The dictatorship of the articulate • Hacker News Board

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#11

Post by caseyross » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:42 AM UTC

If we want progress, it's important to draw a distinction between the different effects of regulation.

Some regulation enforces the status quo, by helping entrenched interests use their power to crush potential innovators.

Other regulation restricts big players from abusing their dominance, and helps create a level playing field where innovation can succeed on its merits, no matter who's behind it.

It's not helpful to say that what we need is more rules, or less rules. What we need is rules that create a fair playing field.

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#12

Post by quadcore » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:43 AM UTC

The world is complex now, it was simple back then, let me explain. I was thinking the other day, in 1950, you could drop a kid randomly anywhere on the map (say the U.S. but not necessarily), he would easily find its way: to the farm, to the factory, to the military or to the church. Everything would be ok for the 1950 kid youd drop anywhere. He would be fine and happy. Drop a kid nowdays and youd be dropping a body, virtually. Very little chance the kid would end up ok, employed nor happy. It's certainly exagerated but you get the idea.

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#13

Post by hackerlight » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:49 AM UTC

caseyross wrote: post #11

If we want progress, it's important to draw a distinction between the different effects of regulation. Some regulation enforces the status quo, by helping entrenched interests use their power to crush potential innovators. Other regulation restricts big players from abusing their dominance, and helps create a level playing field where innovation can succeed on its merits, no matter who's behind it. It's not helpful t…

Exactly what I arrived at, but I use the word better instead of fairer, since a regulation can do net harm without being unfair.

It annoys me when the right just wants to deregulate and the left just wants to regulate. It's ideological possession.

Implement more good regulations. Eliminate the ones that are doing more harm than good by adding too much red tape, or entrenching interests, or having too many unintended consequences.

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#14

Post by ethanbond » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:50 AM UTC

earleybird wrote: post #3

"As Marc Andreessen remarks, in every case, the culprit is regulation." - a particularly enjoyable quote.

I wonder who Andreessen thinks is responsible for all the ridiculous zoning laws… wonder what sort of means he may consider if his letter asking not to build near him isn’t successful…

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#15

Post by Stamp01 » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:51 AM UTC

No post body was provided.

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#16

Post by tsol » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:52 AM UTC

jonahbenton wrote: post #7

"Dictatorship of the Articulate" is a quality phrase. The actual piece is a waste of time. Andreesson capitalism build worship supplemented by for instance American Enterprise Institute propaganda that does not reflect reality. Would downvote if I could.

It really is a great phrase. I think there's some truth to it. As someone who can be very articulate at times, the influence it lends me isn't always commensurate with my actual skill in that area. Put another way; I've found if you use enough big words and say enough clever things, people will treat you as if you're smart even on unrelated matters.

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#17

Post by superchroma » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

wahern wrote: post #8

superchroma wrote: post #5

Whilst it's true that there are a lot more rules, there are areas that have been largely without them (crypto comes to mind), and outcomes are still often not so good. With as many people as there are on this Earth, packed as densely as they are, there are increasing amounts of commons, and also increasing numbers of tragedies occurring in these myriad commons as well. I'm not sure getting things done for the sake of…

> we don't live in a dictatorship where a flick of a finger can end a project after all. Sure we do: they're called planning, zoning, or environmental review boards. And process by which they operate has been engineered to make it increasingly easier to stop projects. In some states like California, any random person (they don't even need to live in the community!) has the power to stop projects for months, if not ye…

Potentially, but I think we have actually slipped down a lot of these slopes at one point or another. These negative possibilities are not just hypotheticals, they are informed by actual failures. I'm not going to argue that there aren't people defending their interests selfishly in such arrangements, - there definitely is, as well. Maybe such councils should be filled with non-affiliated neutral parties that are randomly elected?

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#18

Post by BMc2020 » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

It’s a funny coincidence that the field where we’re seeing the most innovation happens to be the one we regulated least, and that the fields that got worse are the most regulated ones.

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As Marc Andreessen remarks, in every case, the culprit is regulation.

Ho hum. And the 5 year old AEI chart that's been bumping around awhile.

IIRC TVs are so low because they use a trick called 'hedonic averaging' where a 27 inch TV at the same cost of a 19 inch TV actually costs 1/2 as much, since you get twice as many square inches. Even though, you know, you still are only watching 1 TV at a time and looking at 100% of the screen on both. Whatevs.

Fresher info here https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_08102022.htm#c...

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#19

Post by hackerlight » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:54 AM UTC

superchroma wrote: post #5

Whilst it's true that there are a lot more rules, there are areas that have been largely without them (crypto comes to mind), and outcomes are still often not so good. With as many people as there are on this Earth, packed as densely as they are, there are increasing amounts of commons, and also increasing numbers of tragedies occurring in these myriad commons as well. I'm not sure getting things done for the sake of…

  "an ocean of copy-pasted apartment buildings like Hong Kong"

That's an incredible way to frame place for people to live. You may find that aesthetically disgusting, that's your right, but I find the legally mandated suburbs of an expensive city to be morally disgusting given the impacts on the environment and poor people.

Re: The dictatorship of the articulate

#20

Post by superchroma » Thu, Sep 01, 2022, 2:57 AM UTC

hackerlight wrote: post #19

superchroma wrote: post #5

Whilst it's true that there are a lot more rules, there are areas that have been largely without them (crypto comes to mind), and outcomes are still often not so good. With as many people as there are on this Earth, packed as densely as they are, there are increasing amounts of commons, and also increasing numbers of tragedies occurring in these myriad commons as well. I'm not sure getting things done for the sake of…

"an ocean of copy-pasted apartment buildings like Hong Kong" That's an incredible way to frame place for people to live . You may find that aesthetically disgusting, that's your right, but I find the legally mandated suburbs of an expensive city to be morally disgusting given the impacts on the environment and poor people.

This isn't a discussion about housing availability. You should make a new submission about that if you want to go into that topic in depth. There are facets to this discussion that your post is glossing over; it's not a binary choice between HK style apartments or suburban sprawl.