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The next capitalist revolution

economist.com

31–40 of 65 posts

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#31
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These downvotes are unfortunate given this statement is objectively true.

I didn't downvote the person, but I did ask for clarification and got downvoted. Can you explain your claim 'objectively true'? There are too many non-concrete nouns running around for me to be able to keep track of...

I'm sorry but I don't think the 80s are really something that can be explained to someone that didn't live through them, which I assume you didn't, otherwise you wouldn't be asking for clarification on Reaganomics.

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#32

What we need is a revolution in how people think about complex systems. People nowadays throw ideas around thinking they have a good understanding of how systems operate or should operate, when in fact most are clueless and fail to realize their ignorance. Society, economy, biological organisms, climate, cognition, etc are all complex systems, and no single person can claim to understand how they work, or the types o…

While there is a lot that seems to fit with applying complexity theory to economics, I am always uneasy that the area just doesn't seem to yield any overriding direction for people to follow.

Powerful and followable ideas at the level individual decision maker, applied many times over can make big changes in systems. But what story can be told to capture the actions needed at an decision level?

BTW: you might find this paper interesting.

http://necsi.edu/research/economics/econuniversal

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really think academics and critics are responsible for the successes of our society? Lol How many of your beloved CEOs are dropouts?

Most of them dropped out from extremely prestigious institutions because they had a business to run. It's not like Bill Gates couldn't hack it at Harvard so he dropped out and started Microsoft.

Sure, but because he dropped out of school it would be a huge stretch to say Bill Gates is an "academic". It's not a stretch to say he's an "intellectual" though, probably?

I guess to GP, you have to be an academic to be part of the "intellectual class." In any case, the comment's point would be way clearer if the poster had expressed it without so much snark.

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#34
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't downvote the person, but I did ask for clarification and got downvoted. Can you explain your claim 'objectively true'? There are too many non-concrete nouns running around for me to be able to keep track of...

I'm sorry but I don't think the 80s are really something that can be explained to someone that didn't live through them, which I assume you didn't, otherwise you wouldn't be asking for clarification on Reaganomics.

I loved the 80s so much more than the 70s, so I'm not sure where you are coming from.

EDIT: I did remove an insult from an earlier draft of an earlier comment that you were probably a kid (as most people here are) that didn't remember the 80s. Since you are apparently not, my question still stands. (I don't have a pin-up of Margaret Thatcher any more, though...)

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#35
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, alright buddy. The intellectual class is why we have progress at all. Do feel free to go back to hunting and gathering, though.

You really think academics and critics are responsible for the successes of our society? Lol How many of your beloved CEOs are dropouts?

Ah yes, Bill Gates, the working class hero.

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#36
post #2

None of this matters, not one iota. The world is choking in the filth we are creating, all while people like this pontificate about the next generation of the system that positively reinforces the creation of filth.

This sentiment is as old as religion: it's the good old millenarian instinct. People constantly think the world is on the precipice of something transformational (good or bad). We'll see. My money is on things chugging along pretty much as they have been. I think this planet can take far more than we can throw at it. RE: the article - seems like common-sense recommendations but no specifics. We'd all like to see more…

I don't want to be around when we discover the planet can't actually take more than we can throw at it. We are unable to deal with minor pokes of the planet (storms, fires, earthquakes). Imagine what's gonna happen when it really pokes at us. We're probably gonna get wiped out. This planet is more fragile than people think and our power to control it is miniscule.

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#37
post #25

This is one of those really tough areas where the problems are so significant and comprehensive that the approach people want to take immediately gets into their worldview and belief system. And no one readily changes their worldview, so its difficult to have productive discussions about such things. Nevertheless I will state my worldview and hopefully mention a few specifics that might be anchor points for an attemp…

Shameless plug: I wrote a blog post a while ago using your premise to argue why decentralized technologies wouldn't be useful to society: https://www.notion.so/Yet-Another-Rant-About-Blockchains-ece...

That is a well-written and interesting article. We have very different belief systems. My apologies for not having the motivation to try make a rebuttal.

Maybe you will consider _not_ downvoting my comment because it will fade out and no one will even be able to see it. That means my ideas will be dismissed without consideration by new people to the thread.

I am not downvoting your comment.

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#38

What we need is a revolution in how people think about complex systems. People nowadays throw ideas around thinking they have a good understanding of how systems operate or should operate, when in fact most are clueless and fail to realize their ignorance. Society, economy, biological organisms, climate, cognition, etc are all complex systems, and no single person can claim to understand how they work, or the types o…

I agree that people generally should realize that their broad viewpoints on subjects that they are not familiar with are in a different category from those that they are very familiar with or those that are about specific situations. I disagree that the issue is just that these systems are too complex to understand on any level or that we can avoid having worldviews that encompass these subjects.

I mean we can just acknowledge that we have different worldviews rather than everyone having to agree that things are too complex to understand. I agree they are complex but that doesn't mean I can avoid having views on them.

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#39
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sentiment is as old as religion: it's the good old millenarian instinct. People constantly think the world is on the precipice of something transformational (good or bad). We'll see. My money is on things chugging along pretty much as they have been. I think this planet can take far more than we can throw at it. RE: the article - seems like common-sense recommendations but no specifics. We'd all like to see more…

I don't want to be around when we discover the planet can't actually take more than we can throw at it. We are unable to deal with minor pokes of the planet (storms, fires, earthquakes). Imagine what's gonna happen when it really pokes at us. We're probably gonna get wiped out. This planet is more fragile than people think and our power to control it is miniscule.

The planet has been around a while and taken a lot, certainly more than we can throw at it. Now, wether we can survive is another issue. But the planet will be just fine, especially by the standards of geological time.

Re: The next capitalist revolution

#40
Capitalism is literally the private ownership of the means of production, aka simple freedom. We in the US have never lived with anything but crony capitalism. Capitalism is the only process so far that creates wealth for everyone. If people are unhappy with our current form of capitalism they can look directly to the Marxist policies our government has tilted towards the last century that are supported by both the 'right' and the 'left'.
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