Walter Williams makes a great point when talking about how well the free market caters to the common man while other types of economic/political systems such as socialism or communism not so much. At least in the free market the average Joe can get at least a little bit of what the rich man has. What in the world is the meaning of that? OK, think about this… If the rich man can own a Mercedes Benz or a Rolls Royce, the poor man can go rent one for a day and still enjoy a bit of what the rich man has. But can the poor man do so in a socialist or communist system? Does the poor man have any freedom to do so? While rich people can often buy or bribe for more “freedom” in a communist system the poor guy cannot. It is why it is much better to be poor in a free market system than in a socialist one. Stefan Molyneux joined us for a great discussion on the case for the free market where he points out that even in a developed economy, if the system does not operate on free market principles, tons of trouble and things could go wrong!
HET Forum 
3A651031 Doris
There has never been an accurate definition of success. Some people find a job they like, but the money they transfer is not much. Some people make a lot of money, but they are not happy. As a junior, we will graduate next year. Finding a job is bound to start thinking. English is my major, but I only use language as a tool, because unlike other departments can learn the practical use of technology. Therefore, we must seriously think about what we want to do. The future is full of unknown, bot I believe that as long as we take our learning and the courage to try, everything will be good.
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3A651028 Cora
If we look back at the history of the past, it is undeniable that free trade will lead to disparity between the rich and the poor and unfair distribution. The rich and powerful people will use their advantages to monopolize social resources, and when this situation becomes more and more serious, everyone will point the finger at free trade. This situation is really unfortunate, because it makes free trade bear a bad reputation and lose its original charm and value. Under the free system, the poor are indeed in a disadvantaged position, but I don’t think that is the dead end for the poor. There is a movie in South Korea that is very famous recently, called Parasite. It is also about the gap between rich and poor. Although the atmosphere of the movie is a bit scary, it also has a deep impression. The movie made me understand that rich people are not necessarily evil, and poor people have their reasons. The only thing the poor have to change is their way of thinking. If the thinking of the poor is taught to the next generation, only their children will continue to be poor. Otherwise, the poor are not stupid at all. In the movie, the male lead used his superb computer editing and design techniques to forge a degree in a famous university and successfully became a tutor in a rich family. Does this mean he is stupid? No, he is actually very clever. It’s just that his cleverness is used in the wrong place. If he makes good use of his expertise, he may be able to find a not bad job in the highly competitive free trade market
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3A551037 Maggie
After watching the video, I find the topic is interesting. It combines business to philosophy so as to free market to morality. Since speaker has mentioned the property right, it soon makes me think about the American Dream. The origin meaning of American Dream represents liberty, equality and opportunity. American is the new land that offers people opportunities to start from scratch. People who looking for the hope, the action bring them to immigrate in America. Some fulfill with their life through receiving education, others through doing business.
Somehow, without consciousness, American dream is no longer relate to something cannot visible. Instead, materialism has replaced the meaning of American Dream. It seems people want something visible that can prove their achievement, they even regard wealth as success. However, as the living quality getting better, people are likely to forget things that truly matters. People earn prosperity for themselves but gradually losing love, a warm smile, a kind hello to others and to society. We nowadays only seek for things that are profitable, lucrative and benefit for us such as marriage, works and friends. The truth for the result is obvious. One day, people are feeling betrayed because we sense that surroundings we are living in, there are no liberty, equality and opportunity anymore by what we look highly upon. We live in a society with racism, sex discrimination and depravity. In the end, I am sure that this is not kind of “American Dream” I would realize.
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3A651001 Cara
I think I’m lucky to be born and raised in Taiwan where the economic system is free market. In a free market, the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government or other authority and from all forms of economic privilege, monopolies and artificial scarcities. That means the prices for goods and services are self-regulated by the open market and by consumers. I think the free market system is quite fair. Because in a free market, individuals and firms take part in these transactions. They have the liberty to enter, leave and participate in the market freely. Furthermore, under the system, prices and quantities are allowed to adjust according to economic conditions in order to reach equilibrium and properly allocate resources.
However, under some circumstances, governments seek to intervene in the free market in order to achieve certain social or political agendas. For example, Governments may attempt to create social equality or equality of outcome by intervening in the market through actions such as imposing a minimum wage or erecting price control. I think the concept is smart. Because if the market was totally free from any intervention by governments, there may be some other problems driven from the the system. Therefore, some actions are necessary to be taken from governments to make the market stay controlled.
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3A651050 楊芳瑄
First I want to say it is a unique opportunity to have Stefan be our guest and share his great opinion about the world situation. Because instead of watching videos online, asking questions directly to him can let me memorize what he said quickly. I think every student needs to watch this video. It is not just a random guy saying things on Youtube! After this COVID-19 thing, I realized how amazing Taiwan is. And not just we think this way, the whole world thinks so too. Our government does not hide the situation about the virus and control it well, very well. I wish the situation in other parts of the world can get better. So the whole market can get started soon. Each firm linked together to make a perfect economic system. Without any small part of it, the whole system will clasp.
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3A651006 Una
The countries with the greatest economic freedom tend to be those that encourage entrepreneurialism and protect private property. There is overall freedom for individuals to make their own choices and with little control of the government. No one can limit you to make money. That is the reason why we prefer to live in Taiwan to China or North Korea. Compared to China or North Korea, we have more freedom in Taiwan. Everyone is equal to make own fortune by their wisdom and strength. In a nutshell, I am lucky to live in Taiwan.
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3A651018 Betty
Socialism and Capitalism have always been discussed by everyone. The reason is that it causes differences in the free market. With this severe epidemic, the importance of free markets has once again surfaced. As in the example given above, under communism, the world of the rich can indeed have more freedom than the poor. And what about the middle class people like us? Many people will feel that freedom is more than everything, and they are willing to exchange it at any cost for freedom. And some people would rather lose their freedom in order to have a basic life. It is really difficult to say which side is correct. I think it all depends on what viewpoint you stand at. I only hope that both kinds of doctrine will bring peace to the world.
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3A651010 朱亭伊 Tania
Although poverty is not good, poverty has nothing to do with freedom. Only in a market economy without government intervention can the poor and the rich have the same degree of freedom. Now observe our life. To eat, you have to pay to get food; to go to the supermarket to shop, you have to pay the bill before you leave. All you want to do need money. In most cases, money is a necessary condition for us to do many things in the market. Therefore, there is no freedom without money. Money, like a pass, allows us to do what we want in the commodity world without restrictions. Therefore, the rich are indeed much freer than the poor. Many people usually say that to make more money for more freedom, this is the reason. Money is the key to opening doors in the real world. In the world we live in, the amount of money directly affects the amount of freedom for everyone. So I think that in the economic field where money play a key role, market liberals claim that the rich and the poor have the same maximum freedom in the market is actually an illusion.
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3A651013 Helen 曾品筑
The principle of the free market is to hope that the small government will have a large market, but the government will try not to intervene or avoid interference in economic development. In a period of economic contraction, no government-led boost measures will cause the economy to decline for a long time, so the government will still participate in the economy to varying degrees. I’m glad that I live in Taiwan. Taiwan is a free trade country. We cooperate with many countries. Then we can get a lot of products from all over the world. Taiwan is trying to grow up and then it lets people have more better lives. I think that our economy can be steady in the near future.
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3A651019 Linda
In economics, a free market is a system in which the prices for goods and services are self-regulated by the open market and by consumers. In a free market, the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government or other authority, and from all forms of economic privilege, monopolies and artificial scarcities. I think free market not only has its advantages but also has disadvantages. For examples, if we implement the free market that means we can decide our product price,maybe is a merit on the surface. On the other hand, if someone jack up prices, poor people cannot purchase the product so that it may cause wealth inequality between the rich and poor. Therefore, if government Intervene in the market, they can control commodity price and makes almost citizens could purchase their needs.
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