> I think The Grand Scheme is the opiate of the intellectuals, and some regimes are friendlier to such schemes than others. If you have a set of top down rules

> I think The Grand Scheme is the opiate of the intellectuals, and some regimes are friendlier to such schemes than others. If you have a set of top down rules that require your will to be imposed on others, a flatter hierarchy is a bug. A decentralized system like free market capitalism... IMHO, free market capitalism pretty clearly counts as a "Grand Scheme." It's basically a program of totally imposing the market idea on society, to usurp and replace as much of society's other ideas and institutions as possible. IIRC, the market also requires an initial program of coercion to get started, to force workers to participate in the market to avoid starvation and other deprivations.