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-Why are the number of seemingly remarkable people growing? It’s a moving window. As society’s body of knowledge grows, the youth will always be ahead because t

-Why are the number of seemingly remarkable people growing? It’s a moving window. As society’s body of knowledge grows, the youth will always be ahead because they can stand on the shoulders of those before them. When compared to their peers, the gap between what is remarkable and what is not is smaller. —I disagree with the idea that the economy has any “goals.” I think it exists naturally, and what we call an “economy” is actually just the sum total of individuals deploying capital to get things they want. Insisting we can engineer the economy (which is really just individuals, perverse incentives and all examined as an aggregate) in some way to solve a crisis of meaning for “unremarkables” misses the point, and I would even argue is very dangerous. Dangerous because as soon as the bottom 51% realize they can vote themselves the wealth of the top 49% we slide right down the slippery slope into socialism. Which has done nothing but decimate the human spirit of everyone who’s lived under it for centuries. -Which brings up the next bit: the author correctly identifies a crisis of meaning (rising deaths of disparities) but incorrectly asserts that the issue is economic. The lack of social fabric in the western world is causing the despair spiral. You don’t get into dire emotional straits leading to opiate addiction if you’re simply broke, the key catalyst is often a lack of hope for the future & a lack of social support system in the community.

petermcneeley 7y ago
The purpose of "engineering" the economy is to avoid certain kinds of game theory issues that you end up with when you lack coordination. This isn't an ideological issue it's purely algorithmic. Second to your point of "issue is economic"; final causes are tricky. But one of the reasons why people move is for economic reasons. Moving breaks up families in multiple ways. Money is the leading cause of divorce. Not to sound old school, You can have a pretty strong social fabric when there is a large middle class of the style of The 50s. Take away that steady single earner income and you might get a "lack of social fabric". Given your use of retorical phases my guess is that your world view is founded on videos of Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson. There is a whole outside that shallow stream and I would encourage you to stick your toes in some deeper water.

petermcneeley 7y ago

The purpose of "engineering" the economy is to avoid certain kinds of game theory issues that you end up with when you lack coordination. This isn't an ideological issue it's purely algorithmic. Second to your point of "issue is economic"; final causes are tricky. But one of the reasons why people move is for economic reasons. Moving breaks up families in multiple ways. Money is the leading cause of divorce. Not to sound old school, You can have a pretty strong social fabric when there is a large middle class of the style of The 50s. Take away that steady single earner income and you might get a "lack of social fabric". Given your use of retorical phases my guess is that your world view is founded on videos of Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson. There is a whole outside that shallow stream and I would encourage you to stick your toes in some deeper water.