From: David MOREY (us@divadeus.freeserve.co.uk)
Date: Mon Sep 15 2003 - 19:59:47 BST
Matt
Thanks for clarification I think that is all
pretty right.
Regards
David M
----- Original Message -----
From: "MATTHEW PAUL KUNDERT" <mpkundert@students.wisc.edu>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 6:41 PM
Subject: Re: MD Evolution of levels
> David,
>
> David said:
> What you say about central planning: Always easy to dismiss something
becaue of history, but in a way history does not repeat itself. So maybe
tomorrow central planning would be useful. Or perhaps if you go further back
it was good, e.g. when everyone makes a plan to use the same size railway
lines. Or today when we fail to use the same broadband width and it is
highly inefficient. Would you agree? Got to be careful with thinking
new=better.
>
> Matt:
> Oh, no. I would never want to think that new equals better. No, the
central planning I'm talking about isn't "everyone should use the same size
railway lines". The central planning I'm talking about is the central
planning Friedrich Hayek talked about, not a few prudent things, but the
whole economy. If I remember my Hayek right, his "The Road to Serfdom" is
pretty much the last word on centralized planning, but what isn't clear is
whether some sort of social welfare state, ala many European nations, is
ruled out. My political cards are that, like every other sane person, I'm
all against Leninism, Stalinism, and Maoism, but all for universal
healthcare. If the Canadians can do it, why the hell can't we?
>
> So, maybe someday centralized planning will present itself as a reasonable
option. I doubt it, but who really knows. And the someday where it might
be possible is a someday far, far away from here. The point about looking
to history for lessons is that we have historians who try and dig up the
causes of these kinds of things. If the social and political climate hasn't
changed enough, then it may be reasonable to think that the same kind of
catastrophe will happen again.
>
> But, I will say this in case you don't know. The other day when you were
talking to Andy about Darwinism, you mentioned that the climate in England
had to do with the angle you were taking, and Andy, rightly, replied the
same. The same applies here: an attack on centralized planning from an
American generally means a lot more than it does from a European. Americans
lived through the "Red Scare" here, where in Europe the good lessons to be
learned from Marxism were generally learned while eventually setting aside
the revolutionary spin (along with the crummy metaphysics, but what
politician really cares about that?). So "socialism" as a term doesn't
carry the negative weight there as it does here.
>
> Matt
>
>
>
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