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Just wondering, why the obsession with happiness? As a society, shouldn't we be out for the greatest output so that we can crush all other societies and take ov
by newt0311 18y ago
Just wondering, why the obsession with happiness? As a society, shouldn't we be out for the greatest output so that we can crush all other societies and take over their resources (violently or not)?
- DanielBMarkham 18y agoSock puppet? Or 13? 'cause crushing other societies and taking over their resources is a little old hat. Better to trade with them. Better for us, better for them.
- newt0311 18y ago"Better to trade with them. Better for us, better for them." That would be the non-violent slow social take-over. Still depends on high social output.
- DanielBMarkham 18y agoSo when you go to the market and sell your hand-grown tomatoes, is the guy you're selling them to taking over your home garden? Trade is not social take-over. You can trade and have any society you want. All is required is established contract law and private property rights.
- newt0311 18y agoNo, but if the other guy is richer, you will either start to emulate him (and become richer and more like him yourself), or he will eventually become a stockholder of yours at which point, he has effectively taken over. Do this across generations, and you have societies taking over others. It is no coincidence that no one emulates the society of Soviet Russia but everyone across the world emulates the rich high-output western ones.
- rw 18y agoHahaha. No.
- Tichy 18y agoAre you sure? What if the other societies do that and crush us? How do you eliminate competition? And would we really thrive without competition? I doubt it, as it has many healthy side effects.
- mapleoin 18y agowell that's what mainstream economics is all about. Geopolitics even more so. But this article is about alternatives.