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Why do I keep seeing this formula? 1. Points out a problem that is fundamentally rooted in human psychology. 2. Proposes that the solution is to have the gove
by travisoneill1 8y ago
Why do I keep seeing this formula?
1. Points out a problem that is fundamentally rooted in human psychology.
2. Proposes that the solution is to have the government take it over.
- tomjen3 8y agoBecause there are people out there who really, really, wants 2, and so they go out in search of problems that satisfy 1 and blast them everywhere. Hence the only question about global warming is how to cut CO2 emissions, and almost nothing on things like how to mitigate it effectively using science (like we did with everything else that was threatening us, from hunger to infections).
- tertius 8y agoScience is right. There is no risk in giving control of it's conclusions to an ultimate authority.
- nabla9 8y agoThat formula is called civilization. As society grows more integrated and specialized you need to tackle the fundamental problems in human psychology. Only things that seem to have work long term are forms, rules, procedures, formalities, .. in other words, mechanism or algorithm. Market economy, private property, democracy, decision making, law and order, all of these are just mechanisms that try to squeeze peoples behaviour and interactions into forms that work. So yes, government is a big part of making it work.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- whatshisface 8y agoTo play dictator's advocate, that's the story of how civilization overcame stealing and homicide. More seriously, all problems are rooted in human psychology because technology is now good enough for us to live in a utopia if we could only manage to stop turning it against ourselves. So, really that pattern is just proposing that the government take something over, you get the first step for free.
- sverige 8y agoThe problem is that "the government" is made up of people who have the same problems rooted in human psychology, and those people are a subset of the general population self-selected for the specific problem of wanting to tell others what to do. I'm more inclined to agree with the aphorism that government is the problem, not the solution.
- ben_w 8y agoAn understandable position, however given that why governments appear to be the cause of problems appears to be the same as why my self-described “revolutionary Communist” friend thinks that businesses are the problem, I’m inclined to instead blame inheritance — both plutocratic and aristocratic — from preventing true meritocracy. http://wondermark.com/c1135/ http://wondermark.com/c1135/ Well, that and Goodhart’s Law.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoHumans are not angels. We need government precisely because humans are not angels. We need someone to restrain human tendencies toward violence, toward fraud, and so on. But as you point out, the government isn't composed of angels, either. So we need the government to restrain the people, but we also need to restrain the government.
- travisoneill1 8y agoA ban (as in your examples), or more generally regulation, is not at all the same thing as the government taking over an industry altogether.
- sarcasmOrTears 8y agoBecause goverments give you money
- happytoexplain 8y agoIsn't that the formula behind many of our near-universally accepted laws across various societies? It just sounds like you're describing civilization in general terms.
- j16sdiz 8y agoWhat's the alternative? The problem is very well known. Without any proposed soluation, the article would be very uninteresting.
- truckerbill 8y agoIt's worked pretty well for things like universal healthcare, in those countries that value it and continue to fund it. Maybe the idea is designing an efficient bureaucracy that prevents the agents acting within it from corrupting it. I think making clear the mutual benefits of eudaemonia is a way we can progress towards more equality.
- tomp 8y agoYou don't actually need the government to run/fund the healthcare to fix it. You just need it to fix the obvious market failures. E.g. in the US that would be, making hospitals publish prices and preventing employers from funding health insurance, mostly.
- truckerbill 8y agoHow do you deal with cartels? Also, to whoever downvoted, doing so to otherwise relevant comments you disagree is part of the issue being discussed in the article, don't you think?
- tomp 8y agoWhat kinds of cartels? In general, I'm assuming the same as in other industries... Are there big cartels in other insurance markets, like home, car and life insurance?
- waqf 8y agoPre-existing conditions is another market failure. Not being in a position to shop around when you need emergency treatment is another. And the cartel activity whereby hospitals charge one price to insurers and a different, much higher, price to individuals is one too.
- tomp 8y agoNot sure if pre-existing conditions is a market failure, seems like a market success to me. Otherwise people would skip insurance and only get insured after they get sick (adverse selection). However, unknown pre-existing conditions should probably be covered (and if they're not, I agree that's a market failure).
- specialist 8y agoEfficient open markets are only possible thru regulation. Benefits include level playing field, transparency, accountability, recourse thru a fair & impartial court system. Sadly, regulatory capture remains an unsolved problem, necessitating constant vigilance.