Originally Posted By: Derid
I see the inability of people to prosper without the aid of "investor" classes , at least on a macro scale, as the result of said classes rigging the govt system.


I think this is part of human condition, you can't talk about elimination here, rather lessening impact of corruption. As to regulation, you have to balance the need to diminish plutocracy vs. controlling direct destructive behavior. Idea of a corporation and maximizing of profits above all forces society down regulation path, corporation social construct completely lacks internal controls and can only operate "for greater good" within rigid regulatory framework.

I don't think this system could be fixed from within, with less (or more) regulation, but only by decoupling it from political system. For example criminalizing lobbying, forbidding corporate and anonymous political contributions, and setting and enforcing personal contribution maximums will result in much better elected government capable of creating rational policy that leads to reasonable regulation. If this is not enough, then direct representation is within our technological reach.

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Human nature tends to drive people to find new things to do. Much like the agricultural revolution, the information revolution might well show us for example (as long as cronyist govt does not prevent it) that new types of activities are profitable now that base manufactured materials costs are so low and labor so easy to come by. People find new ways to prosper, and build on what has come before. You often cannot tell what is going to happen, but in free societies something *always* happens.


Interesting. Where you see a utopia driven by intellectual pursuits, I see dystopia of 99% living in the slums and 1% taking conspicuous consumption to new unprecedented levels. If all the wealth (and power) concentrated in 1%, who and more importantly with what money, are going to pay for all these new and novel activities. We already see RIAA and the likes creating various Mikey Mouse laws to control flow of entertainment, imagine if this is taken to a whole new level with a control over all flow of information!

Last edited by sinij; 10/11/12 02:11 PM.
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