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> Everyone jealously scrutinised everybody else all the time – something easy to do when all social life was conducted in a public space. They took careful note
by Nokinside 8y ago
> Everyone jealously scrutinised everybody else all the time – something easy to do when all social life was conducted in a public space. They took careful note of what others ate, what others owned, what others received or gave as gifts, and whether or not they were sufficiently generous in return.
This was typical small village behavior in Nordics less than 100 years ago. When your survival depends on the village coming to your help when you are in trouble, you pay for it by giving up some freedoms. Social control is used to keep everyone in line.
Economic historians have noticed how egalitarian small village farming limited the innovation in agriculture. You could not adopt new crop or radical new technology easily unless everybody was on board even if everyone was farming their own piece of land (you need to come together for investments, risk sharing and emergency work). In contrast, independent big landowner changing something was just one man doing the decision.
What is the best socioeconomic system depends on the circumstances. For long term survival purposes conservative, cohesive and close willage/tribe and demand sharing/palace economy is probably the best.
- Senderman 8y agoI found your comment quite enlightning, and I thought it ended well with an open-ended "What is the best socioeconomic system depends on the circumstances." But you then pick out a specific socioeconomic system as "probably the best" without specifying those circumstances - unless you mean "long term survival" to be those circumstances? If so, survival of what? Village/tribe systems? The problem seems circular, put this way. I'd even suggest that circularity is the root of the uncertainty in your "probably." I hope I don't sound like I'm picking a fight; my reaction is just what springs to mind, and you're touching on a topic I find important.
- Nokinside 8y agoI did specify it "long term survival purposes". Maybe I should have been more specific. In a environment where survival is uncertain survival values and system that maximizes survival is the best. Innovation and individuality succeed in a systems where basics are covered and system can be trusted to work. Example of wrong system: preppers with single family bunkers loaded with weapons and food. If the society collapses the best way to guarantee your survival is to join into tight group with shared values who take care of their own (like Amish). in Mad Max situations conservative evangelical communities with medieval values would wipe the floor with roaming biker gangs.
- Senderman 8y agoI believe I follow: your advice is to the individual looking to maximise their own survival chance. I read your original comment in a more abstract way, I suppose - 'long term survival,' to me, evoked way to preserve what we value as humanity, elusive as that might be, for ITS survival - if that makes sense. I must say I'm very fond of this hypothetical amish vs. biker gangs throwdown.
- foop123 8y agosounds like you got your first sci-fi short story right there.
- tathougies 8y agoI used to watch 'doomsday preppers' the TV show, and I always found the differences between the community preppers and the individual preppers really interesting. The people in the community-based ones always seemed more sane to me, haha!
- honestoHeminway 8y agoEh, big red flag. Bid Landowners prevented innovation for centurys- since the roman times, using cheap labour instead of innovation. What made them innovate was desperation- due to people having better jobs in factories, and cheap labour running out. Nobody innovates because he can. Some of those where even proud in there aristocracy aka "feeding the unwashed masses".
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- icanhackit 8y ago> What is the best socioeconomic system depends on the circumstances. Yes, just as life must bend to the contours of the environment it inhabits or otherwise perish, and there are a lot of permutations to the environment so life has evolved in so many ways, the best socioeconomic system is the one that serves the unique needs of a population. Whether it's encouraging social cohesion, resource sharing, trade, resource management, religion etc. it needs to be considerate of the people it binds. The right tool for the job.