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You would be surprised to learn that history is littered with examples of the fickle preferences of one person impacting the trajectory of the human species. A

You would be surprised to learn that history is littered with examples of the fickle preferences of one person impacting the trajectory of the human species. Also I'm curious why you think that a government is better suited at spending money. From what I've seen this leads to lobbyists doing all they can to curry favor and secure contracts despite the fact that they deliver a sub-par product.

minikites 5y ago
"Great Man history" is a troublesome way to interpret the past and neglects many other forces that shape our society and planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Ignoring the influence one person can have is equally troublesome. Suppose Constantine never converted to Christianity. Suppose Genghis Khan had been injured before conquering Asia. Suppose Louis the XVI had reformed the French government. Sure some other ruler would probably have embraced Christianity or some other ruler would have conquered Asia but history is fundamentally a sequence of events and minor changes, like a strong ruler in one place or another, can have massive downstream impacts.
  - minikites 5y ago
    >Suppose Constantine never converted to Christianity What about the changes in wider Roman society that allowed for Constantine's conversion to have a large impact? >Suppose Louis the XVI had reformed the French government. Would those reforms have been carried out by the nobility? Would it have been enough to satisfy the peasants? Focusing on "great men" is a far too simplistic view of history and it ignores the impact that each of us have on history as individuals.
    - dane-pgp 5y ago
      "Great men" create Focal Points[0] (or, if you believe in great men, Schelling Points) around which societies and lines of history converge. It's probably equally true, though, to say that societal dynamics have within them focal points which allow certain men (and women) to become great. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_%28game_theory%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_%28game_theory%29
arrosenberg 5y ago
Lobbyists are paid for by private businesses, to win contracts which will be poorly performed by privately owned contractors. OTOH the US Government, with programs run by publicly paid employees: went to the moon, built a ton of dams, including the Hoover and Grand Coulee, electrified the Tennessee Valley, built the interstate highway system, etc.
- bluedevil2k 5y ago
  Can you come up with any projects the US government has done successfully in the last 50 years though?
  - arrosenberg 5y ago
    The Affordable Care Act website, despite the initial difficulties, is a pretty impressive feat. That said, the issue for me is that people parrot Reaganisms blaming the government, without stopping to consider cause and effect or history. The US Government was intentionally stripped of it's capabilities so private sector oligarchs could gorge off the public dole, and that's where we are at today. The solution is to rebuild those capabilities, not to surrender completely.
  - dboreham 5y ago
    The internet?

minikites 5y ago

"Great Man history" is a troublesome way to interpret the past and neglects many other forces that shape our society and planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Ignoring the influence one person can have is equally troublesome. Suppose Constantine never converted to Christianity. Suppose Genghis Khan had been injured before conquering Asia. Suppose Louis the XVI had reformed the French government. Sure some other ruler would probably have embraced Christianity or some other ruler would have conquered Asia but history is fundamentally a sequence of events and minor changes, like a strong ruler in one place or another, can have massive downstream impacts.
- minikites 5y ago
  >Suppose Constantine never converted to Christianity What about the changes in wider Roman society that allowed for Constantine's conversion to have a large impact? >Suppose Louis the XVI had reformed the French government. Would those reforms have been carried out by the nobility? Would it have been enough to satisfy the peasants? Focusing on "great men" is a far too simplistic view of history and it ignores the impact that each of us have on history as individuals.
  - dane-pgp 5y ago
    "Great men" create Focal Points[0] (or, if you believe in great men, Schelling Points) around which societies and lines of history converge. It's probably equally true, though, to say that societal dynamics have within them focal points which allow certain men (and women) to become great. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_%28game_theory%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_%28game_theory%29

arrosenberg 5y ago

Lobbyists are paid for by private businesses, to win contracts which will be poorly performed by privately owned contractors. OTOH the US Government, with programs run by publicly paid employees: went to the moon, built a ton of dams, including the Hoover and Grand Coulee, electrified the Tennessee Valley, built the interstate highway system, etc.

bluedevil2k 5y ago
Can you come up with any projects the US government has done successfully in the last 50 years though?
- arrosenberg 5y ago
  The Affordable Care Act website, despite the initial difficulties, is a pretty impressive feat. That said, the issue for me is that people parrot Reaganisms blaming the government, without stopping to consider cause and effect or history. The US Government was intentionally stripped of it's capabilities so private sector oligarchs could gorge off the public dole, and that's where we are at today. The solution is to rebuild those capabilities, not to surrender completely.
- dboreham 5y ago
  The internet?