Its even worse. If we assume that people can act in one of three ways in
an economy of either money or politics: 1) as a producer, 2) as a
consumer, or 3) as a manager of capital, we can see that both the
concept of government and the concept of the corporation are flawed in
practice, biasing "control" to one of the three groups while often
pretending to give it to another or the others.
Many current liberals decry that the corporations major flaw is that the
workers do not give sufficient input or have control over management,
while proponents of capital say that anyone can have control and input
by buying or earning stock in a corporation that is publicly traded.
Thus capital blames labor when company performance is down, while labor
blames capital when capitals natural risk aversion impedes the
corporations ability to respond to the market. Both groups claim that
the consumers only rightful mode of input or control is via the "market
signals", yet how often is poor corporate performance because either
capital or labor or both ignored the "market signals" that consumers
were trying so desperately to gain the corporations attention with? How
often is the cost of the predatory self interest of capital or labor or
both simply paid for by consumers, either in money or in choice (the
same thing, really), when the consumer's ability to input or make
choices is impeded by capital or labor?
Government, on the other hand, deals in an economy of power, or freedom.
Capital is represented by whoever is legally the source of power. In
feudal and other authoritarian systems, power trickles down from the
Monarch, while democratic systems purport that power is vested in the
people, and only flows to a greater concentration or potential by the
work and consent of the people, via the sacrosanct "natural law". If,
however, we recognise the real validity of Mao's maxim "Justice comes
from the barrel of a gun", those with control of the guns are the ones
who control the "means of production" or the capital of an economy of
political power. The players are the bureaucracy, the politicians (often
also the aristocracy), and the citizenry. How these correlate to the
consumer/producer/capital manager triad varies under different systems,
and to different degrees.
For example, nihilists and extreme anarchists are singularly fanatical
about the "noble savage" concept, that the production, consumption, and
management of one's own political capital and product rest solely in the
individual. Libertarians go more for free and voluntary association (or
lack thereof) among rationally self interested Baysians. Communists bias
completely in favor of power being vested in those who represent or
control labor, while Western Democrats are aristocrats who con the
plebes with the "I feel your pain" rap. Conservative Republicans go for
the "If you can't be just like us, its no wonder you're a piece of shit,
but there's no reason why in this great country you can't be just like
us, Gawd Bless Uhmerica, and BTW, you can't eat in here." Democrats know
much better than you how to best spend your money, while Republicans
know much better than you how behave in your own home, and communists
not only know much better than you how to do both, but also how to earn
your money and own your house. Socialists, well they're just communists
who haven't got the guts, or the political capital, to fully act on
their convictions.
Any comments? Yeah I know it kind of degenerated, but what the hell....
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering ------------------------------------------------------------ How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?