-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 10/30/2015 12:54 PM, Sean Lynch wrote:
David C. Rose's "Moral Foundation of Economic Behavior" cites some pretty convincing evidence that individualist moralities (perhaps what people here are callign "Western") are inherently superior to collectivist. Of course, I was already biased in that direction when I picked up the book, so I'd be interested to hear what someone who is already fairly sympathetic to collectivism thinks.
The word "collectivism" carries a lot of baggage, as it has been flown as a banner over many authoritarian, violent dictatorships "of the proletariat." But the base concept of concern for the well being of one's community as integral to one's own well being has also been called compassion, honor and common sense. Darwinian evolution does not favor the me-first individualist, however strong, dominant, awesome, etc. that individual may be. Humans have a genetic predisposition to form families, villages and tribes, to identify with them and hold the interests of the group at co-equal to self interest. Purely self centered motives are socially pathological, and Darwinian evolution selects against this trait: Because the awesome dominance of the "fittest" has negative long term survival value, compared to those who work at maintaining a strong, resilient community that provides a favorable environment for the whole community's progeny out to the Nth generation. When the smartest guys in the room tell us otherwise, they are not mistaken: They are lying. The more power is afforded to purely self-interested socioeconomic "winners," the more their actions damage the long term viability of the community. Big problems arise when unnaturally large "communities," i.e. States exist, because they can not exist without the services of an elite group of political and economic power brokers who provide millions (!) of subjects with a convincing illusion of "community" with people they will never meet in real life. Deception alone won't do the job, so armed guards must also be employed to enforce the orders of these facilitators. Viola: Rent-seeking absentee landlords, serving their own interests at the expense of the ersatz "communities" they rule. It's all downhill from there. "Democracy" so-called, an attempt at community self regulation among strangers who will never meet, does not scale well. My favorite historical example is the response of Iceland and the United States to the "financial crisis" of 2008. Iceland, population 1/3 million, responded as a human community, "regulated the regulators" and has since jailed corrupt bankers who failed to flee the country in time. The United States, population 360+ million, responded as directed by the perpetrators of a massive fraud, and rewarded them handsomely for their efforts. Any -ism that is proposed to replace the policies of an existing large State without eliminating that State, promising Utopian outcomes, is at best a shockingly ignorant error in judgement. But it is more likely a deliberate swindle backed by socially pathological "individuals" and interest groups. If the -ism involves a large State with a putative monopoly on violence (as violation: robbery, kidnapping, murder), it's just one more brand label and PR campaign for Fascism. Any -ism that proposes breaking up large States into small, independent communities governed without delegating decision making authority to "representatives" is difficult to implement anywhere the modern State has taken root. Intellectual types rarely approve of any such scheme, because it would mean trusting people to "do the right thing" of their own accord, without morally and mentally superior guidance from On High. But I am confident that people who implement such schemes where and as possible stand the best chance of producing societies worth living in. We are heading into a global industrial and human population crash that will produce numerous local opportunities to do just that . And that's why I look forward to the End Of The World with considerable optimism. By definition the real "collectivists" will be the long term winners, and I don't think that will be a Bad Thing. :o) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1 iQIcBAEBAgAGBQJWM/SWAAoJEDZ0Gg87KR0Lz68QAKMi83duiAlchD78sIgNQmsK Hosytr4ggraPJ5u7Jrf3cyWnq6Zhn+h7sf71Eh5f4AWx14Rd1lWom92UBf5VYZir 3GiIs/UzUHgwOo6PKYKTbiLtqAn4D1fyoG3/LRW8/gZfI87501LdnSUrgj3MJoiV OjeKui/dec9ugG+fcSrsl3GwAMN+FZXAi+WvMoLesEnxg5Mcjc5Xh5VQ3qTxWDaJ pMfAEGZqOUIcX/vMSJIPrUxCQRChIpd3VbODP1Y9uTNT+m/4qDNd7DXCWFA66r0j rfXWC/cT1HQLsQcY6W6SOthDUGlFHLO3y60PLCdRjyr0voMKUzUL3OrjkTEeXySM oAe++H3uo6hAIB1lB/FLBBSadieZQJFB1u3KYV8VlDiVXjteW8o5nlDMZjSskjGg DYQA9GPId73QUUTy1kgG0JYzFJRfqEwFUv+Cskt/XXPdyDPf1vakpgIGQiURFuqW CydxoVV00RM9wD5TuNvR/Q+pyZuL4cAKlDqJVw20m5QK6qZKuuDJjOCa5o+L/W+p 7GA8s8GEnmM8VmodZWLyKMd4OwD38hxpv5cGYZ2FEyS+xVNRvTGCT6vbVp9aNhcc y6teV4xJAZdcEnGeUR//UVKqGDgtE9Mr+IvadsD6aR5cfm0mDThpBh0Kfpf5JGz6 Y+EKrkGJpyrq7HUXLhBL =Z/dm -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----