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That was fun, but... a clan culture as a better way for modern society? :-) I thought a clan society was by definition made up of organized special interest gr

by berntb 18y ago

That was fun, but... a clan culture as a better way for modern society? :-) I thought a clan society was by definition made up of organized special interest groups? Just consider hiring someone at a company that wasn't from your clan, when your clan eldest/boss tell you that your idiot cousin needs a job. :-) The article formalized things for me I've always wondered about. But it reminds me a bit of the laments during the dying of the Roman empire. Everyone saw the problems but couldn't solve them. Is there any work on how to organize a society which avoids special interest groups? Or, at least, keeps the light on them?

kiba 18y ago
The clan society actually remind me more of modern day Somalian system rather than Iceland. That society was actually doing better in comparsion with their neighbors in some aspect. Did you know that they have the cheapest international call rate on the continent? However, I know little about them since I never travel there.(Iceland is historical so that's a different story) One has to travel to Somalia to decide for themsleves if anarchy actually work. Even then, you have to take into political situtation so you don't get a skewed view.(The UN is trying to establish a state I heard) In as so much for special interest group. I thought such society will undobutly exists in a free market society but they probably will be kept in check by the free market. My big worry is more about the system collapsing into a centralized system, which become a big vector for corruption. If you want the definte work on how a free market society might work, you might want to read the Machinery of Freedom, written by David Friedman. However, I know no such works dealing only with organizing a society's incentive and disincentive structure to deal with corruption.
- berntb 18y ago
  Check the term "holmgang" for an insight into how life was in the bad old days. I'm not an expert but from what I've read, research implies that the "ting" was more regulating/discussing the clan quarrels/warfare than judging as we define it today. (No reference saved, sorry.) Afaik, traditional societies before a central violence monopoly were generally, well, violent. Iceland was a hard place to survive, so the population might have had to work more and "play" less. (You can make some form of analogy between the old times and present international interactions; there is no police force to stop violence -- and clans with mutual support agreements abound... Ask an expert.) As a hard line atheist, it is not an easy thing for me to say that Christianity seemed to be an improvement. :-) Anyway, there is an old joke that the problem with anarchy is that it is too unstable. The time before a central state wasn't fun. I believe the tribal areas of Pakistan is a good indication on how it worked in Scandinavia.

by berntb 18y ago

kiba 18y ago

The clan society actually remind me more of modern day Somalian system rather than Iceland. That society was actually doing better in comparsion with their neighbors in some aspect. Did you know that they have the cheapest international call rate on the continent? However, I know little about them since I never travel there.(Iceland is historical so that's a different story) One has to travel to Somalia to decide for themsleves if anarchy actually work. Even then, you have to take into political situtation so you don't get a skewed view.(The UN is trying to establish a state I heard) In as so much for special interest group. I thought such society will undobutly exists in a free market society but they probably will be kept in check by the free market. My big worry is more about the system collapsing into a centralized system, which become a big vector for corruption. If you want the definte work on how a free market society might work, you might want to read the Machinery of Freedom, written by David Friedman. However, I know no such works dealing only with organizing a society's incentive and disincentive structure to deal with corruption.

berntb 18y ago
Check the term "holmgang" for an insight into how life was in the bad old days. I'm not an expert but from what I've read, research implies that the "ting" was more regulating/discussing the clan quarrels/warfare than judging as we define it today. (No reference saved, sorry.) Afaik, traditional societies before a central violence monopoly were generally, well, violent. Iceland was a hard place to survive, so the population might have had to work more and "play" less. (You can make some form of analogy between the old times and present international interactions; there is no police force to stop violence -- and clans with mutual support agreements abound... Ask an expert.) As a hard line atheist, it is not an easy thing for me to say that Christianity seemed to be an improvement. :-) Anyway, there is an old joke that the problem with anarchy is that it is too unstable. The time before a central state wasn't fun. I believe the tribal areas of Pakistan is a good indication on how it worked in Scandinavia.