Re: FOX logic III

I agree with you that democracy with little intrusion intrusion in our
lives and laisez faire econmics is the optimal political system,
especially for me, a completely secular democracy where, due to
positive feedback, we help each other out to help ourselves AND
conversely. I believe this because in such democracies infomation can
flow freely, ideas can be hatched and exploited, and
survival-of-the-fittest corporate competition leads advancement among
other reasons. You stiffle this "selection" dynamics and free flow of
information with communism and/or theocracy and/or with a dictator, and
you generally get stagnation if not rot. When natural peril of
democracy (and other systems) is that it leads to enormous wealth
gradients.

See my full review of Turchin's book War and Peace and War on Amazon
for fuller details, but consider this excerpt:

Matthew principle: The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

Turchin, using a simple computer model shows us how great wealth
gradients arise unavoidably. In the model, a finite amount of land
(wealth) is owned in equal parcels by a finite population. The wealth
is passed on to the next generation by inheritance. Only (single)
children inherit their parent's land. At the same time, siblings of
families that bear more than one child, must, necessarily, inherent
less or no land at all. It may be that the eldest sibling gets all the
land, leading to "worthless" siblings, or that the eldest gets a larger
share of the wealth, or that all siblings get the same share.
Regardless, only children will own more wealth than the children of
families with more than one child. In one generation wealth gradients
arise. It gets worse as the generations grow. But this is not the
complete picture. Those who own large chunks of land relative to those
who own little chunks of land will need help in turning their land
wealth into income. They will hire out poorer people.

There are two cases to consider: A) There is a shortage of labor. This
will mean that wages will be high, a good thing for the poor. This
happened in Europe after the Black Plague wiped out a huge portion of
the population. Or, B) if times are good and the population is growing
fast, there will be a glut of labor. Then wages will be low, and as the
situation worsens while the population rises, during bad years (bad
harvests) the poor will be forced to get loans against their land, or
sell portions of it to feed their families. Defaults and/or purchaces
of sold land will lead to the richer owning yet larger chunks of land.
Eventually, one will get landless people who must work for a living
among increasing competition for jobs...this will lead to internal
class conflict and collapse.

As for Iraq, it was a choice we (net) made to invade it, and I did not
support this decision because everything in history pointed to failure
and a net greater threat to us and our interests, and a long, drawn out
fight for military.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Santorum introduces more rent collection opps
    ... >You do not need to "buy" an election, however it takes wealth to run a ... >Land can always spend more than labour, ... >You, of all people, know that labour ends up short. ... political power in their own interests, ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: Santorum introduces more rent collection opps
    ... You do not need to "buy" an election, however it takes wealth to run a ... Land can always spend more than labour, thus land always wins, in fact ... You, of all people, know that labour ends up short. ... interested in making such reforms. ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: The "Blair Legacy"
    ... democracy, those being variously access to education, personal wealth, ... the world's economy collapse and/or oil run out, ... Failed/overbudget government projects; another relic of the Blair years. ...
    (soc.culture.scottish)
  • Re: Santorum introduces more rent collection opps
    ... >> evidence of history is that it is, ... Land rent is "only" about 20% of GDP. ... >any means to accumulate the wealth needed to take control away from the ... >Because wage slavery is far more efficient than chattel slavery. ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: Taiwan "beating" China
    ... and no wealth does not automatically trickle ... Liberal and conservative intellectuals, even once ardent supporters, have backed away from the century-old theory that democracy and capitalism, like Paris Hilton and paparazzi, need each other to survive. ... Even if capitalism does not assure democracy’s existence, many economists and political scientists say it creates a hospitable atmosphere and helps democratic systems withstand turmoil. ...
    (sci.military.naval)
Loading