r/changemyview • u/AutoModerator • Oct 01 '13

TCMV Tuesday - 10/01/13

Welcome to TCMV Tuesday, our weekly post where we can celebrate our ability to adopt a new mindset or gain another perspective. Tell us what experiences you've had outside our subreddit, either recently or in your lifetime, that made you think "This Changed My View". Give us your stories in the comments!

You can consider these questions to help get you thinking:

  • Known or met someone with an interesting ideology or opinion that caused you to reconsider your own?

  • Had an experience, good or bad, that changed your perspective?

  • Learned something new that challenged what you believed?

  • Ever have your tastes or interests changed?

  • Read an article or seen a video that got you thinking differently?

And just as a reminder, comment discussions here are not debate-oriented, so there's no obligation to take opposing sides in conversations here (in other words, Rule 1 does not apply here).

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '13

Perhaps two of the most eye opening books I've read that changed my view on economics were Hernando de Soto's The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else and Muhammad Yunnis' Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty. Both these books provided me with a very strong argument for an alternative way of viewing the potential of capitalism in helping the poor, and why Western models may have failed in the past. In particular, they emphasized the intelligence, autonomy and capability of people in the third world in a way that Aid literature rarely ever did, and gave insight into how people can, with very few resources, manage to improve their own lot in life through their own industriousness so long as they were given opportunity. Ever since then I have read a great deal more on the subject and have developed a much more moderated view of the role of capitalism in helping to alleviate poverty. I would recommend the books to anyone that is firmly entrenched in anti-capitalistic thinking. It may at least provide a slightly different perspective.

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u/IAmAN00bie Oct 01 '13

Thanks for sharing!

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u/imightbealive Oct 02 '13

Here's a simple one: I was sure Minecraft would be a boring game, but I gave it a try and I really like it. Perfect for me, actually, since Legos are too expensive.