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| People are fundamentally hostile to change providing their current situation is tolerable. This sentiment has discernible biological roots. In the natural state, the individual's only real goal is survival. If their current strategy accomplishes this goal, it would be evolutionarily disadvantageous to change strategies and risk failure. In this way, evolution programmed people to be resistant to change. |
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> > | This is pop
sociobiology. Maybe it is true, maybe it isn't. You've given no
evidence whatever, and I am not credulous. If you want to see a more
thoughtful and complex Darwinian approach to the biological sources
of social change, you should look at Frank Sulloway's extraordinary
book Born to Rebel. |
| In society, this hostility to change becomes directed at the actions of other individuals as well. In society, an individual is affected by the actions of others. One cannot hope to maintain the stability of one's own lifestyle in the face of changes by others. Thus, ever since societies were created, there have been systems (governments, rulers, etc.) in place to ensure this stability. |
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> > | As an account of the
origins of power, this is nonsense. It's a short form of the social
contract myth. |
| The Iron Fist: One way to ensure stability |
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< < | From early societies until quite recently, rulers ensured conformity to the status quo with an iron fist. Rulers are naturally even more anti-change than the people as a whole because they are the ones deriving the greatest benefit from the current system. This is why governments in early societies had a fanatical obsession with deterring changes. The Spartan law criminalizing lyres with too many strings was less the exception than the rule. Nor did this anti-change obsession fade much with time. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations was banned by his country (arguably one of the "freer" states of the time period) due to its criticism of the dominant theory of mercantilism. In retrospect, this was fairly ironic, as the Invisible Hand that Mr. Smith identified proved able to stabilize society just as well as the iron fist. |
> > | From early societies until quite recently, rulers ensured conformity to the status quo with an iron fist. Rulers are naturally even more anti-change than the people as a whole because they are the ones deriving the greatest benefit from the current system. This is why governments in early societies had a fanatical obsession with deterring changes. The Spartan law criminalizing lyres with too many strings was less the exception than the rule.
It never makes sense to
speak of anything about Sparta as the rule rather than the exception:
Sparta was an exception to almost every rule of ancient society. And
your information about the law criminalizing lyres is unattested
here, and probably false. Cicero introduced the story of Spartan
conservatism in music in a comment in the Laws, (2.39) with the
usual mechanism by which he introduces a useful fable: "If it be true
that the Spartans, ..." He was speaking 300 years after a supposed
event (the cutting of all the strings above seven from the lyre of
Timotheos, as a protest against new musical forms), for which there
is no earlier evidence. Thereafter, Plutarch and others retold the
story, but there is no reason to believe that they had any direct
information about something that was said to have happened 500 years
earlier. You don't have any evidence to offer that Timotheos' lyre
was vandalized, much less that it was as a result of a general
criminal law, much less that this supposed law was characteristic of
Spartan law, about which you don't know anything much, much less that
this supposedly characteristic Spartan law demonstrates a "rule"
about societies. This is just sloppiness masquerading as erudition.
For some actual information, see Martha Maas, "Polychordae and the
Fourth Century Lyre," in the Journal of Musicology,
1992.
Nor did this anti-change obsession fade much with time. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations was banned by his country (arguably one of the "freer" states of the time period) due to its criticism of the dominant theory of mercantilism.
This is utter nonsense.
You provide no citation and you did not check. There was no
censorship or book-banning in the United Kingdom in 1776. The
Wealth of Nations was an enormous publishing success, both at first
and afterward. Wherever this tale came from, you cannot trust the
source. That's one obvious falsity and one unverifiable factual
claim based on careless use of sources within two sentences. A
careful reader will now have acquired sufficient doubt about your
reliability to stop reading.
In retrospect, this was fairly ironic, as the Invisible Hand that Mr. Smith identified proved able to stabilize society just as well as the iron fist. |
| The Invisible Fist: A new way to do the same thing |
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< < | In the last two centuries, a significant part of the world has undergone a transition towards less repressive governance. Notably, there is a strong correlation between a successful market economy and a less repressive government. This could lead one to draw the conclusion that a freer and more successful economy gives rise to a freer people. However, this freedom is largely illusory. A successful market economy creates an Invisible Fist that rewards those who maintain the status quo and punishes deviants. With the status quo guaranteed by the invisible fist, the iron fist simply becomes unnecessary. |
> > | In the last two centuries, a significant part of the world has undergone a transition towards less repressive governance. Notably, there is a strong correlation between a successful market economy and a less repressive government.
Really? How do you
establish that?
This could lead one to draw the conclusion that a freer and more successful economy gives rise to a freer people. However, this freedom is largely illusory. A successful market economy creates an Invisible Fist that rewards those who maintain the status quo and punishes deviants. With the status quo guaranteed by the invisible fist, the iron fist simply becomes unnecessary.
The basic mechanism of the Invisible Fist is fairly simple. Markets are extraordinary at allocating resources efficiently and maximizing production (even Mr. Marx conceded this). |
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< < | The basic mechanism of the Invisible Fist is fairly simple. Markets are extraordinary at allocating resources efficiently and maximizing production (even Mr. Marx conceded this). One of these resources is human capital. Thus, in order to get the full benefits of capitalism, individuals must place themselves into a certain market-established niche. To reject this niche, the individual has to risk giving up the high income that market economies provide. However, the Invisible Fist's power extends further. The success of the capitalist economy leads to significant increases in living costs. Thus, the market economy does not merely give an opportunity that the individual is free to accept or reject. Rather, through cost increases, it also makes it more difficult to survive without accepting one's niche. Therefore, rejecting one's place leads to an impoverishing punch in the face by the Invisible Fist. |
> > | Would you mind showing
you have read some Marx by pointing out where this statement supposedly
occurs?
One of these resources is human capital. Thus, in order to get the full benefits of capitalism, individuals must place themselves into a certain market-established niche. To reject this niche, the individual has to risk giving up the high income that market economies provide.
This is nonsense. The
whole point about the nature of the bourgeois economy, as seen by
both its adherents and its critics, is its hospitality to
change.
However, the Invisible Fist's power extends further. The success of the capitalist economy leads to significant increases in living costs. Thus, the market economy does not merely give an opportunity that the individual is free to accept or reject. Rather, through cost increases, it also makes it more difficult to survive without accepting one's niche. Therefore, rejecting one's place leads to an impoverishing punch in the face by the Invisible Fist.
This too. Neither
secular price rises without capitalism nor price stability in market
economies is unknown, and whatever the theoretical relationships are
they cannot be successfully cimplified this
way. |
| An illustration: The Invisible Fist in the legal profession
We can see the Invisible Fist at work in the legal profession. The efficiency of the market creates a large amount of high-paying, and perhaps miserable, legal jobs. This in turn causes an increase in law school tuition, forcing law students to take on more debt. The Invisible Fist discourages law students from breaking the mold because doing so would take away the guarantee of the high income needed to recoup their costs. |
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> > | Also nonsense. Every
one of these supposed steps in logic contains an error. American
capitalism was quite successful between 1900 and 1970, without any
significant increase in the real wages of salaried lawyers, even the
associates in elite firms. Debt levels are not related to law school
tuition levels alone: they are also related to which students are
admitted and choose to attend high-priced law schools. Debt
financing of legal education has its own history, which is not
captured by your account. There are much better ways to pay back
debt than by working at large law firms. Etc. |
| The Invisible Fist coerces Law Schools as well. The market has allocated them into the niche of producing the human capital for large law firms. If they chose to go a different route, they would need to lower tuition. However, the high tuition has increased professor salaries. Thus, opting out of the niche would dramatically reduce their ability to recruit and retain talented faculty. |
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> > | Wrong again. All these
are conclusory statements, offered without evidence and either
radically over-simplifying or directly missating the nature of the
relations described. |
| Corroboration for the existence and role of the Invisible Fist: Communism and Fascism
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< < | The Invisible Fist explanation is corroborated by two interesting phenomena: the tendency of communist countries to be authoritarian and the tendency of collapsing market economies to embrace fascism. At first glance, it does not seem inevitable that a communist government is incompatible with political freedoms. However, from the Soviet Union to Cambodia, this seems to generally be the case, and it is quite logical. Society desires stability. With the Invisible Fist of the market gone, the iron fist must return. A similar process is seen in the rise of European fascism during the Great Depression and the resurgence of European Ultranationalists in the wake of the recent recession. When the market economy falters, the Invisible Fist is weakened and iron fists become an appealing option to a society that does not want change. |
> > | The Invisible Fist explanation is corroborated by two interesting phenomena: the tendency of communist countries to be authoritarian and the tendency of collapsing market economies to embrace fascism. At first glance, it does not seem inevitable that a communist government is incompatible with political freedoms. However, from the Soviet Union to Cambodia, this seems to generally be the case, and it is quite logical. Society desires stability. With the Invisible Fist of the market gone, the iron fist must return.
That's not the history
of either the Soviet Union or Cambodia. Was there a noticeably less
repressive government in Russia before state socialism? Is there a
noticeably unrepressive government there now? Which is "Communist":
Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, or Cambodia under the rule of the
Khmer Rouge's mortal enemies, the Vietnamese? Do you really think
that Cuba is a more repressive state now than it was under Fulgencio
Batista? Or than Nicaragua was under Anastasio Somoza? Where is the
repression in Kerala, which has been ruled for two generations by
Communists?
A similar process is seen in the rise of European fascism during the Great Depression and the resurgence of European Ultranationalists in the wake of the recent recession. When the market economy falters, the Invisible Fist is weakened and iron fists become an appealing option to a society that does not want change.
When non-market
economies falter, social instability rises too. You might want to
consider the logical consequences of that readily-demonstrated
fact. |
| Conclusion |
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< < | People like freedom, but they hate change more, and these two concepts are realistically inseparable. We like our system because it provides the stability we crave while facially appearing to be free. However, this freedom is not real. The fist is still here. It is just harder to see. |
> > | People like freedom, but they hate change more, and these two concepts are realistically inseparable. |
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< < |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" on the next line: |
> > | Two propositions that
are undemonstrated, and probably wrong. |
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< < | # * Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW = TWikiAdminGroup, JeffreySchatz |
> > | We like our system because it provides the stability we crave while facially appearing to be free. However, this freedom is not real. The fist is still here. It is just harder to see. |
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< < | Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of that line. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated list |
> > | This is a conclusion
only in the sense that it's conclusory. No idea has been actually
developed: if one wasn't convinced already after the first graf,
nothing said later made any difference.
This essay needs hard,
careful editing. What will be left after the subtraction of
erroneous or misleading material will be disarticulated bones, pretty
much, which will need to be rebuilt in a new
frame. |