You know, the real proof you're brainwashed by capitalist propaganda is that you idolize successful businessmen but completely don't understand what the real pros (as opposed to those who just exploit the system or kiss ass) actually do.
When you're told what talented investors *actually do*, you think it's the weirdest thing ever.
What do you think Warren Buffet or any other successful investor or business manager does? What do you think they're doing when they stare at balance sheets or statements of cash flow? What do you think is going on inside their skulls? What do you think separates a skilled investor or analyst from a bad one?
Do you think they just smile wanly until an IPO cloudburst erupts over their heads in a shower of money?
I've often said that I respect the capabilities of the free market, I just understand its limitations and the need for severe regulation. Those capabilities - managing businesses to be more efficient - how do you think the financial system works towards that end? Or do you think it's just a lottery of sorts, one that you hope to one day win (yeah right)?
Perhaps that's why you believe the Forbes propaganda: it sells you the idea that you will one day cash in, when in reality, not only is the game rigged against you from the start, you don't even understand the rules of the game, and even if you did understand the rules, you wouldn't have the skill to even stand a chance. Critical thinking and imagination are not traits you possess.
In any event, what I described is exactly what successful investors and accountants do. They look at the figures and use their imagination to turn those numbers into a clear vision of economic reality - what the business is actually doing. It really is not so different than classical historians doing exactly the same thing.
Then again...on the one hand you have people who just kiss ass or exploit the system...and on the other you have pedants who waste their lives dicking around with pottery shards or inane questions like whether a certain obscure
gens was real or not...but that doesn't change the fact that the basis for merit in both systems is real.
Fun fact: the two people who did the most to advance the field of classics were not classicists. They were
an autistic cryptographer and
a business magnate. Likewise, most of the people who revolutionized business were not businessmen - they were politicians, philosophers, technologists.
Interestingly, both parties are still extremely butthurt over this fact to this day and still scowl whenever it comes up. Not kidding.
P.S.: See paragraph three of OP
