_no_alternative.

Now used to justify Trump's withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Paris Agreement.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com