I gave my new debate partner a few introductory reads to get a hang for what framework of thought we would be bringing to our policy debate this year. I gave him these articles:
http://mises.org/journals/scholar/mahoney3.pdf
http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/peripatetics-quotthe-tariff-is-the-mother-of-trustsquot/
http://www.cato.org/research/articles/cpr28n4-1.html
This is the discussion we had today, with names bleeped out:
THE GUY
o Hey PERSON are we for a laissez-faire economy because one article says that libertarians want the government to have little influence over the economy while another article stated that big business want big government???
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o Yes, that’s our argument.
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o And what specific property rights do we want to give to the private sector??
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o is that a question about one of the specific articles?
o or in general
o And I don’t know what you mean saying “what private property rights”
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o I meant to say private property rights
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o right, I don’t know what you mean by asking what rights we want to give them
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o And I’m asking how does private property rights relate to providing tax breaks to private companies
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o do you have video?
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o No I’m reading the Mahoneys paper property rights and misallocation and I’m trying to make the connection between this paper and our affirmative case
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o right
o so you don’t have a webcam?
o Do you pay for incoming calls?
o might be easier to explain if I call
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Ok can u call me later? And yea I can webchat to fb our oovoo is find
o I’m not home right now thats y
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o ah
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Or*
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o alright
o well
o should I still tell you now
o something, at least
o to think about?
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Sure to give me clarity
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o Alright. So the entire idea is that the market, the economy, property rights, politics, and allocation of resources are all interconnected
o property rights entitle a person to the product of his labor
o also, any transactions he has with anyone else
o and any gifts
o for example
o I go to a piece of unowned land
o I fence it off
o I improve the land in some way
o (farm it, build a house, something)
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o and it becomes mine
o because I mixed my labor with it
o and people don’t just randomly mix their labor with stuff, they do it to satisfy needs and wants
o (I’m getting there)
o (slowly)
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Ok lol
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o People could hypothetically satisfy their wants and needs by themselves
o however, this is very difficult
o because we can’t all be awesome at everything
o I can’t farm my food, teach my children, clean the house, perform surgery on myself, fix my computer, build my house, fix my plumbing, and to my dental work
o not only because I don’t have all that time
o but because I do not in fact posess all of those skills
o hence, it is useful to me to exchange goods that I am good at producing for other people’
o s goods and services
o I do this, again, to satisfy my wants and needs
o in fact
o all human action aims to do this
o Humans act to satistfy their uneasiness
o whenever you act, you are showing your preference for one state of being over another
o if you move from A to B, you prefer being at B rather than at A
o So we know that trade seeks to satisfy the wants and needs of people
o People engage in trade because it benefits them
o the division of labor (or people specializing in stuff) helps “society” provide the goods and services needed
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o All in all trading is good because its effective and easier??
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o Sort of
o it’s good because it makes use of other people
o 's skill
o ss
o (other people
o dangit
o (other people’s skills)
o there we go
o we can’t do everything by ourselves
o Now, let’s unpack the word “economy”: People usually talk about some monolithic entity called “the economy.” The economy does this, the economy does that, etc. Now, what does this mean? The economy is in fact billions of interactions between individuals and groups
o It is not one big beast that exists outside the realms of humans that humans must bow down to
o hence, the economy is made up of people trying to improve their lot by voluntarily trading goods and services
o Now that we understand what the economy is, we can talk about the distribution of resources in society
o this is also called the allocation of resources
o The paper I gave you talks about some of the basics behind the allocation of resources
o though it frames it in an odd manner
o essentially, it means this:
o people trade resources because they believe that’s the most productive use of their resources
o They allocate their own resources in such a way as to maximize their utility (also known as “satisfaction” or “happiness” or "the usefulness they gain from stuff)
o Hence, when each individual acts (as we have already said), he is showing a preference
o he prefers to trade $10 for a shirt
o This means that he values the shirt he is buying more than the $10
o the seller, on the other hand, values the $10 more than he values the shirt
o (this is called subjective value theory - nothing has a natural “value” - it is individuals who assign values to objects. A lawnmower may have no value to me, but to you it may be very useful. In the same way, I have no use for anti-smallpox medications, though a person 100 years ago would have died for some)
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o so, because trade happens, we know that people are allocating their resources in the way they deem best for them
o people are using their legally, ethically obtained property as they see fit without harming any of the property of others
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o What if they obtained it illegally??
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o now
o well, that is part of what the paper deals with
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Is the value valid??
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o that is what the paper deals with, in part
o I am about to go into that
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Ok
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o when the interactions are all peaceful, all’s good
o people are maximizing their utility
o and using their resources as they see fit
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o after all, an economy exists to satisfy people’s wants
o when we use our own property as we see fit, we are able to do as we see fit
o when COERCIVE power is entered into the equation, things go bad
o when resources are forcefully taken from one person and given to another, then misallocation occurs
o that is partly what the paper talks about
o it begins with the simpler and more obvious case of the burglar
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Whats a good example of misallocation relating to big government??
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o I am not completely sure their approach is the best, so I will give you an alternative one here (feel free to interrupt at any point)
o right, I’m sloooowly getting there
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about an hour ago
THE GUY
o Ok
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o When someone forcefully takes your property, the economy stops being a web of people improving their lives by voluntarily exchanging goods
o There are two important points here
o 1) Voluntary exchange is mutually beneficial - that means that any transaction is good for both parties. Why? Well, if it weren’t then it wouldn’t occur. If I valued my $10 more than you t-shirt, I wouldn’t buy the shirt! By acting and actually buying it, I am showing my preference of your shirt over my $10
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o forceful taking, however, is not mutually beneficial
o it benefits one person at the expense of the other
o we cannot in fact say whether “society” is better off, because there is no way to compare the utility of different people
o you can’t say John lost 4 utils by having his iPod stolen and Michael gained 6 utils for getting it instead, so “society” is better off
o you can’t say that
o why?
o because it is impossible to compare utilities (or satisfactions and happiness) of different people
o not just practically, but even theoretically
o surveys don’t work
o How can we know that my satisfaction rating 7/10 is better than your 6/10
o You can easily imagine a pouting rich kid saying his satisfaction is 4/10 while a starving African child receiving ten baskets of food from Bill Gates has a satisfaction of of 10/10
o comparing the numbers is useless, because there is no way to “standardize” the measurements
o standardization is a mathematical term meaning doing something to a group of numbers that makes the numbers meaningful to compare to each other
o I’ll explain standardization a bit more:
o Say that the US has 1 million people and Canada has 10
o (10 people, not million)
o Hm, let me make a better scenario for a sec
o ok
o the US has 1 million people and Canada has 10,000 people
o that is the new scenario
o now
o a survey finds out that 7,000 Canadians like apple pie
o while 9,000 American like apple pie
o From this, one might be temped to say “Americans like apple pie more”
o why, well, because 9000>7000
o right?
o wrong!
o In fact, 9,000 Americans are a tiny fraction of the total population
o 7,000 canadians, on the other hand
o are a BIG fraction of their population
o you can’t simply compare the numbers!
o Standardizing
o in this case
o would be dividing by the total population of each country
o hence, 7000/10000 for Canada, which gives 70%
o For America, 9000/1000000
o which gives less than 1%
o Once these numbers are processed a bit (in this case, made into percents), comparison makes more sense
o and we clearly see that Canadians like apple pie more
o on avergae
o loosely speaking
o Hence, you see that in this case it makes sense to standardize
o when dealing with “satisfaction”, however, you cannot standardize
o it doesn’t make sense
o there is no mathematical function
o that allows you to equate
o the 4/10 of the rich snob with the 10/10 of the starving child
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about an hour ago
MEEE
o No amount of surveys or mathematics will allow you to make sense of the surveys
o For this reason, it is said that interpersonal utility comparisons are impossible
o And for this reason, using force to redistribute resources cannot tell you whether society is objectively better off
o after the redistribution
o Society is only better off when voluntary trade occurs
o because by acting peacefully, both individuals are showing a preference, and are getting what they want
o when both people are better off, you are GUARANTEED for society to be better off
o This is the first point - Forecful reallocation of resources leads to misallocation because society is not better off
o because individuals (who cannot be added up) are getting screwed
o now, the next point
o 2) Forceful redistribution is bad because it created misallocation within the production structures
o Complex sounding, but not too difficult to grasp
o essentially, it means this;
o when you farm potatoes to sell on the market for shirts, you are producing potatoes not because you want to eat them, but because you want to trade them for shirts
o hence, you are producing in order to consume
o you have definite cost-benefit analysis
o 3 hours of your time farming potatoes and $20 fixed costs for the shovel and seeds in exchange for 7 t-shirts
o when someone forcefully takes your property
o it causes a distortion of the production structure
o you are no longer benefiting from the fruits of your labor.
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56 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Can property be just money??
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56 minutes ago
MEEE
o There is no more a rational connection between your costs and your benefits
o yes
o Anything you own is property
o Allow me to quickly define property
o property - the exclusive right to a scarce good
o (to control)
o something that is scarce is something that is limited
o essentially, all resources on the world are scarce
o this includes land, money, goods, your body
o you have a property right to your body
o it is a scarce resources
o now, what does having a “right” mean?
o it means that you may legitimately use force to protect your ability to do something
o For example, if I have a right to the property of my house
o then I can use force to protect against aggressions against my house
o (a proper amount of force, mind you)
o (I can’t shoot a man if he happens to step on my property)
o (I may initially reprimand him, if I find so fitting, and if he remains, I can go to him and show him the way out. If he refuses, I can gently push him, and if he resists, I can get a bit more physical. If he is clearly strongly resisting, I can call the cops (which I could do anyway), or I can use bodily force to remove him. If he reamains even then still, I can draw a gun on him (but not kill him))
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52 minutes ago
MEEE
o you get the idea
o you cannot inflict undue harm to someone to get him off your property
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52 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Yea
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51 minutes ago
MEEE
o yet you do have the ultimate right to your property
o and everyone else has the right to theirs
o hence, when people talk about “life, liberty, and property” being the rights of man
o it can in fact be folded into one: property
o You own your body (a property right, as dull as that may sound), so you have your life and your liberty
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51 minutes ago
THE GUY
o But the government doesn’t respect these rights??
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50 minutes ago
MEEE
o essentially, yes
o that is what I’m getting at
o let me see where I cut off a few minutes ago
o to explain rights
o ight
o so
o forceful interference with property rights
o destroys the connection between your labor and your rewards for labor
o you are no longer allowed to benefit from your labor
o or the resources other people willingly gave to you
o therefore, rational economic calculcation no longer makes sense
o production stops being for the purpose of consumption
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48 minutes ago
MEEE
o your labor stops being you using your life and time to provide for yourself while respecting the rights of other
o s
o In this way, property is misallocated
o and sorry, but there is a third meaning
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48 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Np
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48 minutes ago
MEEE
o more precisely, consequence
o of property misallocations
o 3) Property misallocation diverts resources from productive uses and good stewards of property and towards inefficient property uses
o again, complex sounding, easy to understand
o when a person has accumulated a certain amount of wealth on the free market
o it reflects his abilities to manage his resources
o he found the best use for his land/labor/money/furniture, whatever
o Profits and wealth don’t exist in a void
o people aren’t simply wealthy or poor
o (more properly, not wealthy, as poverty is a slightly different issue, on which I will elaborate a bit later)
o as I said, wealth doesn’t simply go to people
o (in economics, wealth simply means posessions such as money and goods)
o when people make more money, it is because they make more trades
o they make more trades when they offer goods and services that people like
o and so they get more customers
o not only that, but if they make a profit, then it means that people are in fact willing to pay a good amount for that good or service
o Hence, far from being evil, profits on the free market are a good thing
o Profits indicate an ability to serve the customer
o But not only this!
o When a company has a profit, then this creates an incentive for other companies to enter the market
o this, in turn, drives down the price of their good
o this means that profits also allow for the coordination of markets
o they tell entrepreneurs where the money is
o this means that entrepreneurs see where there is room for more competition
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43 minutes ago
THE GUY
o So competition is good??
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42 minutes ago
MEEE
o if they see Walmart suddenly making a lot of money, they will enter the market and drive down prices while competing
o yes
o competition is good
o because it drives down prices
o and because it brings innovation
o for example
o I invent the Mac, for example
o I make $1,000
o off of each Mac
o that is $1000 profit, which means after I subtract my cost
o when you see that I make great money off of Macs, you come in the market and charge $900
o you take away some of my customers and still make a handsome profit
o I get angry and I charge $800
o At some point, we may come to an agreement to not lower our prices any more
o this is called a cartel
o now, one would say “see, the market fails!”
o BUT
o cartels always fail
o the incentive for even more people to enter the market is too great
o Mr Papas comes in and charges only $300 per iPad
o etc
o etc
o having the profit signal tells us when customers are willing to spend more money than the business owners put in
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38 minutes ago
THE GUY
o So how does competition benefit a company if prices go down and make less profit??
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38 minutes ago
MEEE
o becuase entrepreneurs always look for a way to make a profit, they can come into a market that has high profits, make innovations and cut costs, and draw away some of my profit
o Alright
o One sec
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37 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Ok
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36 minutes ago
MEEE
o give me 5 minutes
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36 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Ok
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30 minutes ago
MEEE
o ok back
o sorry, phone
o you there?
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30 minutes ago
THE GUY
o I’m here
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29 minutes ago
MEEE
o Alright, so - competition doesn’t necessarily benefit a company. The thing is, competition benefits the consumers - it gives them more products at a cheaper price and with more features
o it’s not a problem that it doesn’t benefit companies
o why?
o because companies exist to sell products to consumers
o if a company can’t sell good products, then it’s not a good user of its resources
o either because it wastes them, or it incorrectly measured a need in the market
o but in either case, the company that doesn’t make a profit will not exist any more because it doesn’t provide useful goods to consumers
o this is inherently different from government, because government forces people away from their choices, while companies failing on the market is not forceful and doesn’t direct resources away from useful projects
o it in fact makes sure that resources go to the useful companies
o so this ties back to what I said before
o coercive action does the opposite of the market - it misallocates resources
o it takes them away from the useful, productive, and good sectors of the economy (the profitable ones)
o and gives it to sectors that have not met the market test - for example, the GM bailout
o GM was paying its workers crazy high wages and not making cars that Americans wanted
o hence, GM was about to fail
o but government, in the name of nationalism
o gave it a bailout
o what this does is it destroys the natural customer sovereignty in the market
o while buying and selling on the market allows companies to learn what projects are useful to the consumer, and firms which are not very good fade away (thus naturally pruning the market for the consumer)
o bailouts destroy this natural market force
o bailouts take resources away from productive, profitable (and hence, customer-satisfying) businesses
o and give them to failed businesses
o which create either poor products
o or waste resources
o or create products that the public doesn’t want
o (again, waste)
o hence, this government redistribution is no more than corporate welfare - a forceful tool of special interests
o to take money from the public (and individuals) and give it to bad companies
o which do not provide society with useful products that pass the cost-benefit test of the market
o and which are ungoverned by market mechanisms
o In this way, government reallocation of resources takes the resources from where they are being useful and providing a good service and puts them in a place where they are not as useful
o occasionally, the government may put the resources in a place the market would have placed them anyway
o but most of the time, it doesn’t
o if it sometimes does, it is a fluke
o However, all of this is hidden behind deceptive rhetoric
o They say “X millions of jobs were saved/created”
o while they neglect to look at what is unseen
o sure, the government could have “created” 2 million jobs, but the question is “compared to what”?
o To give you a taste of what I mean, consider this:
o the government forcefully takes half of all the wealth in the US and creates 1 million jobs
o they announce this on TV and they say “yay, we saved the economy, see? 1 million jobs!”
o But they are only looking at what is seen, and not at what is unseen
o they are not looking at the billions of ways that this could have been put to use in other ways
o which would have been determined by the market - that is, consumer preference
o which likely would have created millions of more jobs
o now you see why it’s a fake when a politician says “the government saved 300,000 jobs”
o alright, Mr. Romney, how many did it prevent, though?
o alright, Mr. Obama, how do we have any clue that these are “useful” jobs
o the only test for the usefulness of products is the market and the consumer test - do people buy this thing and hence show their preference for it over something else
o Now, take this effect and multiply it by many thousands
o because that is how much the government distorts market forces
o in millions of ways
o onerous taxes, regulations, bans, restrictions
o all of these on peaceful individuals who are not harming anyone else
o crime is obviously illegal, and duly punished, but a man can go to jail if he merely refuses to pay taxes
o deconstructing this and seeing it for what it is, it is men coming into your house, using force to kidnap you, put you in a cage, and in the meantime take the stuff that you worked your life to accumulate through thousands of voluntary, peaceful trades with other people
•
MEEE
o of course, this might be disguised as something like “it’s the social contract - we must pay the price for being born in society”
o but of course, closer inspection reveals this to be false
o and fallacious (we’ll be using this word a lot - it essentially means based on bad logic)
o Saying “born into a civilized, good society” is a veil for what actually lies underneath
o we are not merely born into a world and privileges fall from the sky on us from this entity called “society”
o We do not owe this abstract “society” our lives so as to have it take stuff from us
o break the scene down
o What is society?
o Individuals interacting
o what is this “civilization” that we get from society?
o It likely means technology, available food, heat and water, etc
o all things which aren’t given by an arbitrary being called “society”
o but actually by “the market”
o It’s not like babies are washed in the waters of some divine river and then we owe our lives to repay the debts that we have now acquired
o no
o you are born
o look at it from the outside perspective
o your parents have you
o you come out of your mom’s belly
o SHE pays for your hospital stay
o SHE clothes you
o SHE feeds
o you
o SHE gives you shelter
o SHE pays for your food
o SHE pays for your entertainment
o the clothes on your back are thanks to your FATHER’s money
o You grow up under the wing of your parents who buy things on the market with THEIR money
o then you grow up
o get a job
o and then YOU pay for your own stuff
o There is no abstract service called “civilization” that you are getting
o all of these things are people selling you goods and you paying for them
o There is no mysterious “original sin” that is put on babies by society and civilization
o there is no sin we have to repay
o the only reason this “civilization” rains on us is because we pay for it
o we work for it
o and we trade with each other
o civilization is a product of the market, of voluntary interactions, of people cooperating because voluntary cooperation improves life
o sometimes thanks to the profit motive, sometimes thanks to moral motives
o either way, it’s thanks to people individually maximizing their utility
o by exercising control over their authority in such a way that it improves their lives
o by doing what THEY believe is best for them
o Yes, we must pay for civilization - it’s called the market, and we pay for it by getting a job and working - all voluntarily
o So there is no “social contract” signed in blood when you are born that is due to you being “born privileged”
o even if you are born rich, it is because your parents worked hard and made the right choices
o and then they decided to voluntarily gift you with life and property
o because that was what made them happy
o all of this, IF there is a market
o if your parents made their fortunes on the market, they satisfied the wants of their customers (or employers) well
o if your parents made their fortunes through government, that is different
o in that case, it is production that has been taken from productive people
o (and mind you
o if your parents work for the government it’s no the same thing)
o (they’re not evil or something)
o (don’t hate the player, hate the game)
o what I mean is, that the legal system based around institutionalized theft is the bad thing
o I don’t blame bureaucrats for being evil
o perhaps misguided if they want to expand the government, but they’re not criminals themselves
o it’s the institution that corrupts
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3 minutes ago
MEEE
o and here I will make a small exception for the courts, army, and police
o I do not want to go on a discussion about those
o because they’re more complex
o let’s assume, for the sake of the argument at the moment, that minimal taxation to run the courts, police, and army is necessary (ie, a neccessary evil)
o That is, it is preferable that they didn’t exist, but due to pragmatic considerations they must exist
o we can discuss this later or some other time
•
about a minute ago
THE GUY
o Can we finish off tomorrow because I have to start my homework but in summary we want the government to have little influence in the economy because they use their power to misallocate our property but this is bad because we aren’t sastified with how our property is used?
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about a minute ago
MEEE
o essentially
o the economy then stops being people improving their lives
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about a minute ago
THE GUY
o And a good example of misallocation is the government using our money to assist failing companies??
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about a minute ago
MEEE
o and it also stops being resources going to the most efficient players
o “players”
o yes
o do note that many of the companies today have gotten big thanks to government
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a few seconds ago
THE GUY
o Ok thxs for explaining and we can continue tomorrow
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a few seconds ago
MEEE
o and not the free market
o so don’t look at all companies and praise them
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THE GUY
o One more question but I gotta keep it short is taxation an example of misallocation??
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22 minutes ago
MEEE
o Do you think it fits into what I described?
o (I will discuss poverty and related issues some other time)
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22 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Since the government is redistributing our property where we don’t profit??? And yes I think it fits
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21 minutes ago
MEEE
o yes, it fits the bill, correct
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20 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Ok in summary we want little government influence in economy because of misallocations
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20 minutes ago
MEEE
o Yes. It makes society poorer
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19 minutes ago
THE GUY
o That included government not having the right taxing companies for space exploration
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18 minutes ago
MEEE
o essentially, yes
o If the companies exist, it’s because they make money. If they make money, they provide useful services. If government taxes them, it nullifies the market signals that consumers are sending to the business with the profits
o Government prevents the creation of wealth (as dictated by consumers) in this way
o Our tax breaks will be a first step towards restoring the proper market forces
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12 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Ok thxs again u sure do know a lot lol I feel smarter
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12 minutes ago
MEEE
o haha
o Does what I say make sense?
o I’m certain I’m not perfect
o
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11 minutes ago
THE GUY
o It makes complete sense
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11 minutes ago
MEEE
o Also let me know if you disagree, and we can talk about stuff
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11 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Sure
o Oh yea one more thing lol
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10 minutes ago
MEEE
o
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9 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Should i disregard the article big business and big government because it stated that big businesses like big government which contradicts our lassiez fair belief
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9 minutes ago
MEEE
o nah, the article is central to our theme!
o Our argument is laissez-faire good
o the article says that big business likes big government
o hence, these actions of big business are not good
o the reason for including it is this:
o many people look at the free market and laissez-faire and think “Big Business wants laissez-faire! If you have free market the evil corporations will take over!”
o This is in fact incorrect, as the article shows
o there might be some leaders in larger businesses who want free markets
o because they believe in the power of voluntary actions
o *action
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7 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Ohhh ok
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7 minutes ago
MEEE
o Such as the founder of PayPal or the founder of Wikipedia
o both libertarians
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7 minutes ago
MEEE
o but the point is - Big Businesses don’t want laissez-faire, they want government!
o If you want a world controlled by corporations, keep passing regulations and government interference
o if you want a world where people are productive and the customer comes first, then don’t have government interference
o By using government, “progressives” are actually ushering in their worst nightmare
o Most of the monopolies that have ever existed were government-created monopolies
o Not free market ones
o That is why the article is key
o we show that the evil most people decry comes because of forceful intervention
o not from free trade
o We are realizing that what we have right now is not free markets, but a very convoluted system of forceful action against peaceful individuals - often with the intent of helping the wealthy and to keep the elite in power
•
3 minutes ago
THE GUY
o Ok u answered all my questions for now xD
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2 minutes ago
MEEE
o Alright
o glad I could help
o and don’t think you’re off the hook! This is just the beginning!
o haha
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about a minute ago
THE GUY
o Hahahaha I look forward to learning about the ways of economics/politics
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about a minute ago
MEEE
o
o it’s important being informed
o I try to make an argument that I support
o I hope I can convince you of it, or if not, then give you an alternative perspective
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a few seconds ago
THE GUY
o Yea its sad so many Americans miss the opportunity to learn about governmental actions that affect us daily and yes u have convinced me lol
MEEE
o It takes some time to absorb all of this
And there are a lot of question left unanswered
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2 minutes ago
MEEE
o But I’ve given you a general framework to analyze the world, and the next times we meet I will provide an interpretation of history through this lens
o To see whether we’ve had free markets and what they (or the lack of them) have brought us
How do you think I did? Did I make any mistakes? Can I explain something in a better way?
