James Ahiakpor wrote: "We have learned that normative issues are not easily settled. Moreover, bad or cynical motives tend to be attributed to those who don't see things the way the bleeding hearts do. ... Adam Smith surely was not on the side of the likes of modern bleeding hearts. "Tell a bleeding heart analyst that the employer paying what is described as a 'slave wage' is doing the employee a favor, and you get insults in return. ... Tell a bleeding heart to look up a principles of economics textbook's explanation that participants in all voluntary exchanges must expect to benefit from them (and they typically do), and you might get some other meaningless retort. Tell the bleeding heart to provide the perceived destitute the means for a better life -- the true meaning of charity -- instead of attempting to extort that from other people, and they might wonder if you have a beating heart in your chest." Is name-calling now permitted on this list? A little civility please. Gary Mongiovi As moderator, I did read "bleeding heart" twice, but I decided to err on the side of free speech. Thank you, Gary, for letting us know that you took offense to the wording. I'm sure we can maintain civility in our conversation. I remind all of you that this list belongs to all subscribers and you are welcome to give me feedback to improve the discussion of the list. Humberto Barreto