From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Feb 12 2003 - 20:44:33 MST
--- Damien Broderick <thespike@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >The very act of choosing, spread
> > widely enough and freely enough, creates a power law distribution.
> > Inequality occurs in large and unconstrained social systems for
> > the same reasons stop-and-go
> > traffic occurs on busy roads, not because it is anyone's goal,
> > but because it is a reliable
> > property that emerges from the normal functioning of the system.
>
> This fundamental insight forms the basis of much of Steven Pinker's
> social policy ruminations in THE BLANK SLATE.
I don't think that anyone denies that this is the case. Where the
debate is is whether the 'inequality' being described is political in
nature or merely materiel in nature, and whether the materiel
inequality serves a useful purpose that improves conditions for all.
If it improves conditions for all, then it is morally wrong to enact
measures to restrain this inequality.
=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
- Gen. John Stark
"Pacifists are Objectively Pro-Fascist." - George Orwell
"Treason doth never Prosper. What is the Reason?
For if it Prosper, none Dare call it Treason..." - Ovid
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