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Ah yes, the famine caused by having to grow cash crops to pay rent to a foreign empire, leading to overdependence on a single food crop that provided several ti

Ah yes, the famine caused by having to grow cash crops to pay rent to a foreign empire, leading to overdependence on a single food crop that provided several times the calories/acre/year of anything else. Definitely the magic hand's fault.

hef19898 7y ago
Yep, because the magic hand didn't do anything when the one wonder crop didn't grow anymore. It quite literally just let people die. The great irish famine is a fact.
claudeganon 7y ago
Consider for a second that you’re comparing an imaginary supposition (the magic hand) by a philosopher of the British Empire with the historical reality of that empire, and evaluate the circumstances again.
smnrchrds 7y ago
I am no expert on the subject, so please bear with me if I am missing something. But it looks like back then, people really believed the invisible hand will take care of things, and it didn't, and I would be surprised if it does in our case. From Wikipedia: The new Whig administration, influenced by the doctrine of laissez-faire,[11] believed that the market would provide the food needed, and they refused to intervene against food exports to England, then halted the previous government's food and relief works, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people without any work, money, or food. Charles Trevelyan, who was in charge of the administration of government relief, limited the Government's food aid programme because of a firm belief in laissez-faire.[98]
- aeternum 7y ago
  The Whigs used the laissez-faire argument when they did not really have laissez-faire. Britain had high tariffs on corn and other grains that could have allowed Ireland and Britain to import food other than potatoes. Navigation laws also required only British ships to bring goods to British ports, which further reduced any import of food. One year later, the British government did intervene by building workhouses to help house the poor tenant farmers. However this made the situation worse because instead of the British government funding the houses, they taxed the Irish landowners triggering mass evictions of the poor tenant farmers.

hef19898 7y ago

Yep, because the magic hand didn't do anything when the one wonder crop didn't grow anymore. It quite literally just let people die. The great irish famine is a fact.

claudeganon 7y ago

Consider for a second that you’re comparing an imaginary supposition (the magic hand) by a philosopher of the British Empire with the historical reality of that empire, and evaluate the circumstances again.

smnrchrds 7y ago

I am no expert on the subject, so please bear with me if I am missing something. But it looks like back then, people really believed the invisible hand will take care of things, and it didn't, and I would be surprised if it does in our case. From Wikipedia: The new Whig administration, influenced by the doctrine of laissez-faire,[11] believed that the market would provide the food needed, and they refused to intervene against food exports to England, then halted the previous government's food and relief works, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people without any work, money, or food. Charles Trevelyan, who was in charge of the administration of government relief, limited the Government's food aid programme because of a firm belief in laissez-faire.[98]

aeternum 7y ago
The Whigs used the laissez-faire argument when they did not really have laissez-faire. Britain had high tariffs on corn and other grains that could have allowed Ireland and Britain to import food other than potatoes. Navigation laws also required only British ships to bring goods to British ports, which further reduced any import of food. One year later, the British government did intervene by building workhouses to help house the poor tenant farmers. However this made the situation worse because instead of the British government funding the houses, they taxed the Irish landowners triggering mass evictions of the poor tenant farmers.