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Do you think economic power in Russia today is less centralized than the USA? Or more? (Your first paragraph seems to admit that it is more.) Do you think ec

Do you think economic power in Russia today is less centralized than the USA? Or more? (Your first paragraph seems to admit that it is more.) Do you think economic power in, say 1200 in Europe was less centralized than in the USA today, or more? Is economic power in the USA more centralized than it was in the Gilded Age? If you wanted to claim that the level of centralization in the USA today was higher than in the last 100 years in most of the west, I could buy that. But "pretty unique in history" is going rather too far. What the west had over the last 100 years is what's pretty unique. It seems to be slipping away, and we should care about that, because it was pretty wonderful.

chomskyole 3y ago
> What the west had over the last 100 years is what's pretty unique. It seems to be slipping away, and we should care about that, because it was pretty wonderful. It was the most violent time we know of. I'd be keen to learn what you refer to as "pretty wonderful". > But "pretty unique in history" is going rather too far. I didn't research this properly. But the US army is bigger than the next five biggest armies together. This is an astonishing inbalance. Do you have an example in history where there was a similar inbalance?
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  > It was the most violent time we know of. I'd be keen to learn what you refer to as "pretty wonderful". It was pretty wonderful in terms of the economic resources available to the median person. That's what you were discussing in the post that I replied to. > I didn't research this properly. But the US army is bigger than the next five biggest armies together. This is an astonishing inbalance. Do you have an example in history where there was a similar inbalance? What's with the shift from economic imbalance within a nation to military power between nations? For the discussion we were having, how is the military balance between nations relevant? To answer your question: Maybe the Pax Romana. Maybe China at certain points.

chomskyole 3y ago

> What the west had over the last 100 years is what's pretty unique. It seems to be slipping away, and we should care about that, because it was pretty wonderful. It was the most violent time we know of. I'd be keen to learn what you refer to as "pretty wonderful". > But "pretty unique in history" is going rather too far. I didn't research this properly. But the US army is bigger than the next five biggest armies together. This is an astonishing inbalance. Do you have an example in history where there was a similar inbalance?

AnimalMuppet 3y ago
> It was the most violent time we know of. I'd be keen to learn what you refer to as "pretty wonderful". It was pretty wonderful in terms of the economic resources available to the median person. That's what you were discussing in the post that I replied to. > I didn't research this properly. But the US army is bigger than the next five biggest armies together. This is an astonishing inbalance. Do you have an example in history where there was a similar inbalance? What's with the shift from economic imbalance within a nation to military power between nations? For the discussion we were having, how is the military balance between nations relevant? To answer your question: Maybe the Pax Romana. Maybe China at certain points.