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Nobody is either a self-centered individualist or a selfless community member. These ideologies are terrible representations of reality. It's easy to entertain

by nverno 5y ago

Nobody is either a self-centered individualist or a selfless community member. These ideologies are terrible representations of reality. It's easy to entertain philosophies of individualism, self-reliance and empowerment along with caring for your community, the greater good, etc. I think most people would agree that all these ideas are beneficial to both individual and communal well-being.

TaylorAlexander 5y ago
I specifically advocate for community centered economics. This is in contrast to the rather myopically individualist economics we have in the USA today. Of course people are often selfless in the social realm (helping others etc) but I am intrigued by alternative arrangements of our economy which would see more of the profits generated by workers go directly to those workers rather than see those profits accrue to a minority at the top. I see our economic system as somewhat predatory and highly hierarchical, and I seek alternative arrangements which would eliminate technically unnecessary hierarchies.
- nverno 5y ago
  The way businesses and the private economy in general are structured today seems to have arisen organically, though, it wasn't masterminded and imposed on anyone. It's natural for someone to have a business idea, take on a role of leadership and enlist other's to help. When Adam Smith wrote his treatise on capitalism he was just describing already typical commonplace behaviors, right? "Community centered economics" on the other hand, always seems to be a forced endeavor
  - TaylorAlexander 5y ago
    > The way businesses and the private economy in general are structured today seems to have arisen organically, though, it wasn't masterminded and imposed on anyone. Simplest counter example is labor unions. There was in fact a huge campaign to dismantle labor union power in the United States. Look at the way labor power was limited by state force in the 1947 Taft Hartley Act for one example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft%E2%80%93Hartley_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft%E2%80%93Hartley_Act Meanwhile in Germany every big company legally must have representatives from the union on the board of directors. A lot has happened since Adam Smith and some of it was "masterminded" on both sides. For example the "organic" work day was 14 hours long until labor activists fought and in some cases died for the 8 hour work day. We have made many decisions about the structure of businesses in USA and unfortunately much of it favors the accumulation of power at the top to the detriment of most people. Finally, we must recognize that no matter what structure we have, we can always imagine better ones. And we can apply the same effort and pressure to make change as has happened in the past.

by nverno 5y ago

TaylorAlexander 5y ago

I specifically advocate for community centered economics. This is in contrast to the rather myopically individualist economics we have in the USA today. Of course people are often selfless in the social realm (helping others etc) but I am intrigued by alternative arrangements of our economy which would see more of the profits generated by workers go directly to those workers rather than see those profits accrue to a minority at the top. I see our economic system as somewhat predatory and highly hierarchical, and I seek alternative arrangements which would eliminate technically unnecessary hierarchies.

nverno 5y ago
The way businesses and the private economy in general are structured today seems to have arisen organically, though, it wasn't masterminded and imposed on anyone. It's natural for someone to have a business idea, take on a role of leadership and enlist other's to help. When Adam Smith wrote his treatise on capitalism he was just describing already typical commonplace behaviors, right? "Community centered economics" on the other hand, always seems to be a forced endeavor
- TaylorAlexander 5y ago
  > The way businesses and the private economy in general are structured today seems to have arisen organically, though, it wasn't masterminded and imposed on anyone. Simplest counter example is labor unions. There was in fact a huge campaign to dismantle labor union power in the United States. Look at the way labor power was limited by state force in the 1947 Taft Hartley Act for one example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft%E2%80%93Hartley_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft%E2%80%93Hartley_Act Meanwhile in Germany every big company legally must have representatives from the union on the board of directors. A lot has happened since Adam Smith and some of it was "masterminded" on both sides. For example the "organic" work day was 14 hours long until labor activists fought and in some cases died for the 8 hour work day. We have made many decisions about the structure of businesses in USA and unfortunately much of it favors the accumulation of power at the top to the detriment of most people. Finally, we must recognize that no matter what structure we have, we can always imagine better ones. And we can apply the same effort and pressure to make change as has happened in the past.